Post patch crash and uninstall problem

[17pounder]

Hi, I'm a newbie using the CD version of WINSPWW2.
My game ran fine on a direct install from the CD until I patched it. I applied the patches in order and shutting down and restarting PC after each, to allow things to settle. So I install 1.1B, 2 and 2.5, and then find that, after launching the program, I press on "Play SPWW2" it crashes straight to Desktop.
Several tries after reboot come to the same result. My drive has no errors,recently defragged and cpu/system temperature all ok.
As the game won't run, I decide to uninstall and reinstall. The uninstall program starts and stops with an error message about insufficient memory to perform the task (I have 768MB RAM, and at least 80% free so this is wierd!)All the uninstaller seems to have done is remove the uninstall shortcut from the WINSPWW2 folder in "Start/Programs"!
I think my only way forward is to manually delete the WINSPWW2 folder and its contents and try a reinstall adding one patch at a time to verify it still works. Any advice much appreciated! (Has anyone else tried the uninstaller after patching with all 3 patches?)

Thanks,

17 Pounder