Thanks to all, but it did take a backup, format, reinstall to get the bugger working correctly. Two nights ago, I was on the phone with the HP (Seattle, not India) help and we tried everything, looked at everything from software to hardware. For some reason, all they could figure out was the files for booting somehow got messed up.
We, HP and I, are wondering if it was a problem with the uninstall of IE7, Beta 2, with the install of the IE7, Beta 3 upgrade.
So, just to make sure, I'll stay with IE6 until the final IE7 is released.
So, last night did a reinstall and everything is working great. Two hours for a format, another 1.5 to install the standard software with the machine. Now, I'm slowly installing all the additional software I use.
If it happens again, they say they will just replace, but hopefully, it won't happen.