I looked into that possibility and didn't find any liklihood that NOD32 was conflicting with Windows 10. The more likely scenario is that Win10 was unable to adjust from swapping motherboards, which included a switch from a H67 to Z77 chipsets. I don't fully fault Windows because its not detecting the version of my motherboard so how could it know which chipset drivers to install. But even after I install them there's something else going on obviously (maybe its a hardware issue, but I hope not).
So I just performed a clean install of Win 10 64bit. I am updating the installation and installing a bare minimum of drivers. I am relying on Windows Defender at first to test your suggestion. Many say its an adequate AV solution. I will update if I get a blue screen over the next few days, or close the thread by the end of the week. Fingers crosses and many thanks for your help - I couldn't have come to this conclusion without your guidance.