I have checked all the forums I can find, but I apologise in advance if there was an answer to this somewhere that I have missed :)

I follow these steps: http://www.nanacide.com/wahelp/installguide-soldout2.php for WinXP with the Sold Out software. Yes, I have both XP and the SO version before you ask that one ;)

The problem is as I complete section 3 part c, my WA refuses to load.

For those too lazy to read the link, I:
1) Install WA
2) Update with the Sold Out patch
3) Update with the Beta from ftp://ftp.team17.com/pub/t17/patches/pc/WA_Update-3.6.26.5_Beta.exe

I have tried to play with-out the beta and it works fine in single player mode.
If i try to play with the beta with or with-out the SO patch it makes no difference, WA just refuses to load.

It still shows up (WA.exe) on my process list, at 98% of my CPU usage, 5K+ Memory usage, but won't load the damn game!

What's really interesting though, is that at one point It worked fine with the beta patch and online play. This was with both the SO and Beta patches installed. A day later, with no change to any software, this problem started. I've tried re-installing numerous times and really can't think what else to try - hence this post.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, or "Read the sticky again, are you blind?!" :)

~Regulator

I have sold out and all I needed to do was use beta update and all is well. Reinstall game.

I advise you uninstall he game and then do this:

http://vader.wurmz.net/wapatch

Then again, I would suggest that ;)

I advise you uninstall he game and then do this:

http://vader.wurmz.net/wapatch

Then again, I would suggest that ;)
What are you doing?
You're teaching him the wrong doctrine!

It's only allowed to link to www.nanacide.com/wahelp!

Is someone trying to undermine my authority?

Bonz, release the hounds.

First (Patches WA for XP)

Second (Updates to WA v3 beta)

Last (Upgrades to latest beta - currently: 3.6.26.5)You have a bit of info. wrong there. The 3.0 patch (your "first" patch) does not patch WA for Windows XP. Also, the first and second links there are completely unnecessary for US and Sold-Out Software copies of WA. You should write something saying, "Don't install these if you have a US or Sold-Out Software version!"

Alternatively, we could channel all newbies to one information location, and you wouldn't have to write tutorials for your own site.

It's only allowed to link to www.nanacide.com/wahelp!
Thanks, but I already tried there ( http://www.nanacide.com/wahelp/installguide-soldout2.php ) as I said in my first post.

If there are problems with http://vader.wurmz.net/wapatch then I won't try that just yet.

Thanks for the effort so far, anything else you can think of?

Alternatively, we could channel all newbies to one information location, and you wouldn't have to write tutorials for your own site.

Yeah, I mainly put it there for my own purposes, as with most of my site. ;)

Everything works perfectly if you have the same copy of W:A as I do, which is fine by me. Heh.

"This application has failed to start because ltkrn10n.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem"

http://www.nanacide.com/wahelp/faq.php#r10 says:

R10. "ltkrn10n.dll was not found"

You must install the Patch before you Install the update. Uninstall the game and follow the installation tutorial more carefully.

That's what I did.

Could anyone help please?

Go into your Worms Armageddon directory (typically C:\Team17\Worms Armageddon) and have a look for the file.

It is called ltkrn10N.dll and is 291KB in size.

Is it there?

I un-installed and only just got round to re-installing, but I can't seem to get http://vader.wurmz.net/wapatch to load, so I can't finish doing this :(

Any idea when it will be back up?
Or is it just down for me?

Thanks, Reg

The site works fine as far as I know. Nobody else has complained about it.

Besides, that guide is only for version 1.0 of W:A.

Does the game run without patches?

If so, hover your mouse over the W:A logo and it will tell you your version number at the bottom.

Let me know exactly which version you are running and I will try to help.

The WA logo shows 3.0.0.0, in the same folder I see documentation for a Beta update 3.6.26.5, however I haven't patched since I have re-installed.

The game loads and seems to work, but when I go to join a game I recieve the error message:

"Counld Not Get CheckSum
15"

Then once I "Ok" this i get the message:

"Please ensure that the Worms Armageddon CD is in your CD-ROM drive."

Thanks for the help man :)

Check the tutorials & FAQs here:
www.nanacide.com/wahelp

The WA logo shows 3.0.0.0, in the same folder I see documentation for a Beta update 3.6.26.5, however I haven't patched since I have re-installed.

