this may seem off topic, but just wait for the details.

i have just purchased Civilisation 3. so i downloaded the latest patch 1.29f before installing it.

i installed the game earlier this evening on my home winXP pro machine, and then installed the patch before loading the game.

i then loaded the game for about 5 min, just to make sure it ran OK.

then i closed the game, and went on line.

this is where the problems started to show up. getright 4.5 now crashes when ever i try to start or resume a download.

i had the 4.5d patch in hand, so i installed that, and getright will no longer even load *STRESS*

on my first reboot after installing the game (20 minutes after install had finished, hoping this would fix the getright problem) Tab Launchpad gained 3 extra tabs. one was the tasks tab, and two were unwanted empty ones. i didn't do this, it just happened its self *MORE STRESS*

skinbrowswer crashes when i try to load it

Advanced System Agent now crashes on load (worked fine before)

Offline Explorer Pro has lost all details of the projects i was working on. *EVEN MORE STRESS*

i uninstalled the Civ3 patch, no difference.
i uninstalled Civ3, no difference.
i rebooted, no difference.

getting desperate, and VERY upset now, so i am off to try a system restore. any one got any suggestions on what to do at this point?