I figured it out! My stepson suggested that I look for the latest patch since I installed the game from my original DVD.
I found the 1.12 patch from Patches & Scrolls (https://www.patches-...tch/962/7/21763) and downloaded it and applied it. This fixed EVERYTHING I noted above. I was able to re-hook the C&C client to the newly patched executable and then everything worked. The patch also removed the dreaded "3 minute black-screen wait" that I had to endure before reaching the menu.
Hopefully this will help someone else.
OTR