European version IL2 1946 and Windows 7 ??

[Foot_Soldier]

How do I install this on my system ? Or actually the better question is after I install 1946, how do I get it to run ? I've tried 3 installs now, and have failed to get the game to start. All 3 times I installed the 4.08 and 4.09 patches. Should I run the game before installing these patches ??
Any help would be greatley appreciated.

here are my PC specs (Laptop) COMPAQ PRESARIO CQ61-320CA LAPTOP PC

Athlon II Dual-Core M300
Processor Speed: 2.0GHz
RAM: 2048MB
Memory Type (RAM): DDR2
Storage/Drives
Hard drive size: 250GB
Hard drive speed: 5400RPM
Video Memory: 128MB shared
Operating System: Windows® 7 Home Premium 32-bit Edition