The most common reason why users can not start the game after a succefull installation is because of display driver problems. This problem can in most cases be solved by installing the latest drivers via windows update or via installation of the driver CD that came with the purchase of your computer. To check which driver you have installed do the following:
• Double-click the System icon in the Control Panel
• Choose the Hardware tab
• Click Device Manager

Click Display Adapters and you will see the following screen:

In case you see that the driver provider is Microsoft or that the date of the driver is very old, you may need to update your driver.