Lee, I know you're getting run through the wringer with all these suggestions. Clearly this problem is unique to your Windows 7 PC, and not easy to solve.

About the ESET antivirus, I see after searching that this is legit. However, it isn't known here so I still suspect it. You said you tested "with ESET software disabled". That could mean two things: you 'turn it off' temporarily, or actually uninstall it. I'm guessing you did the former, but parts of it could still be resident and causing the problem. Try uninstalling the ESET program, assuming you have the installation DVD or downloaded .EXE setup file and can restore it later. Then reboot. Then see what BIAB does.


BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors