Just purchased a beautiful HP Pavilion laptop w/2 gig of ram and geforceG0 7600 video card. Also has vista, unfortunately. I'm trying to install Civ IV and it starts to go through the installation but once it gets to:

"C:\...\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Assets\Art\Movies\Intros\intro.bik"

the CD drive just spins and nothing happens. It never gets past this point no matter how long I wait. I thought it might be the disk but I tried installing it again on my desktop (XP) and it loaded with no problems. HELP! I need this game on my laptop and don't have any idea what to do.

Try copying the CD to your hard drive. You can install it from there, but you still need the disc to play. If the cd drive won't read it copying either, then you can try installing it across network from your desktop machine.

Thank you for the advice - I'll give it a try.

Hey I've got the same problem and an error occurs when I copy it to my hard drive. How do I install it across a network? Thanks for any help this is so frustrating.

Well, tried copying to the HD but it never got past that same file, and I'm not sure how to do the network thing. Sobe88, are you trying to install it to an HP laptop as well?

No I'm tryin to install it on a Dell XPS. If someone knows how to install it from a network can they let us know. Or does anyone have other suggestions?

If you can't install or copy it from a specific drive, it's most likely the CD or the CD drive.

Stick the disk in your desktop machine, and share the drive. If you name the share "D", and your desktop computer name is "XYZ", you can map a drive on your laptop to \\XYZ\D. If you look in the mapped drive, you'll see the contents of the CD.

----- share cd drive
these instructions depend on your setup. couple common ones below.
right click the cd drive. select properties. select sharing tab.

xp: you might have to click the underlined text "i understand the risks blah blah blah" then click the box "share this folder on the network". type the share name (IE "D") and click ok

vista: click advanced sharing. check share this folder, type in the share name (IE "D"), click ok, click ok

----- Finding desktop computer name
start-> run
type in cmd
type "ipconfig /all"
the top line says "Host Name . . . . . . . . :" Computer name

----- Mapping drive on laptop
assuming your host name is "XYZ", and your share name is "D"
open windows explorer
tools->map network drive
select drive Z (or any drive really)
in folder type "\\XYZ\D"
click finish
drive Z should now be the desktop CD drive

just run setup.

Hey was able to share the drive and attempt the install from the computer but it still comes up with a

"Feature Transfer Error
Feature: Default Feature
Component: Civ4Component
File: F:\data2.cab
Error: Data error (cyclic redundancy check)."

I even tried using an external CD drive and got that same error. I'm goin to try installing it on another Vista machine tommorrow.

Any other thoughts?

I mapped the drive but my laptop (vista) doesn't see my desktop (xp). I have a wireless router and they are both on the internet, but for some reason they don't see each other. I enabled file sharing and have poked around but can't figure it out (I can usually figure stuff like this out but am stumped on this one). Any suggestions?

<Update>

I finally figured it out. I had to download a file from microsoft to the XP computer in order for the Vista computer to see it. I also had a firewall enabled which caused a few problems. I am now installing Civ IV to my Vista laptop from the DVD drive of my XP desktop - very cool!

dfi666, thank you so much for your help. There's no way I could have figured this one out without you.

@sobe88 - your cd has problems =/

@glcm1961 - Woot!

Have u ever bought a game with Direct to Drive to u think if I did that it would work?

@sobe88 - you could try cloning your CD. setup whatever your using to read it nice and slow, and ignore errors.

Have u ever bought a game with Direct to Drive to u think if I did that it would work?

I avoid direct2drive & other similar places. I don't know anything about them except some of the problems I don't wish to deal with.

Have u ever bought a game with Direct to Drive to u think if I did that it would work?I bought Galactic Civ II on Stardock. It worked and updated fine.

I bought Galactic Civ II on Stardock. It worked and updated fine.

imo, big diff buying digital download game direct from the manafacturer and buying it from Direct2Drive or the like.

I also bought Galciv 2 + expansion from stardock.

imo, big diff buying digital download game direct from the manafacturer and buying it from Direct2Drive or the like.

I also bought Galciv 2 + expansion from stardock.You make a good point *nods*