Yes the PG music apps master level controls are still working, and this is helpful for PTW and RB - not so much for Pro Tools.
I tried an msconfig bare bones startup, as well as Microsoft scannow, - those things did not help, and of course I've re-installed my Audio Drivers, asio4all, and PTW - Those things have not helped. I've loaded an early C Drive disk image from a time when there were no music programs yet installed on this PC and just installed PTW as a test, but surprisingly - this did not help. I'm beginning to suspect that this anomaly may be buried in the internals of this particular machine's operating system. If none of our helpers has mastered this particular bug before, what is left may be the "nuclear "option.
Thanks for your thoughts so far.