I post this topic as an uplifting story of the power of Google.
I had an issue on my brand new Windows 7 computer with Encore CS5 locking up, freezing, and crashing my system when I launched it. It would lock up at the
initializing transcoding part of the load. I'd have to power down the machine by holding the power button; I couldn't even shut Windows down properly.
WHAT TO DO???!?!?
Then I remembered; I have Google and the Adobe forums on my side!
I did a quick search and popped up some forum results and hey, PRESTO!
A solution.
All I had to do was disable my DVD drive in the Device Manager and launch Encore. It loaded with no problems. Then I could enable the DVD drive and life would carry on as normal with no more locking up problems.
A solution found in half a minute with a forum search! I didn't have to post and then wait a few hours for somebody to give me a suggestion.
There's a moral to this story somewhere...