OK,

I have the problem fixed. Here's what I did:

1 Uninstall game completely
2 Run CCleaner to rid the registry of any items related to RTW
3 Manually scan registry using "activision," "creative assembly," and "Rome Total War." Remove references as they are found.
4 Used XP Manager to scan the registry again
5 Cleaned all temp installation files from Documents and Settings temp sub-dir
6 Ran WindowWasher to kill off any temp or install file pointers I may have missed.
7 Reinstalled and specified c:\Program Files\TotalWar . . . \ instead of c:\Program Files\Activision . . . \
8. Applied patch 1.1
9. Applied patch 1.2 with fingers crossed (yaay! it worked)
10. Installed bug fixer 1.1 and 1.5
11. Proceeded to tromp on some Gallic booty!

Cheers,

Alcibiades