I'm getting very long application load times for both Skyrim and the CK.

From the Library, I click launch and the Options menu pops up right away, but when I click play, it now takes 5-10 minutes for the screen to go black and resize(!!!!) and another 2-3 minutes for the main menu to appear. Defintately NOT savegame/mod related. Its also not the Steeam launcher as it happens when I launch from SKSE or manually for that matter. Looking at the TES5.exe task shows its running around 11% for a lonnnnng time, then suddenly it bursts to 100% just before the main menu appears.

When I Verify Integrity, one file is downloaded every single time - no clue which one, but It doesnt make a difference anyway. I also tried trashing the ClientRegistry.blob... no avail. A similar issue is happening with the CK... the window pops up but it gets stuck on "Archive" for ten minutes, then when I actually try to load my mod it's stuck on "Skyrim.esm" at 11% for another 15 minutes.

Both apps failed at the same time, so I think the issues are related. Both also seem to have started failing when I installed new nVidia drivers trying to fix another issue. (I have since rolled back.. again to no avail: Skyrim also tends to hang, CTD or even BSOD after 20 minutes of playing which I've tracked down to the card overheating).

Looking for any suggestions before I format the whole damn drive...