Macbook Pro will not boot beyond grey screen.  System freezes.

My Macbook Pro will not boot-up or get beyond the grey screen (with spinning gear wheel.)  I've tried all the recommended actions: resetting PRAM, disk repair, permissions repair, re-boot in safe mode etc but still the problem persists.  When viewing the safe-boot in verbose mode, the system seems to hang at the stage when it's checking the Airport & Ethernet - the last line on the page reads: "AppleBCOM5701Ethernet:   0    0    setFixedSpeed - logic error, speed any?"
Any ideas how to fix this without doing an Archive & Install?
I'm assuming that if I do an "Archive & Install" then I will lose all my Applications (VLC, Handbrake, MS Office for Mac etc.)  Will this actually be the case?  Will I lose them.
Any help gratefully received.  Many thanks.

jfromplymouth wrote: ...I'm assuming that if I do an "Archive & Install" then I will lose all my Applications (VLC, Handbrake, MS Office for Mac etc.)  Will this actually be the case?  Will I lose them...
Archive and Install just affects the System files, so any apps you have  should still be available afterwards.  The Installer on the disk that  came  with your Mac, when you bought it, will tell you this before you  proceed.  Of course, you can always back out of the Installer if you feel chicken.
Notwithstanding it is still necessary to backup everything.  You need to check that Time Machine is set to also backup your Applications folder.  It might be set not to do this. 
It may not be necessary to worry about this if you have the original installer disc(s).  I think any stuff downloaded from iTunes etc can be re-downloaded.  However, it's probably quicker to get Time Machine to backup your apps if you can afford the HDD space.  It's bound to be quicker than re-downloading the stuff plus any updates.  And of course there's those Apps that you have but forgotten about.  What about them?

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