Troubles with steam downloading NTW

[shadowdrummer46]

So as the title says I'm having trouble with downloading NTW on steam. I have the game of the year ETW/NTW bundle. I am able to run Shogun 2 and all other TW games no problem. I am running windows xp, completely updated.It downloads fine, but after the download when I launch the game it doesn't get past the first credits screen. my computer freezes and I am unable to exit the game by hitting F4, Alt+TAB, or Ctrl+Alt+delete. I have to shut it down by holding the power button down.

So naturally I verify the game cache and it takes a solid 20 minutes, and every time it says I was missing one file and downloads it in a split second. I verify the cache repeatedly and have done this for as much as two nights solid.

I've also deleted the game and every trace of it on my computer than re-downloaded it. I have also purposely deleted a somewhat important file in the application data section, to test steam. After I delete such files I re-verify cache and it say only 1 file missing again, and doesn't download the files I just deleted. I have also updated my graphics drivers.

The odd part is that about a week ago the game launched and ran fine with no problems except for some video sound shuddering. I was able to try adjusting the graphics and sound, repeatedly exiting and relaunching the game. I was able to launch the game at least ten times, then the issue started all over.

Any insights? Has anyone else had trouble like this?
Thanks in advance for any help!