Civilization IV need technical advice on how to run the game

[Gavagai]

Sadly, this thread warrants one more update. I moved to a new place - in Russia - and civ refused to launch once again. After lots of experiments, I figured out that it does launch if I don't have Internet connection and never had it during this session. I mean if I boot up the computer and it does not connect automatically to the Internet during the start - civ launches. The moment I connect myself to the Internet, civ refuses to launch and it does not get fixed even if I disconnect. To fix it I need to reboot and launch the game before the Internet connects. I have no idea what is the logic behind this and interpret it as early warning signs of robot uprising.

[T-hawk]

Only thing I can think of is that Civ is trying to connect and check for updates. Is there an option within Civ to turn that off?

One idea: set Windows Firewall (or Defender or whatever it is now) to deny all network connectivity to Civ? (Obviously not a permanent solution if you want to play a pitboss, but something to try for information.)

Heavy duty approach: set up a virtual machine within Windows, and make sure that has no network connectivity, and run Civ on that?