My primary HTPC has been running just fine for about four years now (I run it 24/7). Just this week it started doing this thing where when the PC is shut off or restarted it will not immediately move ...

So, something is amiss. The Intel NIC port is really slow to come up during a cold boot. Like 2-3 minutes before the network will come up. And the computer has to have been off for a long time... like ...