I had a similar problem with the game. After playing for months without problems, suddenly game refused to start when I clicked the play button and froze the computer.

It also froze computer when I tried to uninstall using the disc. Windows add/remove progs also refused to uninstall saying install file missing or corrupted.

I contacted support web site. They said to remove game manually. Part of this involves removing it from the registry. I have not tried this yet as I do not like the thought of messing with the registry.