Can't do Without My Dune!

[jccross]

Can anybody help me? I've been without Emperor ever since I upgraded to WinXP... and there's nothing I can think of that will make this game run. I MISS MY DUNE! It seems a shame that I'll have to configure a whole new machine with Win98, just so I can run the game...!!! Anybody have and suggestions (or workarounds?) I'm also using DX9.0 and using an ATI 9700 Pro graphics card, if that makes any difference... Thanks!

[wraith126]

ive got XP at home and my emperor works fine....

my emperor actually runs faster on XP than it did on windows98 and windowsME

if its cos u cant get it autorun then thats easy to get around..

my XP never autoruns...

just explore disk and find install

[Timenn]

You had Windows 98, and then you installed Emperor.

And then you upgraded Windows to XP?

Have you tried reinstalling Emperor?

Do you have Norton Antivirus? (there is known that that gives problems under Win XP)

Maybe you can attach a dxdiag text file to your post (start - run - type: dxdiag - ok, and save it in a file)

Emperor should run under Windows XP

[gryphon]

Also try the WinXP compatebilety mode for lower Windows versions..

[jccross]

I've reinstalled the game many, many times since I did a 'clean install' for the WinXP OS. It seems to install just fine, but when I go to play it, the opening screen comes on... the screen flashes a few times, and then it defaults back to WinXP. I've also tried using the 'Compatibility' properties feature for both Win98 and Win2000 (with and without toggling the resolution,) but these don't seem to work either. I installed it with my Norton turned off (as usual,) and I've tried running the game with the AntiVirus tuened off, too... no dice? If anybody would like to look at a DXdiag text file, let me know. This is driving me crazy! Bah!

[GhostHunter]

Dxdiag would be appreciated, also, what Norton version are you running?

[jccross]

Here's my DXdiag file. I don't see anything amiss with it, and it wasn't showing any red flags...? I'm running Norton Systemworks 2003 v6.01 Build 57. As I recall, I couldn't get it to run last year, when I was running that years version of SystemWorks (not that that has anything to do with anything?)[attachment archived by Gobalopper]

[gryphon]

Update your DirectX drivers. . . you are supposed to be at 5.03.0001.0902 according to your DirectX diag file.. . .. that can't be right ;)

[jccross]

I'm not sure what you mean... I'm using 9.0b (which is the latest version of DirectX that I'm aware of,) and I'm using the latest drivers for my graphics card. What other drivers should I be looking at? Thanks for your help with this matter (by the way, I LOVE your tag line!)

[gryphon]

Sorry, I looked at the wrong line :-[. You are using version 9. :)

Have you tried any of these two things at Westwood. [ one two ]. But more important. Compleatly uninstall Norton and then uninstall Dune Emperor and reinstall it.

My signature quote is taken from a story on Slashdot about Microsoft claiming 3th party code is responcible for most of the crashes in the Windows OS. :)

[jccross]

I'll try your suggestions (I think the '+W' trick worked for me when I was using 98?) I've already tried running Emp without first insatalling Norton, and got the same results... (ie. nada.) I tried this the last time I changed my boot drive (about 3 months ago.) I'll keep everyone posted on my results. Perhaps someone else is having the same problem... Thanks again!

[Frodo]

right click on emperor.exe, click properties, go to the compatibility tab at the top, then click on run in compatibility mode. set it to windows me. that did the trick for me when i upgraded.

[jccross]

Tried that (oh, about a hundred times?) Didn't work then... doesn't work now. Sorry?

[jccross]

Okay... I've gone through the list of Westwood suggestions, and here are the results, item by item.

Trick One:

I added the +W to the end of the 'Properties' target. Result: no change.

Trick Two:

1. I deleted the contents of my Windows Temp file. Result: no change.

2. I copied the contents of the setup folder onto the appropriate location on my hard drive, and then tried doing a setup using these files. Result: no change.

3. As I cannot shange the IDE transfer protocol in my BIOS (American Megatrends v07.00T,) this does not apply.

4. I tried to adjust the DMA sttings on my CD-ROM drives, by going in thru the Device Manager, but I'm using two DVD-ROM/CD-ROMS - which do not have this choice in the 'settings' tab (indeed, there was no 'Settings' tab either?)

5. As there was no settings tab, I could not turn on Autodetect. I do currently have Creative Labs 'Disk Detector' running, though.

6. I have not checked with the DVD-ROM manufacturers for firmware code updates, but as these two drives are less than 3 months old, I doubt that this will help. I could be wrong? I did check the regedit settings as suggested, but that didn't help either.

7. I now that this disk is not faulty, as it worked fine on my Win98 machine. It's in 'As New' condition, totally without blemish.

So... that's it, I guess? I'm stumped again. I did try these suggestions over a year ago, when I first tried to get Dune running again. I was hoping that something might have changed for the better in the meantime... Any more suggestion... anyone? The first person that comes up with an solution, I'll send a case of beer to! I really love this program! Thanks again to all! ;D

[Nyarlathotep]

I'm running Norton Systemworks 2003 v6.01 Build 57. As I recall, I couldn't get it to run last year, when I was running that years version of SystemWorks (not that that has anything to do with anything?)

You still may want to look at this thread.

[fremfedeliteNIAC]

when was the last time u formatted ure hard drive?

i had exactly the same problem until i reformatted, scince then it has worked flawlessly

[jccross]

I've reformatted my drives at least once in the last three months, as I've just added two large drives. That didn't seem to do it either?

[gryphon]

those drives you have added, are they SCSI drives or on a seperate IDE controler ?

Just ro try you can disable them and reboot. . then try again. IF that doesn't work you could try to run it with the no-CD patch.

[jccross]

The two drives I added, were actually USB drives - but because of that, I was able to get a lot of stuff off my boot drive... so, while I was at it, I reformatted and started from scratch. I am going to try the no-CD patch tonight and see if that works. I just removed Nero, and I'll be pulling the plug on Norton tonight. We'll see...?

[gryphon]

Hope that it are USB 2.0 drives .. . if you havn't got any luck getting it running tonight [ or if you havn't started ] give it a try without the 2 USB disks.

[jccross]

Hurrah! Nyarlathotep's suggestion worked! I followed his hint, and looked at the 'thread,' and it worked! I can finally play this game again. Were he here, I'd give him a kiss (not that there's anything wrong with that?) Instead, I'm going to see if I can send him that case of beer! My thanks to all of you for helping out! :D