hi guys... i read through 6-7 pages of posts dealing with getting dropped to desktop instantly after a black screen when starting up Emperor on win2k and ran across the following solutions: -update video drivers (done) -update sound drivers (done) -update BIOS (done) -install service packs 1-4 for win2k (done) -uninstall-reinstall Emperor and patch to verion 1.09 (done x 5) -use install patch (done x 2, though the normal install always went to 100%) my rig: 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 1 gig ram windows 2k NO antivirus nonsence on this machine i dunno... i'm ready to call in a witch doctor any help is most appreciated ***new directx diag file is attached since latest software updates (9/21/2005) [attachment archived by Gobalopper]