Thanks snafu,
I actually went back and thought about any changes I had made, and realised that I had turned down my hardware acceleration in Windows (98) in order to try to solve my CTD issues. I am not a computer whiz, so I was "playing", to see if it woiuld help. Then this problem arose.
When I switched it back to the setting I originally had it on, it came back. On my machine the setting needs to be very specific for some reason...if I have full acceleration I get this weird screen, if I have it on the lowest setting...same thing. I seem to need to keep it one "notch" below full...then it works.
...and btw...I reinstalled AH completely about 4 times before I switched the setting back to where I had it, thinking a fresh install would solve the problem too.
Any ideas?