[torpedobait]

After literally weeks of trying all the tips and tactics here and in other threads, I wound up totally frustrated and was ready to give up ever being able to run GWX again. Then came a flash of genius!

I spent the extra $9.95 and bought the patched, no-DVD version through the Subsim link to Amazon.com. By temporarily signing up for their 30 day free trial, I even got the shipping for nothing.

Loading SHIII from the disk proved problematic, even in a new "Games" directory outside of the "Program FIles (x86)" folder. Win 7 would not accept a directory name that included "Silent Hunter III"; I kept getting a message about invalid directory or unauthorized access. All I had to do was change that part of the new directory name to "Silent_Hunter3" (without spaces, you will note) and from that point on the installation was painless. After verifying that I had the 1.4 version, I then proceeded to run the GWX Gold installation. It ran fine, and the sim starts normally, no disk, no error messages!

I am back where I was before my old computer died, able to run GWX3 Gold with all mods installed! So, in a nutshell:
1. Get the already patched, no DVD version and install it to a new directory that has no spaces in any of the name components;
2. Apply GWX3 Gold with any mods you choose;
3. Apply the .cfg file changes to SH3 Commander 3.2 if you use it;
4. Experience the bliss of having your gaming life back!

Thanks to all who offered advice and opinions and tried to help me work through this.