Hi cyberjunkee,
Interestingly the seasickness producing effects have stopped.
I think your initial comments about CCC were on the money and I may have gone overboard removing the primary and secondary drivers. I will reinstall them.
I have previously had doubts about Hydravision, and as I have a TV card (still waiting for a geeky friend to return from holiday so I can sort out the antenna issue, but that is another saga) I may leave it in place.
I did reinstall from the chipset driver, but the computer is over 2 years old, so the drivers were at least that old. The primary and secondary drivers I got via Driver Agent and they seem to be up to date.
Driver Agent are a bit odd, there is another driver which they say needs updating; for my mouse, and I have to register to get that one, which means they will ask for $. Last time I used them they wanted $29 for a printer driver I got free from the Canon site.
I can't find hidden devices with my task manager, are you using XP Pro?

Good newss then - got the spot of the problem nailed - use google for free download for your mouse / keyboard never a $ to be paid. Sharing knowledge can save unnneeded stress and cash D-A-L is one of the places you'll find and save both - any further problems pm me - Hopefully we've the problem sorted - P.S - never use TV cards - Hidden components are found under task manager > view > task manager > show hidden devices - shows all input / output even if it's not being used .

bit mashed - no i use vista but the basics are the same - always use task manager to seee for any error - if that can't fix it use the oem site - Windows XP has a .cab that has a library of drivers , but not always what you need . Good luck and hope the silicon god runs as well as it ever did

Bit mashed?
Don't worry about the Driver Agent thing, last time they went to ask for money for a driver I just went to the Canon webpage and got the driver for free.
Where to hunt for a driver for a Microsoft mouse, sorry HID? Although the mouse works fine so I don't consider this an urgent issue.
What is your problem with TV cards? Until I sort the antenna issue I am only using it as a capture card, but once it is able to receive all the TV signals available locally it has the ability to record to HDD or DVD. It will be a virtual VCR, or DVD recorder. Seems kind of handy. (I am presently copying stuff from VHS to digital, that is why I wanted a capture card, and mein Gott in Himmel it is making the big project of converting vinyl to digital look like a walk in the park!) A whole new suite of jargon, "what do you demux with?" The degree of difficulty is much higher, and being able to record to HDD or DVD directly (capture card a lot cheaper than a DVD recorder) has great appeal.