Installing under Windows 7

ainwood

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I noticed something strange when installing Civ3 in Windows 7. The install appeared to work fine, but when I went to run the game, the shortcut didn't work. Investigation showed that the registry entries had been added, but the game had not actually installed on my hard drive (despite all indications to the contrary during the install).

Anyway - the fix:
1.) Don't use the autorun when the CD gets inserted.
2.) Open windows explorer and use that to view the CD contents.
3.) Right-click on "setup.exe", and choose "properties".
4.) On the "compatability" tab, check the option to run in WIndows XP compatability mode.
5.) Also check the "run as administrator" option.
5.) Close the properties window.
6.) Double-click on the setup.exe icon - it should now install properly.

NOte: If you already installed and it didn't work, then the first time you run setup like this, it will actually uninstall the game, and you need to run it a gain to install.

Note 2: You should also do the same steps for any patches you install (compatability mode, run as administrator).
 
Hey ainwood, maybe you can give CAII a workout on your new Windows 7 machine and report any issues?
 
Thank you for this. My new comp is supposed to get here next week.
 
I just installed Civ3 Complete on my son's laptop running Windows 7 Professional, and did not notice any problems at all either with installing the game or running it. The editor also runs fine, and the latest version of Steph's editor also runs fine.
 
Currently running XP-- works fairly well short of a chronic audio buzz at the "init audio" loadpoint--would like to put 7 on but want to make sure it does not screw things up. Thought from the civ experts- thx in advance.
 
You can't directly upgrade XP to 7. You'll need to do a 'clean install', which consists of formatting the hard drive and loading the operating system on the clean HD. Depending on what upgrade you purchase, this may be in violation of the ToS for installing 7.

I've heard you can upgrade to Vista first, then 7, without reformatting. But I don't know if that really works.

I can think of better ways to fix the audio buzz that's better than buying one, possibly two OS upgrades.
 
I cant get civ3 to work when using win 7... Does anybody know how to get it to work?? After clicking the icone nothing happends??
 
I got it on my new comp but i cannot change any files - graphics stuff and I cannot edit the biq.

does anyone have any suggestions. I don't know how to become and Administrator. I appear to be designated as such but I have no authority on this thing.

PS... i totally hate this win7... garbage in, garbage out - just plain garbage. I know better than Bill Gates where I want my files to be located.
 
Ok... now we are into serious territory. I cannot uninstall/install my game.

When I was installing, I refused the game spy crap so the game did not install properly. I have uninstalled it and every program that is connected to it (CRP/CAII ets) but the game continues to exist somewhere on my comp. I can't find it to kill it so no go.

i have done 2 system restores that take the comp back to a time before I installed Civ but that does not work either.

Does anyone have an idea on where to look for this non-existent program?

Does anyone have a way around this problem?

I absolutely hate this thing. it is nice to be able to watch a video but that hardly makes up for the crap.
 
Darski, what version of 7 did you get? I am running Windows 7 Professional and having no problems. Your other alternative, is you still have the system disc is go back to XP.
 
It's just not worth it. I have Home Premium edition but that means nothing.

I have decided to keep my old comp and play on that in the other room.

I am just sick and tired of trying this computer crap. Death to Bill Gates and his fascist agenda.
 
It's just not worth it. I have Home Premium edition but that means nothing.

I have decided to keep my old comp and play on that in the other room.

I am just sick and tired of trying this computer crap. Death to Bill Gates and his fascist agenda.

That is one of the reasons that I have Macs.
 
installed on my new windows 7 machine. did it like ainwood suggested, work great. use compatability for xp 2. i had to right click for "run as administrator" as my tab check box was greyed out.
installed civ3 vanilla
patch to 1.29
conquest
patched to 1.22

thanks for posting this. i would not have been able to figure that out.
 
having problems installing c3c under windows 7..... the installation will stall once it has reached C:\Art\VictoryScreen\domination_vitory.pcx i changed the compatibility to windows xp sp2 and have also tried windows sp3 running it as an admin... but still get the same problem ... i have a del inspiron 15z if that makes any difference .. any suggestions?


Edit: problem solved.... bad game disk
 
Making these changes to the desktop shortcut (compatibility mode for XP, run as admin) under Windows 7 64 will allow the Steam version to run as well :)
 
Making these changes to the desktop shortcut (compatibility mode for XP, run as admin) under Windows 7 64 will allow the Steam version to run as well :)

Which XP version service pack two or three? There are two XP modes, which one should be used? And what are the driver requirements, my game is crashing because of a component mismatch. It has no problem running civ 4.

I installed the game the way ainwood said. I tried to set compatibility to XP service pack 2, and it told me after the crash, I have an open NividiaGL driver mismatch. Anyone know how to fix that issue? I have downloaded both XP compatibility modes, but there is a problem with component driver mismatch, it's really weird. Thanks for any help.
 
When installing the installer gets to the point where it needs the \Art\Movies\race.bik. That's where it stops. It says "Error 1305.Error reading from file C:program Files (x86)\Firaxis Games\Civilization III Complete\Art\Movies\race.bik. Verify that the file exists and that you can access it."

It does fine up until that point. I tried the compatibility ideas above, and I am the administrator for my computer. Any ideas?
 
My comp could not read the biq files either. that is why I gave up on the installation after several tries.
 
When installing the installer gets to the point where it needs the \Art\Movies\race.bik. That's where it stops. It says "Error 1305.Error reading from file C:program Files (x86)\Firaxis Games\Civilization III Complete\Art\Movies\race.bik. Verify that the file exists and that you can access it."

It does fine up until that point. I tried the compatibility ideas above, and I am the administrator for my computer. Any ideas?

It is not you being the admin, it is the app running with admin authority. In all my installs I would open the app and run as admin. Installed Civ3, PTW and then C3C. Then applied 1.22. Then some scenarios and CAII. I don't remember any issues.
 
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