OK first Vanilla RTW runs fine. So does RTR (I installed it after EB wouldn't work and then uninstalled EVERYTHING and started over and same problem).
Filemon is not compatible with Vista (apparently) and so I used Process Monitor instead. Its supossed to be basically the same thing. I'll get back to that in a second. Also RAM I think is fine because EVERY other program runs great and without a hitch and also this crash isn't irratic. It is perfectly consistent. It happens midway through the loading of a new campaign with any faction. Ok so back to Process Monitor. I didn't really know what to include so I hust captured a whole bunch and then slected the last bit before and then some after the crash:

457767 10:29:27.7403650 AM RomeTW.exe 2228 CreateFile C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\terrain\aerial_map\tree_models\eb_CONIFER_A_IMPASSABLE_WINTER.CAS SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
457768 10:29:27.7403968 AM RomeTW.exe 2228 QueryStandardInformationFile C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\terrain\aerial_map\tree_models\eb_CONIFER_A_IMPASSABLE_WINTER.CAS SUCCESS AllocationSize: 4,096, EndOfFile: 1,606, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False
457769 10:29:27.7404066 AM RomeTW.exe 2228 ReadFile C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\terrain\aerial_map\tree_models\eb_CONIFER_A_IMPASSABLE_WINTER.CAS SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 1,606, Priority: Normal
457770 10:29:27.7404392 AM RomeTW.exe 2228 CloseFile C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\terrain\aerial_map\tree_models\eb_CONIFER_A_IMPASSABLE_WINTER.CAS SUCCESS
457772 10:29:27.7405628 AM RomeTW.exe 2228 CreateFile C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\terrain\aerial_map\tree_models\palm_B.CAS SUCCESS Desired Access: Generic Read, Disposition: Open, Options: Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: Read, Write, AllocationSize: n/a, OpenResult: Opened
457773 10:29:27.7405962 AM RomeTW.exe 2228 QueryStandardInformationFile C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\terrain\aerial_map\tree_models\palm_B.CAS SUCCESS AllocationSize: 4,096, EndOfFile: 3,605, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False
457774 10:29:27.7406058 AM RomeTW.exe 2228 ReadFile C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\terrain\aerial_map\tree_models\palm_B.CAS SUCCESS Offset: 0, Length: 3,605, Priority: Normal
457775 10:29:27.7406443 AM RomeTW.exe 2228 CloseFile C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\terrain\aerial_map\tree_models\palm_B.CAS SUCCESS
457793 10:29:27.7496368 AM svchost.exe 888 Thread Create SUCCESS Thread ID: 408
457794 10:29:27.7498016 AM svchost.exe 888 RegOpenKey HKLM SUCCESS Desired Access: Maximum Allowed, Granted Access: All Access
457795 10:29:27.7498234 AM svchost.exe 888 RegOpenKey HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender NAME NOT FOUND Desired Access: Read
457796 10:29:27.7498374 AM svchost.exe 888 RegCloseKey HKLM SUCCESS
457797 10:29:27.7498486 AM svchost.exe 888 RegOpenKey HKLM SUCCESS Desired Access: Maximum Allowed, Granted Access: All Access
457798 10:29:27.7498592 AM svchost.exe 888 RegOpenKey HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender SUCCESS Desired Access: Read/Write
457799 10:29:27.7498738 AM svchost.exe 888 RegCloseKey HKLM SUCCESS
457800 10:29:27.7501204 AM lsass.exe 588 RegOpenKey HKLM\SECURITY\Policy SUCCESS Desired Access: Read/Write
457801 10:29:27.7501344 AM lsass.exe 588 RegOpenKey HKLM\SECURITY\Policy\SecDesc SUCCESS Desired Access: Read
457802 10:29:27.7501476 AM lsass.exe 588 RegQueryValue HKLM\SECURITY\Policy\SecDesc\(Default) BUFFER OVERFLOW Length: 12
457803 10:29:27.7501577 AM lsass.exe 588 RegCloseKey HKLM\SECURITY\Policy\SecDesc SUCCESS
457804 10:29:27.7501665 AM lsass.exe 588 RegOpenKey HKLM\SECURITY\Policy\SecDesc SUCCESS Desired Access: Read


So anyway, all the RTW stuff appears to be running ok but then there is some OS glitch or something. I wouldn't really know, I'm just going off of the success verus otherwise status area. I would love a more expert opinion and a solution if possible. Thanks so much for all your time.
-Harald