Smart CAT Loosing Connectivity with SMART SMETER and HRD When Changing Bands

I am running SSDR 3.8.20 with a Flex 8600. I have two COM Ports 5 and 8 set up to talk to Smart S-Meter and Ham Radio Deluxe (latest version) respectively. Since going to the 8600 (from a 6600 and the then current version of SSDR 3.X.y), I have been unable to maintain serial comms. The interruption happens when I change bands. To change bands, I need to close all programs including SSDR 3.8.20, restart SSDR on the new band. I may then restart HRD and Smart S-Meter and everything talks fine. UPDATE… it appears that everything is set to right when I close and reopen Smart CAT.

I am running everything on a Dell 8700, I7 12 GB RAM under Windows 10. I have run Windows Repair to fix any corrupted code or tables. Still the problem persists. This did not occur when running my 6600 with SSDR 3.4.whatever on the same computer, OS, etc.

Any ideas? Thanks and 73