After reading your post I am looking for the updates. My system is Windows 7 pro, Intel i7 processor at 3.40ghz and 4gigs of ram. I run 32 bit. I'm not too tech savvy but I think those are the specs you're asking for.
The auto save files were the files not working. The NewProject file also would not work; I never got around to naming it outside the default.
The project is short, which is what I should have said originally. There were 2 layers of audio files and 1 video on the time line that I spliced for a storyboard. I've created projects similar to this just in the last few days with no issue. This time when it crashed, the auto save files and the new project file were not able to be ran.
I might just call those 3 hours lost and I'll make sure to check for updates this time. I had assumed incorrectly that when I installed the software it would auto update.
Thanks for the help.