BtS Won't Load After System Restore

[leftyboy87]

Hi all. Been lurking without a name for a while, but now I need help. I was cleaning my computer of a virus and went back to a restore point. I had uninstalled/reinstalled BtS maybe once or twice in the span between the real date and restore point date. Now, BtS will not load, it will not uninstall, and trying to reinstall tells me that since the patch is higher it won't install.

Help?

 

[leftyboy87]

Nothing? No ideas?

 

[Yakk]

THIS IS DANGEROUS.

Press WindowsKey-R to get the "run" prompt.

Type "regedit".

Now, very carefully, move down the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE::SOFTWARE::Firaxis Games

Select "Sid Meier's Civilization 4 - Beyond the Sword"
Open the EDIT menu. Select Delete. Say "yes, I am sure".

Now close regedit.

Next, press alt-R again.
Type in:
"c:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\"
press enter.

Look for the directory "Beyond the Sword". Press delete.

At this point, pretty much all traces of BTS will be gone from your system. This includes every mod you downloaded. Reinstall the game from your CD, then download the 3.13 patch.

...

If you want to be more certain, you can also delete the civilization 4 and civilization 4 warlords stuff -- both the folder, and the entry in the regedit program. If so, reinstall in the following order:
Civ 4
Civ 4 Warlords
Civ 4 Beyond the Sword
The 3.13 Beyond the Sword patch.

Good luck.

Note: REGEDIT is dangerous. You can easily destroy your entire system with the slip of a key. Do not play around with regedit unless you have to.

 

[leftyboy87]

Okay, I deleted the registry entry for BtS and deleted the folder, yet it still shows up in Add/Remove Programs and it refuses to install (since a newer version is installed than what is on the disc). I was able to uninstall/reinstall Civ4 and Warlords themselves, but BtS is still out of commission. I'm intrigued as to why it remains in Add/Remove if it doesn't exist. . .

Thanks for the help!

 

[Yakk]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314481
That is how you manually play around with the list of "add or remove programs". It is dangerous, but they do tell you how to make it less dangerous (the backup step!)

 

[leftyboy87]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314481
That is how you manually play around with the list of "add or remove programs". It is dangerous, but they do tell you how to make it less dangerous (the backup step!)

Thanks, that seemed to have worked. I kinda figured it was some sort of reference file that got messed up. Obviously the system restore must have screwed with the registry entries for BtS.

 

[onlysmiles]

I was doing a simple reinstall of Civ4 and BTS, and my system didn't recognize that BTS had been uninstalled, preventing me from reinstalling. Following your instruction using regedit works for me as well. Cheers Yakk!