CTD on menu open?

Hi all-

Big SE fan, and just d/l the demo. I have an odd thing happening and want to see if I'm alone space, or if there are others out there with similar issues.

First off:
I have a xp2400, with 1g ram, Radeon 9700pro and a Audigy 2 soundcard. Getting a bit old now, but she still runs well enough...All drivers are up to date. (have the catalyst drivers for the radeon)

The issue is every time I open the menu (with the esc key after starting ANY game- quick start or other-) I get a HARD crash (reboots actually). I had found the settings file in the data folder, and put sound and music = FALSE, thinking it was a sound issue since the music starting skipping right before it reboots. That didn't help either. I've tried every setting adjustment on the main screen before you start a game and still as soon as I open the menu: boom!!! I can get as far as the opening sector with the sun and planets, can rotate around, and can get into the ship builder but if i try to place any component it also crashes.

The really wierd thing is I can install on my old pIII800 laptop and it runs OK.

I'm not sure if I have a hardware issue (my vid card IS getting old...) or if it is related to the catalyst drivers from ATI. I had got a warning about 'unable to draw canvass'error or something similar. (can't remember it exactly...)

Any one else? Suggestions? What I played of SEV on my laptop was fun and would love to play on my main desktop. Not to mention I'm a bit phaser-shy of plunkin down $$ if it's not going to run....

-Z