<t> I was able to avoid the exception by turning on the sound card and plugging in a pair of headphones or speakers. Then the game worked perfectly, sound and all. Apparently, the lack of a peripheral output was the problem (in my case). Sorry if this was stupid, but thanks again for your attention ...

Thanks for your prompt reply. I'll attempt some of the possible fixes you mentioned and post the DxDiag tonight. If none of this works, it would be great if you could eventually enable an option to disable sound so that I could play. Thanks again.

<t> Hi Eric, <br/>
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The identical exception was thrown at me. I allowed the installation dialog to install/repair XNA, DirectX, and .NET. Also, I've updated audio device drivers. Unlike Dresden and petdoc, turning off my sound card did not allow me to bypass the problem. <br/>
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I'm not ...