The problem you have with the auto-updater is related to Vista and either Norton Security or McAfee. They are blocking the game's ability to connect to the server and download the updates.
But, there is no way to simply disable those products under Vista. The option exists, but it does not work.
Not much we can do about this short of trying to provide detailed instructions on how to get the game through those products so it can auto-update. In the meantime we will be providing a direct link to the patches for each veriuon in the README off the front page of the WEB site.