Game Loading problems

[CHM8318]

Greeting everyone.

After searching through the forums looking for information in regards to my problem, I have no choice, but to ask another Tech Support question:

The problem I am having is running Civ4. The game will install fine but when it comes time to load it, it crashes on me and I get the famous pop-up saying:

"Sid Meier's Civilization 4 has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience"

The last time I played this game was about 3 months ago and it worked fine then. I have un-installed it, re-installed it plenty of times.

What could be the problem(s)?

Thanks!

 

[CHM8318]

Sorry about the previous post. I have seemed to have got it to run. It runs fine when I run Civ4.exe from Program Files and not use the auto launch.

 

[ori]

glad it works - Welcome to CFC

 

[CHM8318]

Actually, it doesn't work all the time. Works after loading it a few times. Could it be a fault in the disc?

Thanks for the welcome Ori!

 

[ori]

the error is pretty generic - so some more questions then:

what operating system is this?
is the game patched?
could you post your dxdiag results file?

 

[CHM8318]

I have fairly novice skills when it comes to computers, but here's what I can give you:

OS: Windows XP Professional, Version 2002
Service Pack 3
AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 5600+

As far as being patched, I would imagine so, however, the only patch that it would be would be from the install itself. This is an original, not a cracked version.

What is and where can I locate this dxdiag results file?

Thanks for your time Ori!

 

[ori]

so the game is likely not patched - is this just civ4 or one of the expansions as well?
as for dxdiag:

on your windows desktop
click start
click run
type dxdiag
hit enter
in the program that opens
click save results (make sure to save it to somewhere where you can find it)
then come back here
below the reply box
click on go advanced
click on manage attachments
attach the results file
post

 

[CHM8318]

The game itself is released as : Sid Meirer's Civilization IV Game Of The Year Edition. So I would assume it's just Civ IV?

Here also is the dxdiag:

 

[ori]

ok try the following:

install the most recent version of DirectX 9c from Microsoft

then uninstall Civ4 using the control panel
then delete any of the following that you can find (some will not be there - never mind those):
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\my documents\my games\sid meier's civilization 4" manually
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\application data\my games\sid meier's civilization 4"
Delete "...\documents and settings\<username>\local settings\application data\my games\sid meier's civilization 4" manually
Delete "...\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{CFBCE791-2D53-4FCE-B3FB-D6E01F4112E8}" manually

Note some of these are hidden directories - you need to set Windows to show them: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/hiddenfiles.mspx

Install Civ4, immediately patch it to 1.61 (download it fresh from here), then patch it to 1.74 (from here).

Also: update your graphics driver.

 

[CHM8318]

Alright. I will try this and report back to ya.

Thanks!

 

[CHM8318]

Alright. After trying eveything, it worked great the first time it loaded (right after the installation) but now it is giving me problems.

I can hear the disc booting for maybe 2 seconds then it fails. Anything else I can do, or am I up the creek on this one?

 

[ori]

does this happen when you use the shortcut to start the game or are you trying to start it directly from the disc?
is there an antivirus program running at the same time? try disabling it (some of those interfere with the game).

 

[CHM8318]

I tried running it from everywhere, but I get the most success from running it from Program Files. There is an Anti-Virus program. I diabled it and still nothing.

I'll try some other things when I get back from work.

 

[ori]

my hunch is that *something* interferes with the disc check that is part of the game's copy protection scheme

 

[CHM8318]

What could it be perhaps? I disabled everything I can think of?

 

[CHM8318]

Seems to work everytime without fail if I first run the Pitboss.exe file. I can live with that.

 

[ori]

shouldn't be necessary - but as long as it works

 

[CHM8318]

Seems I am having the same problem trying to play other games. I guess I better start looking for the problem(s).

 

[ori]

are the other games also using safedisk as a copy protection scheme?

 

[CHM8318]

Safedisk I am unaware of. How do I tell? Should we continue this in PM if you think I'm wasting bandwidth?