Hyper, thats not your entire system specs.

System specs include gfx card, power supply, RAM, etc..

And you don't have a good enough graphics card to play GTA4.

Refer here.

Then something may be using up alot of your resources for GTA4 to run terribly.
I played GTA4 on xbox 360, and now I have it for PC(with a decent PC). Mine is out of 1024mb, so I don't have the problem.
Someone else who would have more knowledge should roll along and help out.

But then again, some graphics cards require so much resources which require you to have a better power supply and cpu and ram, etc.

Well, by seeing most of your specs I can determine from my knowledge that the game itself isn't registering your hardware correctly. You can see by the "Resource Usage" that the game thinks you only have 56 MB of usable GPU VRAM(Which by systemrequirementslab it says you have 1.6GB usable), hence the locking down to the lowest settings possible. Seeing this as an Alienware laptop, when was the last time you have updated your GPU drivers?

Latest Version Here;
geforce.com/drivers/results/43999 Verde 296.10 Driver

Beta Driver Here;
geforce.com/drivers/results/46429 Verde 304.79 Driver

IF this is the only game giving you troubles then I am going to say it's the game itself not seeing your hardware correctly and hence the lowest settings lock. I can recommend 3 things.

1) Update your drivers BUT make a backup or download your current one as back up as a precaution.

2) If #1 doesn't help, re-install(re-download the game).

3) Create a Steam forums account and post in their Hardware section, they will be able to determine the problem more thoroughly and provide a more significant answer.

Also, system requirements lab isn't always 100% accurate, most hardware junkies like myself hate it, it does give a decent overall view but the game can't determine resolution nor any future updates/GPU drivers used, hence it will have a very high or a very low standard. If you do plan on posting in the Steam Forums, please provide your full system specs from using 2 programs.

CPUz;
cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

GPU-z
techpowerup.com/gpuz/

When posting on the Hardware section about a computer problem, it's really complementary to provide full system specifications because we can't determine anything until we see what you're using. I saw this thread earlier and I couldn't post/help because you didn't list your system, I saw new posts from Terran Ghost and Nugeddi asking questions and system specs so I waited until now to give me view.

Good luck.

Also to check your current Nvidia driver right-click on your desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel. From the NVIDIA Control Panel menu, select Help > System Information. The driver version is listed at the top of the Details window. For more advanced users, you can also get the driver version number from the Windows Device Manager. Right-click on your graphics device under display adapters and then select Properties. Select the Driver tab and read the Driver version. The last 5 digits are the NVIDIA driver version number.


*EDIT*
It's my bros bday today so I won't be able to assist you for a couple hours. Good luck and I'll try and be back asap.