Who would have THUNK it! the problem turned out to be with my sound board drivers (Audigy 2ZS), and found it just by accident.
In my search for a fix, I read nearly every topic in this board and adopted some of the great programs suggested (Dial-A-Fix, ERUNT, MEMTEST86+).
CCleaner runs nicely, no hang ups!
This matter is CLOSED!
KP