MaxQ -

Regrettably, things are never as simple as they should/could be. My machine is part of a fairly large LAN and the cache isn't available to me for manipulation (at least I think it isn't). Guess I'll try a few more things - like booting up without logging on - and see if that gives any hint of being progress. If not I'll just just ignore the cookie crumbs.

In any case, thanks for the suggestion; I'll explore it.