Mach 3 Crashing on Clicking Load G Code

Tried posting this in Artsoft forum and got crickets. Really hoping someone here may be able to point me in the right direction:

Been running a home built CNC router for years now using Mach 3 running on an old 32 bit computer operating on Windows 7 with a parallel port. Has always been completely reliable.

This weekend, fired the machine up. Can jog in all three axis just fine and interface all looks normal, but as soon as I hit “load g-code” the Mach 3 screen disappears. Gone! Have to restart the computer to try again with same result each time. Everything else seems to be running fine - AutoCAD 2000, Vectric Cut 2D & 3D, web browsers...

Have tried uninstalling Mach 3 (saved my license file and XML files), reinstalled but same thing still happens. Even went through hard drive and erased everything I could find related to Mach 3, defragged the drive, reinstalled Mach 3, and... same thing. Reluctant to go further (ie. format hard drive and start all over as don’t have any way to reinstall my old copy of AutoCAD 2000, or likely Win 7).

Searched around and found one post from back in 2011 that sounded similar but solution wasn’t complete and didn’t understand most of what was being discussed (warning - computer simpleton here!)

Help? Miss my machine! ????

Try deleting "C:\Mach3" folder and installing a fresh copy of Mach3 without your old XML files. Then try opening a G-code file. If it works, restore all your Mach3 settings manually (without copying the old XMLs).

If that does not work, then a clean Windows reinstall is probably the next step.

In general, running CAD programs, browsers and other stuff on the same computer as Mach3 is not the best idea. Mach3, especially running through the parallel port, wants to have its own dedicated computer.

There are special instructions for uninstalling Mach3 in the manual, that involve a mandatory reboot. If you don't follow them, it won't be completely uninstalled.
Also, make sure you use the latest version, and try updating your video drivers. That's all I can think of.

Thank you for the replies. Have previously tried reinstalling without any of my XML (or other) files. Will take a shot with the “uninstall with reboot option” and update.