Dell Inspiron 530S & Vista - the nightmare continues

Still no DVD drive, but thats for another time.
Today's problems are all around the display. My display is a NEC MultiSync LCD 2070WNY, and has worked with 5 or 6 other computers without problem.

• My display settings are set to 1680x1050 @ 60Hz on this account, but on the administrator account the best I can get is 1480x1050 @60Hz. When I try for the higher settings the monitor reports "Out of Range", and the settings drop back to what was previously defined.
• The "Out of Range" message sometimes appears in mid-flight. The next boot "Out of Range" is all you get. Then I have to use the F8 key at start up and select "Start in low resolution", the settings then (miracurously?) correct themselves and I can re-boot again.

I have recovered my cruzer readyboost 4Gb USB memory stick from my son (it wasn't helping his XP system). I want to use it for the regular backup of the important files.

• Now the Inspiron 530S will not boot at all with it plugged in. Unplug it, boots fine, plug it in - just a cursor on the display about 3 lines down.