I simply can't get this game to work in Vista either. :/
I installed a patch that was supposed to bypass the StarForce garbage but didn't. I went to StarForce's site and downloaded the old drivers (
http://www.star-force.com/support/drivers/) and get the message "No installed protection drivers found to update" - yet that is the only option they have to download there for pre-5.5 versions!!!
What angers me is that people can illegally download this game and play it while I, having bought a legal version off Amazon, can't play it.