Has one of those steps been to run the repair utility ?
What Antivirus are you using ?
Edit - If the repair utility doesn't help, create a new windows administrator account and launch the game there and advise if the same.
ESET - disable protocol filtering (this will exist in safe mode)
Kaspersky - disable scan secure/encrypted connections
Yes, I ran the repair utility. Several times when it was 1.7.8 and now have been trying 1.8 version as well to no avail.
I'm running panda AV, but that was installed before this. Exclusions were added and nothing shows blocked. I also turned off Windows Firewall.
Tried a new admin profile previously, i will try again after all the updates I performed.