Okay, this is a pain in the neck but it should work.

1.) Uninstall the game again.

2.) Go to the location where you had installed Worms:Armageddon.

3.) Make sure the folders no longer exist (if they are there, delete them, including emptying Norton Protected Files or similar).

4.) Reinstall Worms:Armageddon to the default location.

5.) go here (http://vader.wurmz.net/wapatch/) and skip step 1. Just install the files linked as steps 2 and 3.

If that link doesn't work, or you can't be bothered, you can try these:
First: ftp://ftp.team17.com/pub/t17/patches/pc/WA_Update-3.0.5.0_Beta_2.exe
Second: ftp://ftp.team17.com/pub/t17/patches/pc/WA_Update-3.6.26.5_Beta.exe

Let us know how it goes :)

After un-installing, deleting everything to do with WA on my computer, re-installing, and following steps 2 and 3 from your site, i'm now i'm back to:

R10. "ltkrn10n.dll was not found"
You must install the Patch before you Install the update. Uninstall the game and follow the installation tutorial more carefully.

Grrrr!

Okay.

Now, with the game in that state, browse to your Worms:Armageddon folder and manually look for the file.

It is called ltkrn10N.dll and is 291KB in size.

Is the file there?

Just loose in the "Worms Armageddon" folder, no it's not there.

Bizarre.

Let's try and narrow this down a bit:

When you apply the first patch (3.0.5.0), do you run it from inside the W:A directory?

If so, when you apply the first patch (3.0.5.0), does the game run?

If so, the version number when you hover of the W:A logo in the frontend should read:

Worms Armageddon: V3.50ß2
Buffalo of Lies ~ Indigo Build

Is that so?

If so, when you apply the second patch (3.6.26.5), do you run it from inside the W:A directory?

Okay, this is a pain in the neck but it should work.

1.) Uninstall the game again.

2.) Go to the location where you had installed Worms:Armageddon.

3.) Make sure the folders no longer exist (if they are there, delete them, including emptying Norton Protected Files or similar).

4.) Reinstall Worms:Armageddon to the default location.

5.) go here (http://vader.wurmz.net/wapatch/) and skip step 1. Just install the files linked as steps 2 and 3.

If that link doesn't work, or you can't be bothered, you can try these:
First: ftp://ftp.team17.com/pub/t17/patches/pc/WA_Update-3.0.5.0_Beta_2.exe
Second: ftp://ftp.team17.com/pub/t17/patches/pc/WA_Update-3.6.26.5_Beta.exe

Let us know how it goes :)

why do you need such an old update first??? i followed the instructions at team17's website and just patched my game to v3.0.0 then updated straight to v3.6.26.5..... it also sounds like -ip-reggie has a pre patched version which may mean bizarreness with the dll files.

Hmmm. I was under the impression that you had to do them in order.

Well, I'm too tired to care at the minute so someone else can try and help ;)

Franpa, you know it's me, Reg, right? ;)
And no, I don't think the SoldOut version is pre-patched, though a patch does come with the game.


When you apply the first patch (3.0.5.0), do you run it from inside the W:A directory?
I wasn't before, but I have on this installation.


If so, when you apply the first patch (3.0.5.0), does the game run?
Yes.


If so, the version number when you hover of the W:A logo in the frontend should read:

Worms Armageddon: V3.50ß2
Buffalo of Lies ~ Indigo Build

Is that so?
Yes.


If so, when you apply the second patch (3.6.26.5), do you run it from inside the W:A directory?
Yes.

HOWEVER, on this installation, running all patches from within the WA folder...
It's gone back to refusing to load at all, but still showing up on my Processes list in task manager!

Thanks so much for the continued support here, I appreciate this one's being a bit of a *****, hehe

Interesting.

So, you can upgrade to 3.0.5.0 but not 3.6.26.5.

Did you reboot when it told you to? :p

I can't think of anything else right now. I'm very tired. ;)

yes reg i did assume it was you.... try the TimerWorkaround_On.reg (found in the place worms armageddon was installed to) after you update to 3.6.26.5 and see if it will run... if not the try TimerWorkaround_Off.reg

for me turning the timer fix on renders WA impossible to load... for you it might have an adverse effect and result in you actually being able to play it.

