I didn't actually try this yet, because I see that the problem is not limited to PDFs -- seems the problem lies a bit deeper?

It affects ALL files that DPX9 should be able to load, with the exception of .XAR files -- i.e., bitmap image files as well.

Uninstalling all the image manipulation software on my W7 PC would practically clear out everything I've got, so not sure where to go from here?