Need help with catastrophic error during Civ IV installation.

Solipso

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I have Windows XP SP2 with DirectX 9.0c. I have the CD-ROM version of Civ IV, released in 2005. With respect to CPU, video card, RAM, etc., I easily meet the recommended system requirements (more about my system at the end of this post). Here is what happens:

1. I insert disk 1 and click through the installation prompts, using the default settings (Express Install, Install for All Users, Add to Windows Firewall Exception List).

2. Files are downloaded from disk 1. Then a horizontal window appears with my optical drive's letter ("D:"), prompting me to insert disk 2. I insert it.

3. A Windows Explorer window pops up showing "Files currently on the CD." There is only one file: data3

4. Now I don't know what to do. The data3 file is a read-only cabinet file, and I can't open it, or at least I don't know how to open it.

5. So I click away the Windows Explorer window to return to the horizontal window with my optical drive's letter. "D:" is correct for my optical drive. Supposedly the window is waiting for me to click OK so disk 2 can continue with the installation. When I click OK, however, I get the following error messagae:

Feature Transfer Error
Feature: DefaultFeature
Component: [blank space here]
File: [blank space here]
Error: Catastrophic failure
OK

6. All I can do at this point is click OK. So I do. The error message disappears, and so does the window that was showing the progress of installed files from disk 1. Installation is terminated.


Even though I already had DirectX 9.0c on my computer, I tried installing it from Civ IV's disk 1. It seemed to install ok, but it didn't help with the installation of the game. I still got the catastrophic failure.

I have Civilization IV Beyond the Sword, a CD-ROM version whose package I have not even opened. Can I install Beyond the Sword without installing Civ IV? If I can, would it help me to install Civ IV? :mischief:

What if I bought the Civilization IV Complete edition? Would I be able to install Civ IV from that? I am inclined to try this, if no one helps me here, soon. Not only does Civ IV Complete have more expansions, it's on DVD, which may eliminate the catastrophic error. Of course, I don't want to spend another forty dollars, only to encounter another catstrophic error that I can't get past. :crazyeye:

Any reasonable comments or suggestions are welcome. :)

My System:

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version: 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe NF4 (Socket 939)
Processor: x86 Family 15 Model 7 Stepping 10 Authentic AMD ~2613 MHz (AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 (2.613 GHz), socket 939
Memory: Dual DDR 1GB PC3200XL Corsair
Total Physical Memory: 2,048.00 MB
Video: EVGA NVidia GeForce 6800Ultra 256MB
Video Card Drivers: NVidia Forceware drivers version 6.14.0011.7516
Hard Drive: Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740GD 10,000RPM 8MB
Sound: Creative Labs Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer (driver v2.15.0006)
CompUSA Dual Format Double Layer DVD+/-RW USB (R = 16x DVD, 48x CD)
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 931c 19” LCD
Mouse: Logitech G9 Laser (Driver v.4.22.52)
Keyboard: Ideazon MERC Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard (Model No. KUH0702)
Power: PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510
Virus and Spyware Protection: Norton Internet Security 2009
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
 
3. Close this window as soon as it pops up, or disable the Autorun feature during install.

4. Don't try to open the file. Just close the window.

5. I don't think you actually have to click the installer window to make it work, it eventually finds the disk after a little bit.

If these don't work, it looks like you might have a bad disk. :(

EDIT: BTS must be installed AFTER Vanilla Civ 4, and Vanilla should be patched to 1.74 before you do it, IIRC.
 
3. Close this window as soon as it pops up, or disable the Autorun feature during install.

4. Don't try to open the file. Just close the window.

5. I don't think you actually have to click the installer window to make it work, it eventually finds the disk after a little bit.

If these don't work, it looks like you might have a bad disk. :(

EDIT: BTS must be installed AFTER Vanilla Civ 4, and Vanilla should be patched to 1.74 before you do it, IIRC.

I appreciate the reply, Lemon Merchant, but it didn't help. Well, maybe your suggestion that disk 2 is bad did slightly confirm my suspicions. The disk looks perfect, however. :(

Disabling AutoRun did nothing. When I inserted disk 2, nothing happens. If, after inserting disk 2, I open Windows Explorer and double-click my optical drive icon, the window with the data3 file opens up, and I'm back to where I was with AutoRun enabled. That is, I can't open the data3 file, and if I click the window away (as you instruct, and which I certainly agree with, having installed other multi-disk games in which something similar happens), nothing happens. You say the installation continues "after a little bit," but it doesn't. (Though I think it should. In other games it does.) :cool:

I don't know if my disk 2 is defectively manufactured, or if the installation programming is defective. I'm thinking of downloading Civilization 4: The Complete Edition from Direct2Drive. It will cost me another forty bucks, but there are no disks involved. :goodjob:
 
try copying both discs to a folder on your hard drive and run the installer from there.

Welcome to CFC :band:

Thank you for the reply, Ori.

Maybe I should have tried your suggestion before doing what I have done. Now it's too late. After ordering the DVD version of Civilization IV Complete, I threw away my copies of Civilization IV and Civilization IV Beyond the Sword. (I should have saved the manuals. Civ IV Complete's hardcopy manual is just a quick-start manual. But the DVD does have full .pdf manuals for all four games.)

Contrary to my preceding post, I decided not to try downloading Civ IV Complete from Direct2Drive. I thought the DVD would be more reliable.

The DVD version installed all four games quite smoothly. Also, using the Check-for-Updates buttons on the in-game main menus, I smoothly patched Beyond the Sword and Colonization. (Civ IV and Warlords did not need to be updated.)

Everything is up and running perfectly! :goodjob:
 
the nice thing about complete (the us version) is that you only need the disc for installation anyway - so it can be stored safely afterwards :)

Thank you VERY much for that fact, Ori. :goodjob: I may never have discovered it on my own. What's more, a few days ago I ordered my first laptop, a high-end job from Alienware. I plan to install Civ IV Complete on it. If I can get it up and running as smoothly as it has been on my desktop, I will have an absorbingly interesting activity to engage in wherever I go. :)
 
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