---

and you can update straght to 3.6.26.5 straight from v3.0.0.0

I'll have a look when I get home franpa, thanks for the suggestion.

Vader - it never told me to reboot :o

And something I thought of.. I don't let it install DirectX6.0 as I have 9.0c anyway. Could this affect it?

if you force the direct x setup to close then yes, as that installs a few dll files not included in direct x 9.0c which the game might depend on... it does not however overwrite newer files thus only 3 files are added nothing is deleted or overwritten.

mciqtz.dll, quartz.vxd, vidx16.dll

the listed dll and vxd files are the most likely missing ones due to there creation dates 1996 and 1998, where as all others are 2004 and higher. <---- what are the size tags?

I don't think that is true? Directx9 is fully backward compatible and will not let you install dx6.

I have never installed dx6 with worms, i always cancel and no problems.

Uninstall/reinstall worms after reinstalling dx9c

Hmm I won't try that then..
I'll try the TimerWorkaround_On.reg / TimerWorkaround_Off.reg when I get a chance.
Anything else worth trying?

Yeah.

Run this .exe file, it's helped me with that exact problem before. No guarantees, all I can tell you is it's been tested in the past and won't do anything evil to a computer running Windows XP. Everyone else, stay away.

[What it does is it replaces the 3 main Windows files with working copies. Helps in case those files got corrupted somehow. From what I've heard, it tends to happen rather often.]


http://www.laene.nl/fb/fixingstuphp.zip

Still no joy!
But it's gone back to doing this:
http://www.geocities.com/si8490/odd.PNG
Leaving a little sticky patch in the corner where the most recently opened window *stains* the desktop.
Maybe this will be easier to fix now if this is a known symptom?
(God I hope so :P)

there is no choice in installing direct x 6 with WA thus ending it via ctrl-alt-delete may interrupt the WA setup prematurely aswell.

It gives me the option, a pop up "Do you want to install DirectX V6.0?"
I click.. "No".

I don't ctrl+alt+delete

I also get a dialogue asking whether I want to install DirectX 6.0.

Perhaps Franpa has a WA release that doesn't ask. Franpa, can you confirm or deny this?

I can confirm having an installer version that just mentioned "Installing DirectX 6" without giving the control to the user. I'll have to double-check this, but I'm pretty sure the only moment I get asked for something, once the installing has started, is to answer whether I agree to reboot the computer or not, most likely because updating DirectX requires a reboot. But it has never actually installed anything during this step, nor overwritten existing updated DirectX files, as far as I'm aware of.

for those that have a version that allows them NOT to install direct x 6 can you check that the 3 dll files i listed above are installed on your pc?

my "copy" indeed only askes where to install and whether or not i want to reboot.

Ok, so, what do I do now?
No-one's ever had that sticky patch thing in the corner before?

so the TimerWorkaround_On.reg didnt help?

No, it didn't, but thanks for the contribution.

so the game works fully with patches but with the updates it only works in the menues and not the actual game itself? maybe it is setting a invalid refresh rate thus you could possible use dxdiag (type "dxdiag" in the run command on the start menue) go to the far right tab called "more help" then click the "override" button and set a refresh rate you know is supported.

The menu doesn't work, the game doesn't load at all once I install the latest beta.
It just leaves a sticky patch like this, where once i close/minimize all windows, a dead image of it stays in the corner:
http://www.geocities.com/si8490/odd.PNG

you seem to have a lot going on in the background i can tell from the taskbar and the icons in it and can only assume one of those programs are interferring with the game.

Quicktime, Nvidia, Dell support, AVG free, Safely remove hardware, Volume, Fraps, Trillian, Wan.

I don't think any of them should make a difference.
And everything in my process list relates to one of them, or the running of the computer.

you seem to have a lot going on in the background i can tell from the taskbar and the icons in it and can only assume one of those programs are interferring with the game.

