Yes, come to think of it...there was an automatic update of my anti-virus software just b4 the problem manifested.
Anyway, I fixed the problem by simply rebooting my computer even without reconfiguring my updated anti-virus software.
Yep, the old reboot did it again ! Dunno how many times "rebooting" has done the trick for me on both MFP problems and non_MFP problems.
Why can't the fix for other life's problems be as simple as that !?