svk,
I'm running VE on XP64 with Frontier WaveCenter PCI cards -- which I suppose would have similar drivers to your Dakota. I've found that if I tried to launch VE 64 bit version, I would get a crash everytime with a mem dump having to do with the Frontier drivers.
This might work for you/it might not.... but try it if you havent'. Launch an instance of VE 32 bit first, then close it and launch the VE 64 bit. That solved my crashes. But I have to launch the 32 bit at least one time after booting the computer. After that, I can just launch the 64 bit.
I've sent an email with the mem dump attached to Frontier Design tech support, but have never heard back from them. If this solution works for you, you might send them an email with your memory dump attached.
Hope it helps,
Mahlon