in the program files\sins of a solar empire\ is a file fmod.dll. it is an essential part of sins and does need to be in the sins folder. the fmod.dll in my sins folder  is dated 19th jan 2008 size is 514kb, so it appears to be an unmodified file from the first release of sins and sins looks for the fmod.dll in the sins folder.

hope this helps

harpo

there has been mention in many places that on vista you NEED speakers plugged in for sins to run and the fmod.dll is for the firelight sound and music system, so it might be that which is your problem, if not then email support at ironcladgames.com as I have not had this problem myself

harpo