TATW+DAC Crash on startup

[Jamz-5]

Hello,
I'm using a steam version of Medieval 2, and have been able to play TATW on it fine.
However, recently it was recommended I install the divide and conquer submod.
After doing so, on startup, I received the message "Medieval 2 has encountered an unspecified error and will now exit."
All parts were definitely installed correctly, following the right pathway.
I've tried the following fixes, as mentioned in other threads:
Completely fresh install of everything (done this twice)
Deleting crash-causing files - desc_geography, and all string.bins files
Nothing thus far has worked, so I'm wondering if there are any other solutions to this problem I have been unable to find?
Thanks

[Exxxar]

I'm having the same problem. I installed medieval 2 kingdoms (through steam) and it ran just fine. Then I installed third age + dac and the "unspecified error" occured. Now, even after a clean reinstall, the vanilla game without any mods has this same error. This is the log:

Log

17:07:25.342 [system.rpt] [always] CPU: SSE217:07:25.342 [system.rpt] [always] ==== system log start, build date: Sep 5 2014 version development === 17:07:25.358 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_0.pack 17:07:25.358 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_1.pack 17:07:25.358 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_2.pack 17:07:25.358 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_3.pack 17:07:25.358 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_4.pack 17:07:25.358 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/localized.pack 17:07:25.374 [system.io] [warning] open: preferences/player.txt is missing 17:07:25.374 [system.io] [warning] open: preferences/keys.dat is missing 17:07:25.374 [system.io] [warning] open: preferences/keys.dat is missing 17:07:27.083 [system.rpt] [error] Medieval 2: Total War encountered an unspecified error and will now exit.

I am running Windows 8.1. UAC is off, Administrator mode is on. I have restarted my computer and tried compatibility mode. I have verified the integrity of local game files. The mods are currently not installed. My computer runs Rome 2 and Attila (and, until yesterday, kingdoms) just fine.
Would really appreciate any tips!