Need some help here getting frustrated to no end

Hi, I shut down my system as per usual earlier, when I booted it back up about an hour ago it loaded up normally however it goes on to stall within 30 seconds, first the task bar will stop working and then the entire system will freeze (however the mouse will still move) Ctr+Alt+Del doesn't work and the clock stops as well, the only thing that works is starting in safe mode as I am in now, I have not downloaded/visited any software or un trusted websites today, I am using a 64-bit system, I aquired windows 7 as a downloadable upgrade via Microsofts Student Discount offer, I HAVE run virus scans and nothing has been discovered, am getting to the end of my tether right now, any help is appriciated,
I think this is posted in the right area apologies if not

 

If things are working fine in safe mode, that should tell you alot. Means that a hardware driver or some other driver is screwing up. Have you done any driver updates today or recently?

One thing you could do is goto Start/run and type msconfig and disable all startup programs. (do not disable anything that says C:\Windows\system though)

If your computer boots fine after disabling all those, then it's just a matter of enabling one by one.

I would also check your event viewer under System to see if you are getting any warnings or errors. Accessed by going to my computer, right click and then manage.

 

How are we doing on this one?