Vista - MGS 2 Substance On Vista

Hi there,
i have an inspiron 6400:
intel core solo T1350 @ 1.86Ghz
1024MB Ram
7200Rpm Sata HDD
Molbility X1300 Graphics Card
and Vista Ulitmate

My problem is one that all too many people have had, whereby the game will
not load, it just goes to a black screen, and then doesnt do anything, the
HDD goes pretty nuts, but no game!
Im wandering if anyone has got it to work on vista, or if not, if there is a
way to revert to DX 9.0c Instead of DX10?
i have tried the compatibility modes, but they dont work at all, and short
of all of this, i am planning on just going back to XP for a while, to play
this game

any help is great

thanks
Eds