I just wanted to let Shrapnel know that I have confirmed that my own particular problem is NOT a bad disk. It is a code problem with the CD check of the CD driver letter.
Since I never use my CD writer to install software, I thought it would be safe to try remapping the drive from S: to H: and re-install the game to see if it would then work. Based on own suspicions and what Phoenix-D tried yesterday to confirm them, Any drive letter below J: should work.
Sure enough, after installing it from the remapped H: drive, the game now starts and runs just fine on my system.
I've not seen anything posted here from Shrapnel or MM confirming this, but based on my own experience, I think it's now pretty safe to say that this particular problem is indeed the CD check on all those PC systems whose CD drive letters are mapped greater than J:
-ColdSteel