THANK YOU!!!!! The Broadcom wireless LAN tray service was indeed the culprit... disabled it, problem solved. Thanks a million, I owe you a cold one if you're ever in N Jersey
Another example of why it's not necessarily a good thing to install every bit of software that is provided by OEMs. I usually install little more than device drivers, as many utilities offered by OEMs are just bloatware without any real benefit (and they possibly break stuff). I'm afraid I won't be able to take you up on your offer though as I'm across the pond.