Hi Tarzan,
+1 to what Icefire has said above.
Also the boxed version of IL2 1946 comes on dvd as 4.07. You have to install all the previous patches to 4.11 BEFORE you install patch 4.11. Here is a link to a previous thread with all the details you will need:
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=31667
With Win7 you should install IL2 1946 somewhere other than the default Program Files folder on your hard drive, otherwise you will find it difficult to make changes to the program. eg: > C:\IL2 1946
Hope that helps.