So, my Dell Inspiron 3542 just restarted on its own, and once I got signed back in and restored my Chrome, I noticed that every time I scroll, little clear boxes pop up all over my screen. I made no change to my touchpad settings, and I'm currently UPDATING my drivers. In CASE that doesn't clear things up, are there any ideas of what could be causing this? you're on the same track I would be with updating your video drivers as the first thing to try.

for good measure, check the touchpad drivers too.
and also try another browser and/or check you have the latest Chrome.I updated all my drivers last night. This morning when I booted it up, it ACTUALLY worked properly for around twenty minutes before it started freezing up, then resumed with the boxes. I'm thinking it has something to do with the touch keyboard. The icon POPPED up on my toolbar last night, even though the service is disabled. potentially a FAILING video card as it gets hotter.
is it an onbaord graphics card or an add-on?

what do you means by touch keyboard?
if keyboard suspected, swapping that will easily prove one way or the other if you're on the right track.