Logically it's either a problem with your machine or with Vue. If everything else works OK, then IMHO it's not likely to be a machine issue. The fan thing could be right, but would be much more likely to manifest when the machine is hot. If you turn on from cold and run Vue immediately, and the problem still occurs, then I would not have thought a failed fan is likely (and Poser would probably do the same thing - rendering in Poser really cranks up my machine's fans).

I assume you have your latest video card drivers installed and that you are virus- and spyware-free.

In the end, although you say that you have re-installed Vue, have you re-downloaded it and tried a fresh install? I'm thinking maybe a corrupted download could do this.

Steve