Ok iv had a simmular kind of problem.. but it seems that it is from the same kind..
My problem was iv douwnloaded the no-cd patch... and replaced the exe.. ect.. on my version 1.0.. but , as i did that i saw that i needed an upgrade 1.1 and so i downloaded that one also.. so as i patched the game to 1.1 the game won't let me start it up !@! i went crazy... so what i did was , uninstalled the game and re-installed it ( dont 4get 2 copy your savegames or they will be gone) and also deleted all the maps including the map Codemasters, .. so i patch the game again and did not do the patch 'no-cd crack' and now the game is running again..
.. but with the dirffrence that i did 4get 2 backup my saves and lost all >
So their you have it , i think it will salve the problem.. if not let me know...
cya MuD...