Your basic problem is the Radeon 9200 Mobility graphics -its on board graphics, will therefore have considerable performance problems without the help of a graphics card
We
may be able to get it to run,
but it will be slow(ish), unlikely be able to play at the larger/huge map sizes, will need to reduce video quality/textures/resolution etc, and I think you will have increasing problems with Civ IV as the game develops over time. Without a Video Card to help overall processing power, you troubles can only increase over time with 3D games
I would seriously think about getting a mid range card to replace it, you will notice a significant performance increase, and much less hassle, mid range cards are not too bad in price these days. However I could not find any info on your motherboard, you would need to contact HP and talk it over with them, depending on the motherboard, it may or may not be worth it - which would mean a PC upgrade. If however the motherboard is suitable - and there is roomin the laptop - and no heating issues - then you maybe lucky and only need a Video Card.
Your Laptop Specs are here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?lc=en&cc=us&product=425541 Handy to keep a note of that if you talk to anyone about this
Meanwhile ..... Can try these, all will reduce the load on your graphics
Make sure you have loaded Patch V1.52, but, also ensure that the memsaver switch in the ini file is set to 0 (figure 0 not a letter O). The reason is that 1.52 placed more load on video cards to help those with low main RAM, if memsaver is switched on (using a 1 in the ini file entry) it switches on that feature which you dont want as your graphics card is your weak spot.
- Turn off textures in the game Options menu
- Set the game resolution to as low as possible
- set your desktop resolution to the same as you are going to use in the game
- set the desktop refresh rate to 60Hz
- Turn off any background application or services running that you dont really need (via MSconfig). That includes going off line to play Civ, and turning off Anti-V & Firewall.
- Set your pagefile to 2000mb, min=max
Video Drivers
The Video drivers you have are outdated (2004), download new drivers from here
http://www.omegadrivers.net/
Scroll down that page until you see Radeon Omega Drivers 2.5.97a (Catalyst 4.12) they are not the latest,but they are a very stable reliable set, and probably better for your older setup. If they dont work properly, try Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.83 (Catalyst 5.11) at the top of the page
Thats a fair number of changes, if you are not confident on some post again we will try to help. If you are not confident on most, it may be better to get a friend to help with the changes. Post again with concerns etc we will try to help.
Cannot guarantee the above will solve your 9200 Mobility hassles, but if you want to try, keep in mind your aim is to reduce as much as possible the video load, and try to get the on board chip working as efficiently as you can vis drivers etc.
If you still have no significant performance increase, and I have doubts that you will, in my opinion it will be a PC upgrade if you cant fit a suitable graphics card as your graphics setup is bare minimum on a 3 year old laptop.
Regards
Zy