Load Error expected version 300

I am trying to load saved games which I downloaded from civfanatics forum. I can't. I receive the error message: Cannot load version 301, expected version 300 or lower.

I went to About This Build, which says civ version 300, save version 300. I checked for updates and downloaded patch 3.13. When I started to install, it said 3.13 detected, do you want to install anyway. I clicked yes.

After all this, I still get the same Load Error.

What to do?

it does say version 300? or does it say 3.0.0.1 OR 313? could you post all the About this build stuff?

Here is the ABOUT THIS BUILD

Civ Version: 300

Save Version: 300

Build Version 3.0.0.86 (74099)

Build Date: Sat Jun 23 6:49:44 2007

Build: FINAL RELEASE

Mod Name: None


I think that the game is installed incorrectly. I can start only by clicking on a shortcut on the desktop. Ejecting and reinserting Disk 1 does nothing. If I go to My Computer C: Program Files\ Firaxis Games\ Sid meier's Civilization - Beyond the Sword\Civ4BeyondSword.exe I get

Unable To Locate Component

This application has failed to start because BOOST_PYTHON-VC71-MT-1_32_DLL was not found.


I get the same error message if I click on a saved game (of my own, not one downloaded from the net).


Another strange thing: when I search for Civ4BeondSword.exe
3 copies are listed, each of slightly different size.

C:\WINDOWS 13,775 KB

C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4 - Beyond the Sword 13,799 KB

C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword 13,787 KB

Probably I need to uninstall and reinstall. Is there a detailed step-by-step set of instructions for a klutz?

Thanks for your help!

you are right in that you need to uninstall - the patch somehow did not install correctly
do the following IF Civilization 4 (i.e. the game without the expansion works fine):
Use the control panel to uninstall Beyond the Sword
then delete
\documents and settings\<username>\my documents\my games\beyond the sword
AND IF it is there:
\documents and settings\<username>\application data\my games\beyond the sword
(the latter is a hidden directory - you need to enable show hidden files in your windows folder options).
then delete
\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{32E4F0D2-C135-475E-A841-1D59A0D22989}
(also a hidden file and might also not be there after the uninstall).
Then Install BtS from the disk AND patch directly to 3.13 (download it as a new file from here.
This should take care of it (I hope )
IF Civ4 does not run one would have to do a complete reinstall - so that would require a few more steps...

Civ4 (without BtS) seems to be working fine, so I proceed as suggested. The uninstall went as expected. The install started OK. When requested, I inserted disc 2. Then error message: program not responding. I clicked end program, and the error message reappeared. After three or four times, I pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del to escape. I think that this happened when I installed BtS months ago.

Puzzling to me is the fact that I can run BtS by putting disc 1 in drive D: and clicking the shortcut on the desktop. I downloaded patch 3.13, and tried to install. It responded, no copy of BtS detected.

Suggestions welcome.

I thought that maybe the problem is disc 2. So I copied disc 1 and disc 2 to a new folder on my desktop. It seemed like I installed the game, but when I tried to start, I got a lot of XML Load Errors.

There is a thread about XML Load Errors above. There seem to be a lot of different problems with this symptom. Does the fact that I could run BtS before give a clue to which solution to try?