PC 08 version won't start after clicking "play" or from mainapp.exe

I am a 48 year old grandfather. Playing Madden on my PC is one of my little pleasures in life. I have bought every version of this game since 1995. Every year. Every version. So, 08 is my last hoorah. Doesn't look like they will ever release another version for PC. I reserved my copy of Madden 08 at my local Gamestop store before it came as I usually do. However, my disc has developed some kind of error and will not make it through an install now. So, I bought a download version from Gamestop. It worked for about three weeks and I was in football heaven again.
Then I started getting this "error enumerating processes" box that pops up after you click play on the splash screen. In the beginning if you clicked "ok" on the error message box, the game would go ahead and start. So, far so good. I could still play the game. Now the same thing happens but when you click on "ok" on the error message box, you get a brief hourglass with a pointer and then nothing. The game doesn't start. It never shows up in the "task manager" as a running process. I uninstalled the game, and reinstalled. Same thing. I did a full system virus and malware/spyware scan with PC tools Spyware Doctor and FSecure. Found nothing. Every other application is working fine. Other EA apps like NBA Live 08 and Tiger Woods 08 both work great. Madden is listed in my security software as an "allowed" application.
So I thought, I will just buy it (for the third time) again and download it from the EA Store. I am getting the same result. Even if I try to start the game directly with the "mainapp.exe" file. All I get is a brief hourglass and then nothing. I have uninstalled and reinstalled using EA Download Manager.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping someone out there will feel sorry for an old man and help me out with this.
Thanks|||I also have played Madden exclusively on PC for the faster gameplay and much less lag than u find on Console Servers but that Error has never come up for me....since you have already done the PC Doctor stuff all i can think of is a 'Vista' problem or you may be running a Quad Core PC, i will ask a few friends about this anf get back at you...hang in there, help is on the way