Of course, should have mentioned
.
Yes, I have tried safe mode as well. Stops booting when first startup screen (B/W with white bar) has finished.
So no luck there.
Additionally, it might be good to add that no hadrware/software changes had been made which could have caused this behavior. Is there a new virus around that could have caused this? I do have a firewall & Antivirus, but you never know...