Premiere Pro hangs at "Initialization" when loading old projects - Audio/Driver issues ruled out

I'm facing a specific freezing issue in Premiere Pro 2026 where the software fails to initialize hardware for existing data:

1. Opening Existing Projects: It gets stuck on the "Initialization..." screen indefinitely.

2. Accessing Preferences: The app freezes immediately when clicking the Preferences menu.

3. Closing the App: It becomes unresponsive when saving and exiting.

4. Key Note: Creating and working on a "New Project" works perfectly fine. The issue only triggers when loading old projects or accessing hardware settings.

Troubleshooting Already Done:

• Audio: Ruled out. All audio input devices have been disabled in Windows.

• GPU Drivers: Reinstalled. Updated to the latest NVIDIA Studio Driver.

• Reset: Tried resetting preferences and clearing the media cache, but the problem persists.

System Specs:

• OS: Windows 10

• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650