Okay, I've done the search and found nothing. Here is my problem:

I install Civ3 and it plays, no problem. Install Conquests, no problem. I try to play, and it freezes at the "splash screen." I think I know the reason for this part, now (I don't have a sound card, yet).

Then, I uninstall. Uninstall original Civ3, as well. No problem, suppossedly. Then, I tried to reinstall it to double-check. It gives me an ikernel error. I try to reinstall Civ3. Error. I try to install other software. More errors.

I could install everything fine before, but since uninstalling Conquests, now nothing can be installed. I even ran an experiment (after reformatting): I tried to install a program, which worked fine, and exited out of setup (never actually installing it). When I ran that same installation later, after the Conquest uninstall deal, it gave me ikernel and/or setup errors.

I'm confused, and I'm not sure what to do next. Has anyone else had this specific problem? Here's my system:

Windows XP SP2
Gigabyte nVidia4-4x motherboard
GeForce 6200 Turbocache 256MB
512MB RAM

I have the latest drivers and updates for everything.

(Sidenote: When I go to Add/Remove Programs, the icons for Civilization III and Civilization III: Conquests are reversed. Does this mean anything?)

Thanks in advance!

You might want totry this. (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=118126#7)

Turner_727 - Thank you for the suggestion, but that was exactly what I had done. The uninstall through Add/Remove Programs went fine, but after that I was getting ikernel errors when attempting to reinstall. Errors for everything I attempted, not solely Conquests.

Any other ideas?

Can you post the exact error message? Was it something like "iKernel caused a page fault in module xxxx?"

If so - confirmation of the exact name of iKernel and of the module (and any other detail) could help.

I'll see if I can do that later tonight . . . I'm at work right now, and was hoping the problem might sound familiar. If it was just COnquests, I wouldn't worry too much. But it's as if it corrupte every other installation I might want to do . . .

It wasn't a page fault error, though.

For Conquests and anything else, when I try to reinstall, I get a variety of errors:

ikernel.exe (0x80040702)
ikernel.exe (0x10000)
I/O error, bad setup file

I've followed the instructions for installshield 6 (deleting the engine, running the executable).

I've cleaned out the registry (method from adobe site)

I've closed third-party applications.

No other installation process is running

I've cleaned the temp directories

Is there anything, that anyone knows of, that causes the prevention of installing any other program after uninstalling Conquests? This has got me kinda scared: is there something horrifically wrong with my system?

Thanks again for all of your help!

Is it only installshield installers that won't run?

It looks like you've done everything that I could suggest. Maybe download a registry cleaner and run that, and perhaps an internet search.