Ok. So, I'm having pretty much exactly the same problem so there's no reason to start a new thread.
I bought a copy and installed the game and everything went like it should. i changed the locale, i updated the direct x, i downloaded the AppLocale to try and help, i downloaded the cccp, Every time I try and open the game it comes up with a black screen for a few seconds and then crashes. The only thing I can think of would be to uninstall and try again? I don't know what else to do, does anyone have any advice?