Now added to the atlas. Thanks for contributing.

The black background usually means that CC3+ cannot find the map file it is trying to load, so it simply uses the defaults (which is a black background). That in itself is nothing to worry about, as the background is controlled on a map by map basis. Everything will be fine when you load or start a new map.

Of course, the example map should have been loaded, so that seems to indicate you didn't get that file installed. Which may or may not indicate that the rest of the addon wasn't installed properly either. Best way to see that is to try to open the symbol catalog manually and see if it exists, and no red crosses in it...

Now, I see it is trying to show the no-SS6 version of the example, since I guess you don't have SS6, and I am guessing someone forgot to include that file in the installer (or gave it the wrong name), and the rest is fine..

And every citizen in every city prays it won't decide to come out and play with them.....

Not every annual has those, but you'll find the files in the root of the CC3+ data directory, named SUB20xx_Content.fcw

Did you try rebooting your computer after the installation to see if the issue continued after that? I obviously have no idea why this is happening to you, but if something is being done during installation for some reason causes explorer to start crashing, a reboot will at the very least restart every part of Windows.

You should also contact customer support through your registered user pages. Maybe they'll be able to work out something with you, like trying an alternate build of the installer.