Heh heh... did you see my system tray (http://gallery.thecybershadow.net/d/249-2/winamp.png)? If you have enough RAM, you can afford to ran a lot of programs in the background - just watch your CPU usage and memory-intensive programs (I never use anything that runs in the background and takes more than 30MB of RAM). Also DirectX overlays and alpha-blended always-on-top programs cause serious screen lag in W:A. The only thing I have to do before running W:A is close Opera and minimize WinAMP.

the absolout last thing i can think of is that nvidia released new stable winXP 32bit drivers either yesterday or the day before... depending on your videocard you might like to try those and see how they work? (there newer then the latest public beta)

Still.. Not working..

disable write combining? (refer to attachment.)

Same problem.

well i lost my cd and wit the new beta version requires a cd for instalation i think can anyone help me out?

Double posting (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showthread.php?p=529782#post529777) will NOT help you solve the problem faster.

No new ideas?
Been almost a month with-out W:A :(

Well, things don't just stop working for nothing. registry errors, program errors, hardware errors.

Now, you say it all worked ok, then suddenly day later boom, it no longer loads after patch is installed?

And you have uninstalled and reinstalled, still no luck.

In that case it can be anything...I mean really, could be: spyware, virus, registry error, directx error, video card drivers, hardware faults...the list is endless.

There are many things to try if you haven't already here they are in order of what I think may work best:

Give full process readout for us (list them all here)! before you do this >>>Reinstall Directx9c. Reinstall Video drivers, latest ones. Reinstall Worms Armageddon and patches.

----

failing absolutely everything....reinstall windows and start afresh!

and installing latest audio drivers may solve some problems aswell.... as with W2 the beta drivers for my x-fi s/c pretty much 99% guarenteed a black screen after a game... (i had to blindly hit "windows key" and push "up" "enter" then "r") till they realeased new stable audio drivers.

Heh heh... did you see my system tray (http://gallery.thecybershadow.net/d/249-2/winamp.png)? If you have enough RAM, you can afford to ran a lot of programs in the background - just watch your CPU usage and memory-intensive programs (I never use anything that runs in the background and takes more than 30MB of RAM). Also DirectX overlays and alpha-blended always-on-top programs cause serious screen lag in W:A. The only thing I have to do before running W:A is close Opera and minimize WinAMP.

Heh, heh - that nearly beats mine!

Mine is HUGE!

Now, you say it all worked ok, then suddenly day later boom, it no longer loads after patch is installed?

And you have uninstalled and reinstalled, still no luck.
Yep.
Reinstall Directx9c. Reinstall Video drivers, latest ones. Reinstall Worms Armageddon and patches.
Done.

One thing i've noticed though..

3. Updating

The Sold Out installation setup will tell you that you must install the update before you run the game. Click "Okay" on the window that appears to install the update from the CD.
I've been ignoring this because I haven't got a message telling me to update.
Maybe this is the problem?

Give full process readout for us (list them all here)!
rundll32.exe
trillian.exe
wmplayer.exe
wowexec.exe
ntvdm.exe
IEXPLORE.EXE
WlanCU.exe
alg.exe
svchost.exe
RioMSC.exe
nvsvc32.exe
Crypserv.exe
avgemc.exe
avgupsvc.exe
avgamsvr.exe
*Pauses for breath*
spoolsv.exe
fraps.exe
DSAgnt.exe
rundll32.exe
vsnpstd.exe
avgcc.exe
taskmgr.exe.
explorer.exe
qttask.exe
jusched.exe
lsass.exe
services.exe
winlogin.exe
csrss.exe
smss.exe
Frontend.exe
smax4pnp.exe
issch.exe
wdfmgr.exe
System

You asked :p

rundll32.exe STOP
trillian.exe STOP PROCESS
wmplayer.exe STOP PROCESS
wowexec.exe NORMAL
ntvdm.exe NORMAL BUT STOP
IEXPLORE.EXE STOP
WlanCU.exe STOP
alg.exe STOP
svchost.exe NORMAL
RioMSC.exe STOP
nvsvc32.exe STOP
Crypserv.exe STOP
avgemc.exe <<antivirus, for test purposes stop
avgupsvc.exe STOP
avgamsvr.exe STOP <<end of AV
*Pauses for breath*
spoolsv.exe NORMAL
fraps.exe STOP
DSAgnt.exe STOP
rundll32.exe NORMAL for nvidia I believe. STOP IT
vsnpstd.exe STOP
avgcc.exe STOP
taskmgr.exe. YOU WOULDN'T SEE THIS LIST WITHOUT IT ;)
explorer.exe NORMAL IF U WANT TO SEE YOUR DESKTOP ;)
qttask.exe STOP
jusched.exe STOP
lsass.exe NORMAL
services.exe NORMAL
winlogin.exe NORMAL
csrss.exe NORMAL
smss.exe NORMAL
Frontend.exe STOP
smax4pnp.exe STOP
issch.exe STOP
wdfmgr.exe NORMAL
System NORMAL

Do the above, try to run the game. Stop (end) as many as the ones I have said as possible. Add me to aol bdaniel9801 if nothibng works.

