Well would you believe it....the registry change appears to have solved the problem. I moved vmhgfs to the first item in the registry value and every just got a hurry on. Problem solved. I will continue to test and let you know of any further issues.
I will also try to regress my previous changes including VMW config, compressed folders and anti-virus to see if these also work fine.
Many thanks,
Tim
PS: I really appreciate such a dedicated and considered response on a community forum. Thanks Steve :-)