9800Gx2 driver problem

[UltimaBoB]

I'm running XP Pro. I just did a clean install.

I recently bought a 9800Gx2. This is my first nVidia card.

When I install 174.74 my mouse pointer becomes wonky. It no longer displays the hand when over links. And in explorer (and in other times) it frequently displays the arrow + hourglass. I have even removed the hourglass symbol from the pointer options in the control panel. But it still comes up.

Furthermore, Logitech setpoint doesn't work properly when I have 174.74 installed. It works - but it won't bring up the picture of the mouse and the "ok" , "cancel" and "apply" buttons at the bottom of the logitech settings window are transparent. They still seem to work. But something isn't right.

The mouse issue is annoying me, But I cannot seem to fix it. Has anyone heard of this problem?

EDIT: as posted in more detail below, I also cannot play any video

 

[Keysplayr]

Give us your system specs.

mobo make and model.
drivers you are using.
make and model of your mouse.
drivers you are using. (if any)

 

[UltimaBoB]

Intel E6700 2.66 ghz Core2Duo CPU
nVidia 9800Gx2 GPU
ASUS P5H DW Deluxe Motherboard
Zalman ZM1000-HP 1000 wat PSU
4 GB OCZ 1066 DDR2 Ram
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Music sound card
Samsung 2693HM 26" LCD Monitor
Creative Inspire 5.1 Spealers
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
Windows XP Professional

All Drivers are latest versions now

Logitech Setpoint 4.40 for Mouse
Logitech lgps202 for keyboard
nVidia nforce 174.74 for GPUs
Latest Sound Blaster and Monitor drivers
Bios has been updated as well.

 

[UltimaBoB]

VLC or other media players won't work either it seems. What were the previous drivers that supported 9800Gx2?

EDIT: I have tried 174.70 and 174.53 drivers. None of them will play any video files without crashing the system. I have tried winamp, VLC, and Mplayer.

EDIT REDUX: Can't play games either. Must be drivers.