You have some proper **** on that comp running and its little wonder worms aint runnin. Fraps is a git also. As are many of them listed

lols at post deletion.

I closed down everything suggested, and it still won't go.
Added you to aol but not seen you on :(

I am on permanently, but seems something wrong with people trying to add me. I can add you?

W2Regulator, thanks. I'm using trillian though, so that might be doing something to it.. *crosses fingers*

I don't see you on, and I still can't get it working :(
Any ideas left from anyone before I accept the fact i've spent £5 on what is now only useful as a coaster?

Yes, DLPB@Hotmail.co.uk MSN. Or give me your aol screen name.

AOL screen name = W2Regulator
Added you on msn but don't see you there either

Get a room, guys. Use PMs... it's what they're there for. This issue has clearly been resolved so this thread should be closed, imho(tep). :p

what do you mean the issue has been resolved? have you made off-board contact with ip-reg and found he got it working?

Ah, I misread a post.

My bad.

Reggie, have you tried MeH's 3rd party installer? I don't know if it will work.

I haven't yet.
Dando's given me a few things to try, some more helpful than others :P
I got one more thing to do tonight, and then i'll look into that.
For the moment though, it's not over. I'll post my resolution here for the aid of others who might have this problem in the future.

I'll post my resolution here for the aid of others who might have this problem in the future.

Good man. :)

I have a page about the auto-installer on my website. It's very easy to use but I threw a page together anyway; hopefully it is helpful to you!

Hi,

maybe this could help you:

1. Deinstall the game
2. Shoutdown the computer
3. Install the game
4. Shoutdown the computer
5. Apply the newest update
6. Start the game

This way of installing worked fine for me.

Good luck

We have been through all that. The issue is a little more complicated, but I reckon if he follows what I tell him, this will be fixed.

Unfortunately he had to do system restore last time, but really theer was only 1 minor problem. We will see how it goes

Hi,

maybe this could help you:

1. Deinstall the game
2. Shoutdown the computer
3. Install the game
4. Shoutdown the computer
5. Apply the newest update
6. Start the game

This way of installing worked fine for me.

Good luck
shame ya can't install without the pc being turned on.

Well... He couldn't even uninstall the game without turning the computer on first.

And as far as I have experienced, shouting down at my computer never frightened it enough for it to shut down, so I suppose the procedure can be considered as failsafe.

Hi,

After 3 days on installing uninstalling, I'm on the same point.
WA.exe from 50 to 99% CPU, and the patch with the dead window.
I tried "hijack this" solution to seek viruses or spyware, cleaned everything, cleaned register, tested RAM... still
My CD is not SO, it's the original v.1.

I'm waiting your resolution with hope.

Have you tried MadEwokHerd's thrid party installer?

Using that will eliminate the installation and the installation process from the equation of what's stopping it from working.

There's a thread about it on the forum but the essentials are also on my website.

Yes,

MadEwokHerd's installer works.
But you can't choose the player. I'd prefer nocd (deamon), the installer doesn't detect it, I must have the original CD in the player, but nevermind, the game works and I can waste a lot o time again in mass-murdering some worms.

thank u Vader.

I have a CD image mounted in Daemon, too. If the drive has a letter, it should pick up the drive.

It works fine for me.

I'd like to thank Dando for the amount of help he's given me :)
If he's anything to go by then I hope I get WA working one day to meet the rest of you.

Sadly it still won't run, and we've tried everything we can think of save a reformat.
As I probably won't do that for a little while, are there any final ideas before I go ahead and try that?
All suggestions welcome, and thanks again to all of you for those given so far and the continued support :)

That was too much praise :) I havemt actually given up on you, and I will give it 1 more shot tomorrow. After that I think I may be resigned to a reformat...

