hey, i don't know what happened but lately when i do ALT+5 it pulls up piano roll at the bottom of the screen INSTEAD of a new window. I know i'm explaining poorly but I'm novice at this thanks!

Un-dock it. Open the PRV, click on the little keyboard icon in the upper-left corner, and select "enable floating".

how do i un-dock it? not sure what that means

I found what you're saying in the help topics but i don't have the little piano icon. i don't know what i pushed accidentally to start this but its been annoying the hell outta me for months

heres what i see Uploaded with ImageShack.us

He said "keyboard" icon, not piano which would be easy to mix up. 
Docking means windows are fixed in place, you want them to float so you can re-size and move it around. Standard option since windows 95. 

can u look at the pic and tell me which one is the keyboard then? sorry for being clueless to this

thanks gimp1124

why thanks? i have posted anything insightful? im still trying to find the keyboard icon

Sorry to leave you hangng, gimp. Go to the View menu and click on "Enable Tabbing" Re-open the PRV and click on the Restore button (upper-right, between the minimize and maximize buttons). Now click on the little keyboard icon in the upper-left of the PRV and select "Enable Floating".