As much as I enjoyed watching this thread fall out of sight, I am going to wake it up again to update because I have some good news for those that are still struggling...
My installation of J River Media Center is now stable. I wiped my system and started fresh Last Thursday night and it has been running ever since without a hiccup. I am methodically (and patiently) making changes to settings to customize my installation to my liking, watching for stability every step of the way. I am logging everything I do so I know exactly what I've done should something start acting up.
The good news is not that my installation is stable, but that you can have a terrible experience such as mine and still have hope. If you are struggling and out of options, but determined, you’ll get there. If you have the ability to do so, don’t be afraid to start from scratch, preferably from a retail (clean) version of Windows.
Good luck, and thanks again everybody for your help.