I took a chance and upgraded WaveLab Elements 7 to Elements 8 in the hope that the problem I had would be resolved. Although the upgrade price was reasonable, I still feel like a sucker.
Everything sounds great while the program is up; however, when I exit WaveLab, my audio card mutes, requiring me to click on the card icon in the Taskbar. To save trouble, I already checked the Task Manager - WaveLab is not hung up there.
I cannot understand why I can use my DVD/Blu-Ray Player, Windows Media Player, and SoundForge Audio Studio without this nagging bug rearing its ugly head. I now open the floor for discussion. Thanks!