Clicking Preview causes gray screen and acts as if something is "loading"

Good afternoon Community!

I have tried looking around the Community to this answer, but can't seem to find anything that helps. I am currently running 12.6.0.63, completely fresh install. I create a new project, put in a multi column text box with the default text and save the project. When I click on "Preview" it just goes over to a grayed out screen with the spinning loading icon, as if something is trying to load, but never does. If I attempt to exit the program (I can only click on the upper file bar at this point) it will ask me to save, but is hidden under the loading icon and will not allow anything, forcing me to Ctrl+Alt+Delete out.

• I have all the necessary firewall exceptions in place;
• I have tried to reset to factory with the utils;
• I have changed where I am saving files, from networked drives, to local drive, onedrive...anywhere I can think of;
• My licensing is up to date and works fine;
• I have uninstalled, deleted ALL registry keys related to this;
• This has happened to multiple computers, not just mine;
• If I go to an older version, like 12.4, things work fine.

Anyone else run into this issue and find a fix?

Thank you for your assistance!