Two Repeat Issues... Any Answers?

[homegrown]

So, I broke down and bought Societies this past weekend at Walmart.

Computer 1: Game installed fine. I immediately applied the update. It won't play now. If you click on Play or the executable, it goes busy for a few seconds, but the game never starts.

Possible Diagnoses: It only has a GeForce 5700, so it might not be passing the internal video card test, but really, people, wouldn't some feedback in this case be appropriate?

Computer 2: Game won't even install. Apparently, my DVD/RW (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16827152058) doesn't even recognize there is a disk in the drive. This drive is functioning properly as it writes and plays DVDs regularly.

Possible Diagnoses: Who the hell knows? The only thing I can think of is somewhere, I seem to have a "virtual" dvd drive installed also .(?) If you look at My Computer, I can see a DVD Rom and a DVD/RW icon. I can assure you I only have 1 DVD drive, (the other is a CD/RW, but it doesn't have two icons or drive letters associated with it).

So, basically, I have two computers and this PoS won't run out of the box on either of them. I'm not a happy camper. I'm not completely convinced it's not some bizarre configuration-fu at my level, so I'll refrain from unleashing on the forums the wide range of expletives my dogs and cat have been subjected to over this.

I've seen both these issues mentioned by other users, but there has been no definitive fixes, or even acknowledgemnts that the users aren't absolutely crazy. However, I would appreciate any insight anyone might have.

PS: I'm running updated WinXP, 2Gigs RAM (only 1mb on rig 1), updated sound and video.

[Keith]

Your FX5700 probably isn't hacking it.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
-------------------
* OS: Windows(R) XP SP2 / Vista*
* Processor: 1.7 GHz Intel CPU or faster, AMD XP 2100+ or faster
* Memory: 512 MB RAM
* Hard drive: at least 2.1 GB free space
* Video card: 128 MB**
* DVD drive: 4 speed
* Sound Card - DirectX 9.0c compatible
* DirectX - Version 9.0c (included on disc)
* Input - Keyboard, Mouse
*Windows Vista requires a 2.4 GHz processor or equivalent and 1 GB RAM.
**Supported chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 or greater; ATI Radeon 9600 or greater; onboard chipsets not supported. Windows Vista requires an NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or greater, ATI Radeon X600 or greater. Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required.

You may have a conflict with SecuROM and something on the computer somewhere. Have you run the Launch Analysis utility and sent the results to support@securom.com?

[dreadmime]

Pop down a DXDiag and HijackThis, and i'll take a look.

Do you use:

Alcohol 120%, Daemon Tools, Nero, or any other "popular" burning/emulation software? Both A120% and Nero install, by default, a "Virtual Drive". Daemon does too, but it's sort of the point of DT really.

Alternatively, i'm not sure it'll work on the Media-Version but you can try copying all the files off the CD/DVD to your Hard Drive, and installing from there, assuming you've got it Networked.

Second Alternative, try yanking the Drive from Rig 1 and putting it into Rig 2. See if it works. If it doesn't, then you may have a different issue. :p

[homegrown]

I did get the game to install and run on Computer #2 by pulling the DVD from #1 and putting it in #2. This is, of course, not a permanent solution because the DVD writer MUST be in Computer #2. I feel bad for people that run into these config hangups that don't have extra hardware lying around to mess around with trying to make **** work.

[dreadmime]

Depending on the model of DVD-Rom, it may be on Securom's "banned" list. I had to get a special "file" at some point for my particular brand of DVD-Rom (Lite-On SOHW-1603) because Securom kept saying it was a conflict with Emulation Software. Apparently they not only tag certain software to be banned, but also certain hardware that is commonly used to make said software images. I was actually a little annoyed by that, because I use it for the simple reason it was $30 for a DVD Burner...

At least it installed, but yeah. This may in fact be a problem with the Copy Protection folks, and not TM or EA. It's a side-note issue that we're rapidly being told not only what software we can or can't run, but what hardware we can or can't run also.

[PantherX]

I also think that many peoples problems will be related to .NET. I have had a corrupted install of .NET in the past and a few games would work and a few would not. I actually paid the MS tech support team to help me fix the problem but they refunded my charges because they could not fix it and I had to re-install the OS(XPPro).

So, to me .NET is bad and really makes me wonder what it is used for.
I also wonder if it is required for the new "Designed for Windows" logo as it seems that all the new games are using it. /sigh

;)

[Ed.]

I also think that many peoples problems will be related to .NET. I have had a corrupted install of .NET in the past and a few games would work and a few would not. I actually paid the MS tech support team to help me fix the problem but they refunded my charges because they could not fix it and I had to re-install the OS(XPPro).

So, to me .NET is bad and really makes me wonder what it is used for.
I also wonder if it is required for the new "Designed for Windows" logo as it seems that all the new games are using it. /sigh

;)
If you knew anything about .NET you'd know it is a good thing. .NET provides developers with base class libraries for common programming solutions. This creates an even keel for all developers to work with that makes problem solving much easier and development productivity much higher. It also creates extra application stability which is what we all want. Also, C/C++ development is slow and expensive compared to C# which is a .NET language.

In simple terms for you Panther, .NET is the future and most, if not all Windows applications will/should be built using it and rightly so.