Well, THEBERBSTER has a thread here "
SH5 <> TUTORIALS <>HOW TO DO IT <..." that was most helpful to me years ago with my Steam version. While some of the information is now "dated", there might be something in there to help, but you've apparently already been through most of that from what you've posted... For me, one of the "different" things about the Steam game was that I had to start it through the Steam app on my computer, log-in, then use the Steam short-cut in the Library. I did create a desktop short-cut - in Steam - after that to "streamline" the process, but it still starts through Steam and does its license checks...
