Windows standalone hangs up when accessing sample files

Hi there - I'm encountering a new problem with a Windows standalone that had been working fine for the last couple years. It is an interactive sample-based instrument that has several directories of soundfiles which are loaded into buffers, some into single [buffer~] objects and others as sets with [polybuffer~]. Recently users are reporting that the Windows version is extremely slow to load (taking more than a minute, sometimes failing to load at all). I have started doing my own testing and am finding the same issue, both in the standalone version and even now when I am opening the original application in Max. Specifically, I can replicate the issue when I am switching 'instruments', which loads new sounds into buffers. Depending on the instrument setting, it might load between 12 and 72 short soundfiles. The patch freezes for a while (maybe up to 30 seconds or so), then eventually picks back up and is operational again. When last previously tested, maybe a year or so back, everything ran smoothly, and since then there have been no changes to the patch.

Does anyone know if something has changed in the last year (+/-) with Windows and Max that would effect the speed at which files are loaded into a buffer? Or have any other insights as to what might have changed?

System/software specs as tested: Windows 10 v1803 (OS Build 17134.648), Max 7.3.5.