8800GTS 512mb issue/default settings?

New system comprising the 8800GTS 512mb with 169.25 driver, Q6600 (at stock), Cooler Master Real Power Modular 520w PSU, MIS Neo2-FR MoBo, running 32bit Vista - everything running fine, and cool too, but I noticed a few images could be a little more clear, and dived into the Nvidia control panel to play to see if it'd help - big mistake!

Didn't think to make a backup of the default settings for the card, and between playing with the Nvidia control panel and the appearance menus in Vista, everything looks rubbish now, backgrounds in vista and on websites have lines through them, the vista system animations are blurred, games have green/purple outlines to objects, skies etc and in-game animations - I'm gobsmacked at how poor everthing is displayed now, and how there is no easy (as far as i can see) way to revert my system to its default settings, as everything was fine out of the box.

I've used the default button in Appearance menus, deleted and reinstalled the drivers, performed a system restore to a time prior to the changes and nothing has helped. Now i'm wondering, do I -

Have to modify/clean the registry?
Reformat and reinstall Vista?
Find a helpful soul who can tell me the default settings for the GTS in the Nvidia control panel?
Would something like NVTweak help?

Does anyone have any insight or possible help for this?

Add/Remove Programs - Uninstall the nVidia drivers

Download Driver Cleaner Pro from Guru3d.com and remove any remenants of the drivers.

Then install the drivers again.

Ah, that was the other idea i'd come across, forgot to mention it in my Op though. Thanks for the reminder though I just tried it, and unfortunately there's no difference - in game clouds and smoke effects still have the lime green hue and outline, skin tones have traces of it too, websites have pronounced banding of colour, and again the lime green streaks- all quite disturbing.

Any other ideas?

Does the Nvidia control panel, along with all it's setting, get removed via the uninstall/driver cleaner process? I assume so, as it doesn't appear seperately in add/remove programmes.

Well, I doubt everything is removed, hence products like driver cleaner pro exist ;)

I'd either test the card in another PC or install a second copy of windows for testing.....maybe something you tweaked caused a problem to show itself or the card just coincidently broke at the time you started playing with settings.