From what I have read, I believe the problem is that for some reason, the laptop's sound driver is not detecting the plug in the headphone jack when I power up but then unplugging it and reinserting it "wakes up" the driver to recognize it. An updated driver might fix that problem.

Regarding Matt's suggestion to use a USB sound card, I already have this Edirol interface:
UA-1EX USB Audio Interface. Will it work okay?

I used this interface a few years ago with an older laptop that had a lot of digital noise coming out of the headphone jack along with the BIAB signal. I stopped using it when I got my current laptop 2-3 years ago because the objectionable noise wasn't present in the newer computer and the sound quality seemed as good or better. I guess I can go back to using the interface. (Is that the same thing as the USB sound card that Matt suggested?)

Finally, do you think there would be any noticeable difference in sound quality between this Roland/Edirol interface I already have and the Focusrite interface Matt suggested?

Thanks again!

Jim
Psalm 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.

BIAB 2018 build 519; Dell Inspiron N4110, Windows 10 64 bit, Intel Core i3-2350m running at 2.29 GHz, Memory: 6 GB DDR3, SDRAM 1MHz