She Has Come Back!
ETO requires patience and persistence to install and maintain. My PTO , MAW, DPC setups were by far less of a headache to install and run. Apart from a 'clean install' of CFS3 (definately without Wings of Power), deleting files and initializations, all of which takes hours of patient labor if one has to bad fortune I probably brought on myself, ETO 1.20 is nonetheless a rewarding end to a long campaign. The instruction guide, measured with my experience installing MAW 1.31, turned a four-day install campaign to my favor.
However, I have learned NOT to randomly select aircraft or mission files as the SDK committee of ETO has very strict rules. I have rogue Mosquitos and B17Fs plaguing CFS3 and some 27 planes or variants in MAW that interrupt game launches. By a thorough re-install of ETO and PTO, both launch with no fuss anymore.
As for my system, it has reached its age. New games, whether truly compliant or not, require dual and sometimes quad core processors. I believe that this is probably due to poor code assembly work that requires a processor core to deal with the ROW while the main core deals uniquely with the application. Graphics are now going to 512Mb to 1Gb VRAM. My only remaining benefit is 3Gb of DRAM, more than a required base for VISTA or System7, more than operationally required for XP-32, yet enough to give some 'offset' for the CPU. So, I will cultivate my own remaining garden.
Fear not 'Hairy Spin' my HD is not overly crowded. XP-32bit 'demands' about 24Gb of area outside its installed base as an operational cushion. So, I have about 50Gb more free space.
Yet apart from the misadventures, all ended well. By pointing me in the right direction, the kind gentleman from Saratoga 'brought my horse home'
I won the race and 'Lily Marlene' now plays in ERA1, followed by Winston Churchill in ERA2.