Dell laptop HDMI-to-HDTV won't work

FYI I subscribe to Netflix streaming video and use my laptop and internet connection to watch movies on my big Sony HDTV as well as the internet using a wireless mouse and keyboard. The laptop (Dell) has HDMI ouyput and Windows 7 with the magnifier function which allows me to see the HDTV from at least 17 ft. I connect with a short HDMI cable and leave the laptop near the HDTV. I guess I could run a long HDMI cable and put the labtop near me. I presume others use other methods and devices such as described at the Netflix site. See above with helpful.

This didn't fix my problem and it gave me an additional problem. I did this:
right click desktop > Graphics Options > Output To > HDTV.
Result was: My laptop screen went completely black, but TV still says, "No signal".
Now the only way to see anything on my laptop is if I disconnect the HDMI cable.
To make matters worse, NOW when I right click my desktop again and select Graphics Options, there is no more "Output To" option on the menu, so I don't see a way to un-do what I just did.