[Jon M]

DIRECTX ISSUES
Authenticated Drivers

If your drivers are authenticated by Microsoft, then DX9 may try to verify if they have expired by connecting to the following URL crl.Microsoft.com.
This is a Microsoft Certification check for expiration of Certificate site.
This could be triggered when the game/demo is run, as it interfaces with the video and sound drivers installed in Windows.
This feature of Windows can be turned off in the following way: Start Internet explorer and click... Tools | Internet Options Click the ADVANCED TAB, then scroll down to Security: UNCHECK the boxes that say "CHECK FOR PUBLISHERS CERTIFICATE REVOCATION" and "CHECK FOR SERVERS CERTIFICATE REVOCATION(requires restart)" This will stop Windows from trying the verify if a certificated drivers certificate has expired or not.

That looks like it may be the problem.