Very similar problem here,. have not found a fix.

I've installed the latest free version from scratch on a machine that's never had the program on before. Compiled games run but the views in WED are blank, no grid, no models. Running Windows XP SP3, Intel 8294G, latest available DirectX 9. Does the latest version work with that? (I looked for a list of system and graphics card requirements on the main website but have so far failed to locate it- can someone point me to where I ought to be looking please?). I've tried fiddling with the views properties settings to no avail. Uninstall/reinstall hasn't made any difference. No error messages on install or while running, no errors in the event logs.

Edit- views work in Safe Mode. Tooltips don't. Runs more slowy in safe mode than a two-legged tortoise.

Graphics driver issue?