I am going to post a link to this post each day for the next week or two, in the holiday and post holiday period, so maybe people with any other general advice on games installations would add it here in the meantime. I no longer run any DOS games on any of the PCs for which I am responsible, so those with DOS games knowledge and experience related to an ME installation might add a reply here, since the installation problems are usually different. There are many reasons why games will not run properly, but Windows ME is probably the best OS for games, provided it is set up for them.
1. Have you checked that your system specifications (CPU, RAM, OS, Direct X version, CD Rom speed) are equal to or above those required for the game and that your hard disk has plenty of spare capacity for the installation and for the swapfile after the installation? When the game is installed, you should have at least 200Mb left over and ME will run far better if you have much more than that.
Start, Programs, Accessories, System tools, System Information, will give you your processor (CPU) speed, your physical memory (RAM) and other information you might need if you need to contact technical support. Start, Run, type dxdiag, click on enter will take you into the Direct X diagnostic tool and you will see the version number of Direct X near the bottom. The current version is 8.1 but you only need what the game says you need so don’t update unless necessary.
2. Before or after you installed the game, did you read the text file usually supplied with the game so that you know of any late-breaking conflicts with particular hardware or software? If the file says you need patches, go get them at the website of the manufacturer of the game or of the hardware which needs patching (video card, sound card are the usual ones).
3. Before installing, or now if you are having trouble and have uninstalled the game, run scandisk and disk defragmenter (Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools) to make sure your hard drive is in good order and running efficiently. Check the CD the game is on for viruses using your anti-virus program, then turn off the anti-virus software and personal firewall software you use before re-installing the game and while using it, unless it is an internet game. Clear out any accumulated internet trash, Trojans etc. on your PC using the advice at the post below, response number 44 (you can either make a batch file as suggested or you can run the individual commands from the DOS command prompt after starting your PC using a startup disk. To make a startup disk look up “boot disk, creating” in the Windows ME help file index) http://computing.net/windows95/wwwboard/forum/63127.html
4. When you install the game, go to the Options or Setup or Preferences choice – there is probably one of them – and make sure that you have chosen the various options to suit your system. Many games will set up your system automatically and will choose the correct video card driver, sound card driver, joystick, modem, resolution settings and sound settings automatically, but some will not, so if you are in trouble look at them.
5. Still having problems? The most common problems are video not working correctly, sound not working correctly, or the game crashing or freezing after a few minutes of operation. First check the surface of the CD – occasionally a scratch or dirt will cause any of these. Assuming the CD is OK and that you have done point 4 and checked options, drivers and resolutions, you might need to update your video card driver or accompanying software, same for your sound card (though much less likely), update your 4 in 1 chipset drivers if you have a VIA chipset, or you might need to look at a lot of Windows ME settings and background programs. This link will take you through all of those: http://www.computing.net/windowsme/wwwboard/forum/14062.html
Hope this helps you to enjoy the new game
Regards,
Trev :)
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