I have to admit, some things *have* speeded up some - which is good...
Missing icons have reappeared on restart, audio is sweet again (yippee!) and after doing the rounds of plugging usb devices in - no issues at all...
In fact, it's running better now than it's ever run!
(thats not to say that some people may have some slight problems)
I ended up (in the end) last night uninstalling the sound card after downloading its drivers and then by letting windows find them again...
Simple thing to do is to back up your current drivers for essential stuff just to be on the safe side
(usb sticks are cheap enough these days.. and a worthwhile investment)
Had I remembered that earlier, I'd have been able to go to bed before 3am......
So yeah, everything here is running sweetly... as it should be doing...