Hmm, it could be an antivirus or something like that on your computer preventing the game from checking for updates. You can disable the check for updates, but doing so generally involves getting into the game first
I've attached a fresh 7.001 settings.dat file with the check-for-updates disabled. If you:
1) Close the game
2) Place the attached settings.dat file in your AIW install's RuntimeData directory.
3) Start the game again
Then you can see if it will get past that point in the startup