After installing the patch the game always crashes

[The Tollan]

Whenever I install the latest patch (through game's download option) the game will always crash to the desktop before reaching the main menu (it goes through some of the screens though). An error message appears; however, it gives no specific information.

When I uninstall BTS and then install it again the game works until I get the patch.

What might be causing this problem?

 

[ori]

did you try downloading the patch from outside the game and installing it manually?

 

[The Tollan]

Yes, I tried downloading the patch from other sources and installing it and the problem still occurs.

 

[ori]

is this windows vista or xp?
did you install with admin rights (if vista)?
from which patch version are you trying to patch up?
this is a cd/dvd version of the game, right?

 

[The Tollan]

is this windows vista or xp?

32-bit Vista

did you install with admin rights (if vista)?

Yes.

from which patch version are you trying to patch up?

I am patching from a fresh installation of Beyond the Sword. I have the Warlords expansion installed along with the original Civ IV.

When I start up the game from the Civ IV play disc (which is working) and click on the "about build" feature this information is displayed:

Civ Version: 174

Build version 1.7.4.0

Build date May 16, 2007

this is a cd/dvd version of the game, right?

Yes, I install and play the game off of the original Civilization IV discs, the Warlords expansion CD, and the Beyond the Sword discs.

 

[ori]

so you are trying to patch Civ4? that is already patched to date.
what patch version is BtS?

when you say you installed with admin rights - this means you right clicked on the installer and patch installer and chose run as admin?

 

[The Tollan]

I am only trying to install BtS patch 3.19 currently.

I have version 3.00 of BtS (that is what the patch installation shows when I install 3.19).

When I go into the main menu (after re-installing BtS but before installing the patch) and check the information about the build the following appears:

Civ version: 303

Build version 3.0.0.86 (74099)

Build date June 23, 2007


About the admin rights:

I had not installed the way you explained in the last post until I read that post. But after reading it I installed the patch in the way you suggested by right clicking and selecting the run as administrator option and the problem still exists in identical form.

 

[Furiey]

Some people find it helps to download and install the 3.17 patch prior to installing 3.19. Use the right click run as administrator method to install.

 

[The Tollan]

I tried installing the 3.17 patch (without the 3.19 patch) and the game crashes in exactly the same way as with the 3.19 patch.

 

[ori]

is there an error message in the windows event manager when it crashes?

 

[The Tollan]

All patches up to and including 3.13 work fine. The crash problem only happens with 3.17 and 3.19. Today I tested installing each BtS patch in consecutive order. I installed each one manually (except for 3.19 since the crashing started with 3.17) and after each patch I tested the game. All installations were conducted as administrator.

The Event Viewer shows each instance of the crash. There are several application errors for Civilization IV BtS.

Event ID: 1000

Task category: 100

There is some information at the top about faulting application, Civ4BeyondtheSword.exe, exception code, faulting module, and some other things (including numbers).

When the crash is taking place I just see a window pop up mentioned how Civilization IV Beyond the Sword has stopped working.

I once uninstalled the entire game and all expansions and did a complete reinstallation the original Civ IV, Warlords, and BtS to attempt to fix the problem. The problem remained afterwards. I might try it again soon though.

 

[ori]

could you post the exception code?

Edit: if you reinstall follow the below guide - and make sure to install and patch with admin rights, i.e. rightclick on each installer and patch and choose run as admin - do not rely on an admin account.


install the most recent version of DirectX 9c from Microsoft

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)
Install Warlords, immediately patch it to 2.08 (download it fresh from here)
Install Beyond the Sword, immediately patch to 3.19 (download it fresh from here).

 

[The Tollan]

The exception code is: 0xc0000005

Thanks for the uninstall and reinstall advice. I will try that method soon.

 

[ori]

that error is a pretty generic "memory access violation" error - which means that the game tries to use memory it is not allowed to. This could be due to any number of reasons - but I would reinstall making sure to run as admin all setup/install files.

 

[The Tollan]

Ok, the problem is fixed.

Either the fresh installation (following ori's steps) fixed or it was fixed because of the removal of another potential problem that I had forgotten about.

I had an entire copy of Civ IV, Warlords, and BtS installed in a folder containing files and software that I had transported over from another computer. This installation existed simultaneously with the main one that I was working with and using. I think that the BtS I had installed in this folder had a patch but maybe not 3.17 or 3.19.

When I was deleting the things ori mentioned I found this installation (which I had seen earlier this year but had forgotten about since then) and deleted it.


I also deleted all traces of the InstallShield files for Civ IV and any Civ IV files on the second hard drive (not sure if this hard drive could have had any role in the problem). I also did not think about this drive until I started deleting the Civ IV software.

I couldn't delete the Warlords expansion through the control panel uninstall but I was able to clear it off of both hard drives through other methods. Also, the Installshield files seemed to be gone from main hard drive (perhaps removed from the uninstalls). I found Installshield files on the main hard drive but none of them were for Civ IV or the expansions.

Thanks for the help to ori and Furiey.