[Darryl Ramm]

I was not claiming this would change the behavior, I was giving you a work around. *every* time you start Pro Tools First, hold down N and set what you need, thats often quicker that trying to use PT then finding the playback engine settings are wrong.

I (and most other users here) do not use First, and almost all of us use an ASIO compatible dedicated audio interface when running on Windows, it's totally unclear what actual interface you have. Pro Tools of all types losing it's mind about what the last interface used was is not uncommon.