Agreed, the group policy trick usually works. A quick extra tip: sometimes just toggling the "Show lock screen background picture on the sign-in screen" setting off and on in Personalization can also kick it back to normal.
Yeah, that's a good call. Also, try running the Windows Focus Assist troubleshooter—it can sometimes fix lock screen issues. Let me know if that works.
Yeah, that's a solid fix. A quick tip: make sure you grab the latest driver directly from your graphics card manufacturer's website, not through Windows Update.