Actually, it happened to me once, where programs wouldnt install so I had to do it also:(

It isn't just worms not running...a prgram I gave him failed to run also so I am thinking registry problem or conflicting process/program.

In any case I will give it 1 last shot:) Because noone wants to reinstall

i take it you guys tried installing while in safe mode?

No, but I doubt that will work, since it seems to load ok as long as patch isnt installed...The patch doesnt install, it just overlaps, so obviously some problem/inconsistency/bug/complication loading the game once it is using new worms.exe/patch

Might as well still try it though since right now it is looking like a job for the format c:

oh yea, lol i had a memory block and forgot it was a prob with playing and not with installing...

Blame me for not reading the whole thread again.

Just one question: Do you have writing rights in the directory / subdirectories where WA is installed ?

I have thought of that also, but if this was not the case surely the game would not run without patch. As far as he is telling me, it runs fine until patch is installed:

Either:

Complication with patch and some program/hardware/driver on his computer
Complication with registry?
Installation of patch not done correctly (He has same version as me sold out, and he did it exactly as I asked).

The patch did work for him for a few days but then conked on him so I rek, something he has installed or done has resulted in it not working. Frankly I am out of ideas. Like I say it happened to me not too long back when I installed Sp2 actually. I did full reinstall and then installed sp2...everything is fine.

Sometimes clean reinstall is only way.

I did full reinstall and then installed sp2...everything is fine.

i seriously would be thinking this is related to an update to SP1 (after you installed SP1) not working with SP2.....

I have thought of that also, but if this was not the case surely the game would not run without patch.

Without patch, the game does not need to write replays (that includes creating a directory to store them in).

just a thought... how much free space do you have ip-reggie on your c:\ and the drive that the game resides on?

35 gig free on my C:, where WA is installed.

You can just call me Reg ;]

That wouldnt matter anyway....It would still run. This is stopping and worms.exe remains in process list.

I have been through all I can. I would say, disable as many processes from RUN>>Services.msc that are not needed.

Hope for the best and then...reinstall windows:p

Last thing reg, that I can think of is to totally uninstall your video drivers whilst in safe mode. Find a different video driver (you are nvidia?) an earlier version(if you are using one of the latest ones) that works with your gcard and install it.

Try running game now.

If this not work then this looks to be a no hoper. It is probably something simple to fix but not knowing what to look for or where makes it very hard. The fact that you could not load the reg program I gave you seems to suggest this problem is affecting other nongame programs also (which would actually go against my video driver theory), but I think at this point it is better to try this and then...I admit defeat

People have already mentioned this but have you tried MEH's installer yet? It is good and it's what got WA running on my computer. If you haven't already tried I suggest you do. Download it here. (http://madewokherd.nfshost.com/worms/unwain.exe)

its not a problem with installing mr_awesome... anyways it sounds like something has forced restricted access to your registry ip-reggie... thus the game may fail after the patch due to stuff not allowed in there.... anyways try deleting all instances of worms in your registry and see if you can get it working for another 3 days...

Hmm. Are you using a multi-user computer? If you don't have access to the registry you may not be the main user of the computer. You need to be administrator to access some options.

I have thought of that but wouldnt that mean worms wouldnt run at all? He seems to get it working until patch is installed...maybe patch uses different resources/accesses and needs extra privellages....its a good idea

I'm admin of it, and the only user if that helps.
I've tried the drivers for the graphics cards before, but not in safe mode.
I'll try this a little later.

*Exactly* the same thing is now happening on my other computer, that I now use solely for W:A. This means I have changed NOTHING at all!

I get the same "sticky" patch in the corner, and WA refuses to load, but WA.exe is running in processes at around 8,000K.

Any help please, as I now can't play the game at all!

and you have installed nothing but worms on this clean version of windows on your other comp?

And when did this decide to happen to other comp?

and you have installed nothing but worms on this clean version of windows on your other comp?

Well I have a few other things installed, but nothing that should interfere at all. Though i'm thinking about reformatting it now, and trying to use it entirely for W:A.

And when did this decide to happen to other comp? About a minute before I posted! So around 21:45 GMT yesterday.

