Ok, the memory diagnostics found nothing. So I walked the dog and thought to myself . . . Try playing on my other pc that I used to use before I built this one 2 or 3 months ago. And just like I suspected, it fails with the same error message about corrupt data files. So they must be corrupt on EA's end as there is no way 2 different pc's would fail the same way at the same time. I spent 10 time more time trying to sort out all the different issues to play this game over the last 2-3 months than I have actually played the game. I sure hope BF6 isn't hosed too.
I would open up a tech support ticket but lately they don't ever answer or even show that I have a case even after posting it 3 times. I wonder if buying the game (BF2042) through Epic or Steam will help?
On another note after researching until I am blue in the face I found that EA sold the franchise and on October 3rd (yesterday), the change to the new owners likely took place. Read this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9s2aNCaMVE