Thanks for the advice. Gave it a try since Windows 7 identifies my monitor as generic too, but unfortunately there's no update for my brand. Changing resolution also failed to solve the problem. Interestingly, now I cannot even get the first menu, the game crashes after the intro. In any case, thanks again for the suggestions, I'll keep trying along those lines and will let you know if anything works..
Wailwulf: There was just recently (two weeks ago) an update that messed up my RB3D installs. Couldn't get to the menus without being in windowed mode. Then could only fly in windowed mode or Glide in 800x600 resolution, all other resolutions crashed the game.
Turns out the Window updates couldn't identify my monitor. It had gone from SDM-HS95P to Generic PnP, and trying to load the proper driver failed for it had been written for 32 bit instead of 64 bit :(
Two days later MS had an update for me which fixed the problem.
I would check to see that Windows is seeing you correct monitor.
Another thing is changing your monitor resolution. Some folk have trouble when the game matches the monitor resolution, and others have problems when the game resolution does not match the monitor's resolution.