Whether the OP has updated Windows or drivers or not, what puzzles me is why the problems start suddenly if no changes have been made to system in years. If something has changed "by itself" my first thought would be getting the setup to the state preceeding this change, instead of starting to update. But I guess you can't do it if you don't know what has changed.
My system hasn't been updated for 5 years, and it works like a swiss clock. If some new VST I try causes problems, I simply remove it. That is a downside of my policy, of course.

Kalle Rantaaho
Whether the OP has updated Windows or drivers or not, what puzzles me is why the problems start suddenly if no changes have been made to system in years. If something has changed "by itself" my first thought would be getting the setup to the state preceeding this change, instead of starting to update. But I guess you can't do it if you don't know what has changed.
My system hasn't been updated for 5 years, and it works like a swiss clock. If some new VST I try causes problems, I simply remove it. That is a downside of my policy, of course.

Please see my second post. Freezing is generally a driver issue or something that has been done to trigger a driver issue like windows update. The solution more often than not is to update the driver. Yup possible it's hardware and firmware should be updated, maybe run some tests. And yup check the plugins. All good advice that should be taken here anyway.

Alex I tend to agree with Kalle in this particular case, otherwise yes people need to maintain their computers. 
Why on earth would updating Window matter in a case where one has a system that runs without issues for a few years and is disconnected from the internet.  I build my DAW, bring everything up to date at that time , pull the LAN cable, move it to the studio. There can be no problems because you did all the right things to begin with. I'll actually say that re connecting to the internet  might be asking for trouble. 
Using another computer keep an eye out for driver updates for your interface. Most interfaces never release more than one or 2 in their lifespan. 
 
I would like to hear back from the OP about this: 
 
 I started a backup of the projects just in case.  The backup is running without issues...the PC is running fine.  I'm backing up about 131GB.  It's about 1/2 way done ... 55 mins. remaining.
 
If this is one project file then there is the issue. 
And it shouldn't take 2 hours to back up 200 Gigs..my old system only takes about 20 min internally drive to drive. A little slower via USB 3.0. If he's using USB 2.0 and a 5600 RPM external possibly so. 
 
My guess is a rat's nest in the Plug in dept. 
 

First, thanks so much to everyone for trying to help.  I truly appreciate ALL responses...THANKS!
 
The 131GB includes ALL projects.  The backup took about an 1.25 hours to an external USB drive...no issues.
 
I did a few things to try and resolve the issue:
 
1) I have a thumb drive that acts as a dongle for Wave Labs.  At one point I had moved it from one USB port to another.  I did not get any obvious errors, however, when I looked at Windows event log to resolve the current issue I saw a "Side by Side" error referring to Wave Labs.  I'm not sure what that is but I moved the thumb drive back to the original USB port and the error disappeared...strange.
2)  I rebooted my MOTU interface, A/D converter and preamp.
3)  I performed a chkdsk /F but did not see any errors reported or corrected.
4)  I reloaded the project and played the loop, without doing a recording, and the project played without issue.
 
It got late and I was unable to test the original failure scenario.  I will do that tonight.  If I have the same issues I will start trying some of the suggestions posted here.

THANKS for the update.
 
I look forward to hearing back on the additional testing you are planning to perform.  :)
 
Bob Bone
 

Side by side error is most likely C++ libraries being out of date, see here for example (note it may be a different version of C++ you have the error with.

https://www.ableton.com/en/articles/sidebyside/

So you need to
a) Make sure that waves plugin is on the latest version.
b) Make sure C++ libraries patches are up to date via windows update. Check the optional updates as well. You might need to run it more than once. I would recommend updating all of it myself but backup first.

By all means do what you intend to do first.

I recorded a guitar line tonight without issue.  I must have made around 40 takes in a loop without a single problem.  I'm not sure which of my fixes (1, 2 or 3) I implemented was "the" fix but one of them worked.  Oh yeah, the "side by side" error has not returned.  In fact, Windows Event Viewer is clean as a whistle...only info entries.
 
Thanks again, everyone, for all of the suggestions.  This forum is the best!

Rockin' cheers....

Yes, Stienberg warn you not change ports for the E licencer. Good to know that as I have one too. What I do is put colored stickies above my rear ports that match the USB cables for each device.
The  USB E licence means I can now re do my system without the internet at all if I like. Before Wave lab was the only software I have that required on line activation.  
 

Sock Monkey - just remember that if you update Sonar or any other software, and have not been connected to the web for a long while, that you may have weird problems unless you also bring Windows up to current maintenance levels too.
 
Bob Bone