Johnno,
LOL...I have 3 things in my "tray"...volume control, LAN, and the "safely remove hardware" thingy. I have a seperate Hardware Profile I use for gaming that has the bare necessities (services) running and nothing more.
Whatever the SH3 cause of the "slow down", it is definitely aggravated by WAC and , perhaps, SH3Gen. So...since we can't really pin it down I guess I'll do some experimentation (full WAC and no SH3Gen data, "light" WAC and SH3Gen, etc.).
I know my 3+ year old Alienware is in need of replacement...but I just can't justify the expense every time technology takes a forward leap!!
Vic