Sonar X3 closing Preferences window causes crash

Update: Just opening and closing the preferences/ metronome window crashes Sonar.
 
I opened an existing project and checked the metronome window; both "record" and "play" boxes were checked.
Then I closed the window and it crashed as described above.
 
Win 7 Pro
Intel Core i7-3770 @ 3.40 GHz, 3.40 GHz
16 GB RAM
64 bit op sys
Lynx Aurora 16 ADC w/ AES16e card

A video problem would be my first guess, but the only way to know is to look at the crash dump. You may be able to get actionable information from the Windows Event Viewer or from a crash dump analyzer such as the free WinDbg utility from Microsoft, or the also free WhoCrashed tool from Resplendence (the folks who gave us LatencyMon).
 
If you're unfamiliar with crash dumps, read this.
 
Here's an old thread where I posted some instructions for using windbg: http://forum.cakewalk.com/SONAR-serviceswhat-to-kill-when-SONAR-crashes-m3036636.aspx
 
[EDIT] On second thought, I don't think WhoCrashed can see SONAR dumps, just Windows dumps.
 

WinDbg apparently doesn't work with Win 7

Bitflipper mentions Latency Monitor above... have you run that? This sounds like background processes interfering. 
You should not have to run with more than a 256 Buffer on your system. Actually going too high can cause trouble I do believe. 
 
http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon
 
 

This is a post from Scook I copied and pasted from another thread:
 
I used Windows Control Panel > System > Device Manager > Sound, video and game Controllers  and disabled everything I do not use.

 
I found, to my surprise that "Intel Display Audio" and "Realtek High Definition audio", neither of which I ever use, were enabled.
 
I disabled them, and the crashes have stopped.
 
I'm not sure if that was the solution or it's just a coincidence.

Thanks, Chuckebaby.