I finally found a fix for this problem. I used Windows Control Panel to DISABLE all sound devices except for the one I was using.
I was using the Quad Capture 1&2 device and I disabled a Realtek device and an NVIDIA High Def Audio device.
I harken back to having a problem like this before and (although I'm not going to confirm this) I think the key was disabling the NVIDIA device that gets installed with the NVIDIA graphics drivers. I'm sure I updated my graphics drivers in the interim and that was when I upset my system.
rjn's post in Cakewalk stuck loading a project was marked as the answer