For anyone who could not get a similar fix to work, or who tried the widescreen fix or the config databases to no sucess, I found that putting the files from the ENB dx8-9 converter into the EXE folder allowed me to launch the game in Win 7. It seems like the DX8 dll did not install in the first place so the game would never get past the fatal error.

http://enbdev.com/convertor_dx8_dx9_v0036.htm