My graphics card is pretty powerful, although I'm using Windows 7. I admit, I initially bought and installed a pirated version of the game, but when I installed the licensed version, I think I deleted the pirated one – maybe the problem is related to that?
Regarding the patches: when I installed the game, version 1.2.1 was already installed, but it didn't update immediately; instead, starting from version 1, it gradually updated to 1.2.1 with each new game launch.
And why can't synchronization be turned off? You just click the cross next to "Enable synchronization of saved games," and that's it, right?