What is the specs of your other pc such as: OS, Graphics card, ect.
My first computer is a Dell Dimension 1100 with an Intel Celeron 2.8GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, running XP home SP2. It also has an Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 256 MB Graphics Card.
My second computer is an old Stone, with an Intel Celeron 1.7GHz processor, 376MB of RAM, running XP professional SP2. (And 20GB Hard Drive, hehe!)

I just find it very odd that both computers are now stricken with the same problem, yet there seems to be no record of it happening before!

you are obviously installing something which is conflicting. software or drivers . Somrthing. Both computers with same problem means that somewhere you have the same problem, which is caused by the same software.

Something is staying constant to create the 2 same problems on diff comps:)

Is your CD OK?

But Dando, we've gone through the processes, and I really can't think of anything that would make it just suddenly stop working with-out changing anything.

Muzer, yeah, there's no problem with the CD.

have you updated your BIOS at all ever in the time you owned the motherboard? if yes then try downgrading it ;P

I haven't.

ytes but this is two diff comps with diff hardware?. either your windows installation is buggered? game cd is buggered? Directx installation is buggered.

Somethin is BUGGERED:p

try reinstalling windows and NOT installing any updates from windowsupdate? jeje of couse it makes the compute much less secure, but if it works then maybe one of the updates is to blame?

of couse it makes the compute much less secure,


I dispute this. I havent updated since the day i got my comp (apart from SP2) but even before and after i have had no problems. None at all, despite numerous warnings that I still recieve about 50 updates.

A good antivirus and a firewall and you are sorted.

Just because you haven't had any "problems", which I'm sure you actually have since everyone does, doesn't mean it's a good idea. If it comes down to it, and if you're willing to reinstall windows, then it's worth a try to install WA before anything else, including updates, and test it. If it works, THEN install all the updates. If it still works, then it isn't them. Continue installing programs that you need: anti-virus, Office, firewall etc. until it breaks. If it doesn't, then, as has been suggested, SOMETHING was buggered ;)

But not everyone has the technical ability or willingness to reinstall Windows without help, and I understand that.

OK, looks like a reformat, then build up until I find out what's Buggering me. :)
Though, I wouldn't be suprised if it worked fine with everything again for a week, and then.. well, we'll see.

Trippenz, that would be good to try before reformatting. That way we might be able to work out the problem and tell others with it, before it's lost with a re-installation.
I don't know how remote assistance works though, as i've never done it before. If you could provide me with information on what to do, i'll give it a go. Let's hope I don't need remote assistance for remote assistance! Haha.

You need MSN, Windows messenger or live messenger for a start. Then you need to start a convo with tripp and there will be a button or menu option to request remote assistance

Hope you get it sorted Reg, keep us posted.

Sorry to mention this here but it might be useful:
I tried installing an image of WA with alcohol and updating. I get exactly the same problem when I try to launch the game, same "sticky patch" in the corner and everything. So it's definitely not the CD.

Looks like a reformat unless Trippenz can produce something for me.
Trippenz: W2Regulator@hotmail.co.uk thanks :)

If your cd is damaged, the image will be damaged also. It will still copy the corrupted data.

Sometimes it is more successful and has a few retries but if the damage is too great the image will be the same as the CD.

The fact you have 2 computers and both are different hardware suggests to me that, this is either the OS (damgaged?), Game damage, bad graphic drivers that you have used on both comps.

So I don't know what a reformat will do for you. If this problem has manifested itself on 2 computers, chances are after reformat it is just gonan crop up again as soon as the faulty software/drivers/windows update are installed again.

And yes a windows update could be the problem. try reinstalling SP2 first, and after reformat, disable updates. That way you can rule that out.

Oh, sorry for any confusion: the image was from someone else's game, not my own.

The fact you have 2 computers and both are different hardware suggests to me that, this is either the OS (damgaged?), Game damage, bad graphic drivers that you have used on both comps.

Both computers have different OS's and different graphic drivers!
Very odd :[

Add me up, Trippenz. I'll try the remote assistance.

well, my best guess then is windows update that screws with the game? If you have not installed any program on both comps and have followed installation correctly then perhaps this si the only explanation from a simple point of view?

:p I am as puzzled as you

it would have to be a update that only gets installed with his hardware/software tho =\

i run the game fine with all updates installed.