ok guys, i got it fixed.. just like half of the other people that bought g3, i had a weak video card... i upgraded to an fx 5600 (i would have bought an even better one, but im already on my wife's @#$% list for buying the sim..lol)
Shadows are there now.. detail is great... just for reference.. i've got most specs set to "high:" ("highest" being the best).. then i set terrain and tree to 50%. This still yields a decent frame rate. While there is still room to improve with a better video card, im happy with these settings.
As for not being able to register, this is a known problem that'll hopefully be straightend out soon... i still havent been able to find the "make custom color scheme button" tho,...
must be there somewhere.. anyway , thanks for the help.

brandon