To start with, after installing the patch I had the .dll error. That one was no problem, I updated the latest version of directX and it went away. But now I can't even run Rome at all, getting an error message. Details from the appcompat.txt file:
I attempted uninstalling and reinstalling the game. No dice, after I uninstalled the game, I was completely unable to reinstall it. It went through the install process and at the end said: Europa Universalis Rome was not installed then Rome: Vae Victis was not installed...
That forced me to reboot to an earlier version of windows. But it still doesn't work despite that and I'm afraid that if I uninstall it again, I'll be completely unable to make it work. God I hate windows.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<DATABASE>
<EXE NAME="romegame.exe" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_PRIVACY">
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="unins000.exe" SIZE="695578" CHECKSUM="0x710091A4" BIN_FILE_VERSION="51.49.0.0" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="0.0.0.0" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Setup/Uninstall" FILE_VERSION="51.49.0.0" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x4" VERFILETYPE="0x1" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x0" LINKER_VERSION="0x60000" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="51.49.0.0" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="0.0.0.0" LINK_DATE="06/19/1992 22:22:17" UPTO_LINK_DATE="06/19/1992 22:22:17" VER_LANGUAGE="Language Neutral [0x0]" />
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="unins001.exe" SIZE="1197507" CHECKSUM="0xECC3317C" BIN_FILE_VERSION="51.1052.0.0" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="0.0.0.0" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Setup/Uninstall" FILE_VERSION="51.1052.0.0" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x4" VERFILETYPE="0x1" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x0" LINKER_VERSION="0x60000" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="51.1052.0.0" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="0.0.0.0" LINK_DATE="06/10/2010 14:33:52" UPTO_LINK_DATE="06/10/2010 14:33:52" VER_LANGUAGE="Language Neutral [0x0]" />
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="Rome.exe" SIZE="49152" CHECKSUM="0xCABC91A7" BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.0" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.0" PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.0" FILE_DESCRIPTION="launcher" COMPANY_NAME="Paradox Interactive" PRODUCT_NAME="launcher" FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.0" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="launcher.exe" INTERNAL_NAME="launcher.exe" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="Copyright © Paradox Interactive 2006" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x4" VERFILETYPE="0x1" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x0" LINKER_VERSION="0x0" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.0" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.0" LINK_DATE="07/20/2010 06:39:01" UPTO_LINK_DATE="07/20/2010 06:39:01" VER_LANGUAGE="Language Neutral [0x0]" />
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="RomeGame.exe" SIZE="7954432" CHECKSUM="0x57883EE8" BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.0" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.0" PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Rome" COMPANY_NAME="Paradox Interactive" PRODUCT_NAME="Europa Universalis: Rome" FILE_VERSION="1.0" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="romegame.exe" INTERNAL_NAME="ROME" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="Copyright © 2008" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x40004" VERFILETYPE="0x1" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x797619" LINKER_VERSION="0x0" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.0" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.0" LINK_DATE="07/19/2010 14:26:33" UPTO_LINK_DATE="07/19/2010 14:26:33" VER_LANGUAGE="Swedish [0x41d]" />
</EXE>
<EXE NAME="kernel32.dll" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_THISFILEONLY">
<MATCHING_FILE NAME="kernel32.dll" SIZE="989696" CHECKSUM="0x2D998938" BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781" PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Windows NT BASE API Client DLL" COMPANY_NAME="Microsoft Corporation" PRODUCT_NAME="Microsoft® Windows® Operating System" FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781 (xpsp_sp3_gdr.090321-1317)" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="kernel32" INTERNAL_NAME="kernel32" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved." VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x40004" VERFILETYPE="0x2" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0xFE572" LINKER_VERSION="0x50001" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781" LINK_DATE="03/21/2009 14:06:58" UPTO_LINK_DATE="03/21/2009 14:06:58" VER_LANGUAGE="English (United States) [0x409]" />
</EXE>
</DATABASE>
I attempted uninstalling and reinstalling the game. No dice, after I uninstalled the game, I was completely unable to reinstall it. It went through the install process and at the end said: Europa Universalis Rome was not installed then Rome: Vae Victis was not installed...
That forced me to reboot to an earlier version of windows. But it still doesn't work despite that and I'm afraid that if I uninstall it again, I'll be completely unable to make it work. God I hate windows.