Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately it didn't work for me. The same thing happened again. I get a message about 'runtime' and that I should contact administrators. So I've given up now and uninstalled it again. Been fiddling around with yWriter instead, and I'll probably get used to that and find a way to use it that suits me.
You should ask them what environment it uses--runtime error means an environment/framework issue...you may not have Java or C++ or whatever Scrivener uses.