You could be right. The only idea I have left is to try an older version of WD. Maybe try build 81 in the new directory with the wd2.txt file. Make sure the name is exact, not wd2.txt.txt (make sure you are allowing viewing of extensions in your file listing).
I suspect some file that WD is attempting to load is corrupted in your wdisplay directory. The month inf file or log file perhaps.
You would need to talk to Brian to find out which file could prevent WD from starting up. The wd2.txt file should bypass all that and allow WD to startup clean, hence the suggestion to double check the exact filename.