I had a power problem on a new computer and had to return it to be repaired.
Now I have it back I can't load Civ 4 - pc just crashes. I have unistalled Civ 4, Warlords and Beyond The Sword and the reloaded then. But still crashes.

Could this be a registry problem? If so any advice would be great.

Thanks..................jbx

Although I joined this forum last August, this my first post and I would like to say Hi to all and introsuce myself. I am a young 69-year-old with limited computer experience who has been playing Civilization for years - and really I miss playing the game.

I have spent considerable time checking my pc and downloading latest drivers, but to no avail. One of my most enjoyable hobbies is playing Civ 4 and Football Manager. I would really like resolve my problem and continue playing this terrific game.

I sincerely hope somone can assist...............jbx

Welcome to CFC :band: and the posting side :evil: :devil:

does it give any error messages when crashing? when exactly does it crash during startup?

Hi ori,

The game starts the loading process i.e laods the xml files and a couple of others then when it gets to 'loading engine' (or similar) the screen goes blank and then I get a blue screen with the following:

:mad:***STOP: 0x0000000AA (0x00000016, 0x0000001c, 0x00000000, 0x825026392)
OSVer:5.1_2600 SO: 2.0 Product: 256_1
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
If problem continues, disable new haedware/software. Disable Bios memory options such as Caching or Shadowing.

The Windows error file on restart states: Error report contents include the following files:
C\Docume_1\Owner\Locals_1\WER7c2c.dir00\Mini061308 .dump
C\Docume_1\Owner\Locals_1\WER7c2c.dir00\Sysdata.xm l

The full story is at http://forums.techguy.org/windows-nt-2000-xp/721022-xp-reboots-instead-loading-program.html - where you will see I have tried just about everything except the registry.

Hope this explains my situation......................jbx

ok - I would still blame something else apart from civ4 - but just to make sure I'd recommend a complete reinstall - note: the reinstall you did was most likely not complete :)

do the stuff listed below, note: a new patch was released today for BtS - install that AFTER 3.13 :)


install the most recent version of DirectX 9c from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&DisplayLang=en)

then do the following for a clean reinstall:

Uninstall and Reinstall Civ4 Warlords BtS :

Try to follow this order when doing stuff:
Use Control panel to uninstall Beyond the Sword, then Warlords, then Civ4
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\my documents\my games\sid meier's civilization 4" manually
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\my documents\my games\warlords" manually
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\my documents\my games\beyond the sword" manually
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\application data\my games\sid meier's civilization 4" manually
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\application data\my games\warlords" manually
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\application data\my games\beyond the sword" manually
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\local settings\application data\my games\sid meier's civilization 4" manually
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\local settings\application data\my games\warlords" manually
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\local settings\application data\my games\beyond the sword" manually
(note: application data is a hidden directory so you need to configure windows explorer to show hidden files, also these directories in application data are sometimes removed by the uninstall routine)
Delete "...\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{CFBCE791-2D53-4FCE-B3FB-D6E01F4112E8}" (Civ4)
Delete "...\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{3E4B349F-10B5-4586-9D99-489A90A8B228}" (Warlords)
Delete "...\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{32E4F0D2-C135-475E-A841-1D59A0D22989}" (BtS)
(note: InstallShield Installation Information is a hidden directory so you need to configure windows explorer to show hidden files).
Install Civ4, immediately patch it to 1.61 (download it fresh from here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=3))
Install Warlords, immediately patch it to 2.08 (download it fresh from here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=3344))
Install Beyond the Sword, immediately patch to 3.13 (download it fresh from here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=7412)).

Many thanks for such specific instructions ori. I will get on now and carefully carry them out with fingers crossed.

I will naturally let you know the end result - at least I will know whether the problem is Civ 4 related (which I don't as it was running fine until I had the my new computer repaired.)

Well ori, I have now completed your above instructions down to loading BtS patch 313 (I couldn't find todays's release.) However, it did not resolve the issue and my machine duly crashed when the load process reaches loading engine. So it is not Civ 4 that is the problem (unless a faulty registry - which I know nothing about.)

At least I now have Civ 4, Warlords and BtS correctly loaded and patched. I just need to fathom out what the problem is. Should you (or anyone else) have any other suggestions on how to resolve this issue, I would grateful for any assistance.

I originally thought it was the grahics card (Nvidia 8800) as when I was moving the performance slider towards 'None' I once got a message on a failed loading "Creation Failed: Invalid 3D Device Type." However, I have loaded and reloaded the correct drivers so am at a loss as to where to look next.

Regards.............jbx

one possibility would be that you have a faulty ram memory - you could try to see if that is the case you might want to run memtest @ www.memtest.org
what you would want to do is download a precompiled bootable iso - unzip it and burn it onto a cd - then restart the computer and boot from that cd. run memtest atleast overnight (yes it takes a while) - if you need any further helpt just post.
testing the graphics card though is more difficult: that would likely require changing it :(

Many thanks ori,

I am pretty sure the ram is ok. But as a last resort may well test it as advised.

Will keep you updated.................jbx