Display Problem (may not be display driver-related) PLEASE HELP!

Hello

I seem to be having multiple problems all at the same time (all of which may or may not be related) but let me start from the beginning.

This all started when I tried to connect my Inspiron 1720 laptop to our television.  For some reason my laptop froze, the image on both my computer and TV had white lines across it, and so I turned off my system since it was locked up.

I restarted and began having display problems - first windows were not opening in the desktop area.  They would open in the system tray, but were "unreachable" by the mouse.  I played with display settings and got the screen to fit...but now seem to have 2 primary problems:

PROBLEM 1:

Whenever I play games, view pictures, or Windows Media Player, I see strange "plaid boxes."  However, the desktop is fine and everything else appears to work fine.  I contacted NVIDIA and I have installed different driver versions, as well as the OEM (Dell's) driver's - all did not work - I still saw the distorted images when playing games, viewing pictures, and videos.

Here are screenshots of what I am seeing:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4403188069_1763fa3004_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2796/4403188189_d038e5a78c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4403953004_c3f93b7cae_b.jpg

PROBLEM 2:

This problem may stem from the original TV incident.  When I click on Display Settings, my computer shows another monitor connected, but there isn't one.  I try disabling it (or deleting one of them) and it goes right back to the Generic PnP (before this happened, I could have sworn the Generic non-PnP monitor was the default, but if I choose that option, everything disappears but the wallpaper and I am unable to do anything. 

Here is a screenshot of what I am seeing:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4410180328_ff4c206cf7_b.jpg

If I go to DISPLAY SETTINGS - ADVANCED - TROUBLESHOOT I am unable to turn off acceleration because the box is faded.

Also, my system info:

OS Name    Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version    6.0.6002 Service Pack 2 Build 6002
OS Manufacturer    Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer    Dell Inc.
System Model    Inspiron 1720
System Type    X86-based PC
Processor    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     T7700  @ 2.40GHz, 2401 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date    Dell Inc. A04, 11/5/2007

DISPLAY:

Name    NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
PNP Device ID    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_01F21028&REV_A1\4&21A7BA7D&0&0008
Adapter Type    GeForce 8600M GT, NVIDIA compatible
Adapter Description    NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
Adapter RAM    256.00 MB (268,435,456 bytes)
Installed Drivers    nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver Version    8.17.11.9562
INF File    oem19.inf (Section001 section)
Color Planes    Not Available
Color Table Entries    4294967296
Resolution    1440 x 900 x 59 hertz
Bits/Pixel    32
Memory Address    0xFD000000-0xFDFFFFFF
Memory Address    0xE0000000-0xF3FFFFFF
Memory Address    0xFA000000-0xFEAFFFFF
I/O Port    0x0000EF00-0x0000EF7F
IRQ Channel    IRQ 16
I/O Port    0x000003B0-0x000003BB
I/O Port    0x000003C0-0x000003DF
Memory Address    0xA0000-0xBFFFF
Driver    c:\windows\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys (8.17.11.9562, 10.98 MB (11,515,752 bytes), 3/5/2010 8:34 PM)

Please help!