Jim:
Thank you very much for the response.
I did as you suggested, my install disk wouldn't go to repair unless I reinstalled the old version first. I did that, then turned off the anti-virus etc, did repair through the install disk, still didn't take care of the problem. Then I updated to latest version, still had the problem, then did repair through the install/uninstall dialog in Windows and that didn't take care of the problem.
I'm thinking some sort of Windows registry or DLL has gotten hosed. I am working on alternatives to do the vinyl conversions I'm doing. A pity too, because other than a few odd wrinkles in the software, me and Sound Editor were establishing a beautiful relationship. I think to fix this I'll either need to know the exact registry file of DL library that is messed up or I'll need to do a clean reinstall of Windows which I'm not prepared to do. If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them, then I'll think about contacting Roxio directly.
Thanks again for your help.