TBD,
Thanks for looking into it. It appears the problem had nothing to do with LightUp. It is solved now but I still don't know what was actually causing it. I don't remember which script was the last to be installed. MIght have been FreeScale update or Chris's Perpendicular face or some other.
I started uninstalling scripts one by one in alphabetical order (using Ashampoo Uninstaller) aiming to completely reinstall SketchUp. I would try to fire up SketchUp every now and then, and it suddenly stopped bugsplatting! I don't have any tyime at the moment to look more closely into it, maybe later. The toolbars were all over the place when SketchUp finally did open. It seems coincedental that bugsplatting started on the last day of LightUp Demo.
It might have something to do with what registry entries Ashampoo Uninstaller saved after LightUp installation. I would have moved toolbars around to place LightUp toolbar where I wanted it. So perhaps when Ashampoo reverted back to pre-LightUp state it also removed some of those registry entries relating to the new toolbar positions of OTHER scripts.