Fuzzy/distorted display on monitor after using with laptop; help?

resolution

Distinguished
Sep 20, 2011
2
0
18,510
I recently got a new laptop (Sony Vaio F series w/ Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit) and today I tried connecting the laptop to my NEC MultiSync LCD1990SXi monitor using the monitor's VGA cable. It worked and I tested it out for a little bit and then disconnected the monitor from the laptop and plugged it back into my computer tower (Windows XP Professional SP3). When I turned my XP desktop back on the resolution was "off," as if everything was squashed/distorted or fuzzy and blurred. I went to Control Panel - Display - Settings and adjusted the screen resolution to every setting but none of them look right; none are clear or sharp. I don't know what resolution I'd always used before changing it around to all the other ones today but I'm pretty sure it was either 1280 by 1024 pixels or 1280 by 960 pixels. If I had to guess I'd say it was the 1280x1024. (The laptop uses 1920x1080 pixels if that makes any difference).

I also noticed in the Control panel - Display - Settings window that it says "Display: Plug and Play Monitor on NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS"
I can't swear that it didn't say this before, but I don't think it did. I think it used to say NEC LCD1990SXi or something to that effect, so I don't know why it changed or how to change it back. I clicked the Advanced button in Display - Settings and clicked the Monitor tab and it just says "Monitor type: Plug and Play Monitor." I couldn't find any options to change it. Here's a screen shot. The monitor came with calibration software (SpectraView II) and I opened that and it still detects the LCD1990SXi just fine.

So I'm not sure what to do now. For some reason the resolution has been messed up ever since I plugged the monitor's VGA cable into the laptop, disconnected it, and plugged it back into my desktop PC earlier today...it was always fine before that. What can I do to fix this? Since I do a lot of photo editing and graphic design work this has been driving me crazy and I can't do any work using this monitor until it's back to normal, so any help would be much appreciated.