Dark Forces - Win XP - New Problem?

[•-BLaCKouT-•]

Heya,

I'm re-posting this from http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=119594 hope that's okay. It just doesn't seem to be lively in DF at the moment.

 

Waaaaaahhh!! Why won't DF work???

 

I popped a new HDD in my comp recently and went through a new install of WinXP. I'd backed up all the necessary stuff, including the contents of my C:\Dark\ folder so that I'd keep my settings and savegames etc.

 

Now, the annoying thing is that when I re-installed all of my apps and games, I tested Dark Forces and it worked fine! Since then I've updated Windows with Service Pack 1 and various 'hotfixes' etc and DF doesn't want to know now.

 

When I run either the version on the CD or the version on the HDD, and either the installer or dark.exe itself, Windows puts up a DOS window (with nothing actually 'in' it, just the heading "C:\dark\dark\DARK.EXE") and at the point where it usually switches to full screen and the game starts... it just disappears! Every effing time!

 

I've tried looking in the Task Manager's Applications and Processes tabs and it doesn't appear in there. So I'd gather the program's just terminating itself rather than hiding.

 

I think it's fairly safe to say that everyone in here loves DF so you can imagine how annoying this is. I can't be certain that Windows is at fault, but it's the only thing I can think of that's really changed system-wise. So:

 

• Anyone else had this problem?

• Would an upgrade to SP2 help do ya think?

 

I've tried DosBox in the past and found it to be so choppy it was unplayable. I've also tried the .bat method from DF-21.net but when it starts the program, the same thing happens; it just terminates.

 

Any help you could give me would be massively appreciated! The PS1 version's just not the same.

 

Cheers in advance!

B.

[Kurgan]

Try Yoda's Help Desk?

[•-BLaCKouT-•]

Meh, it's not on the list of supported games.

http://yodashelpdesk.lucasarts.com/

 

I had a look in the forums but there's more questions than answers in there, and it's all to with error messages (of which I'm getting none, naturally). I may ask on there, but to be honest I'm not holding much hope

 

B.

[Kurgan]

Gee that sucks. So LucasArts is no longer supporting one of their games? I see it's no longer in their online store either.

 

Maybe so... bummer. Still, I would think articles would exist on the 'net (google archives?) of what they used to have up.

[•-BLaCKouT-•]

Got it sorted.

 

I bit the bullet last night and turned on the Windows auto-updates to put Service Pack 2 on. It took it's time (as Windows updates are wont to do) but it seems to have done the trick. I can now play DF again

 

So it would apear that some small 'hotfix' or similar in between SP1 and SP2 was to blame. DOS programs now work fine.

 

All I've got to do now is convince my video card to output DOS through the TV-out But that's a different story...

 

Cheers for your input on this K!

 

B.

 

Hold on Crix Madine, I'm coming for ya! I'll be there in 5...

[Kurgan]

Snagged from the LucasArts forums...

 

LucasArts Jay

Total Posts: 1084

Member Since: 06/01 Date Posted: Nov 10, 2005 08:20 AM

REPLY

This may help you out..

 

LucasArts cannot guarantee full compatibility of our original Windows 95/98 titles with the Windows 2000 & XP operating systems. However, we have received reports from many users who are able to run this game under Windows XP without any issues, though its compatibility with Windows XP may largely depend on your particular hardware configuration.

 

Programs running in the system tray can sometimes cause conflicts with DirectX games. These programs can also take up system resources which may need to be freed up for the application to run smoothly. The system tray runs on the side of the taskbar (the bar with the "START" button). These icons are programs that are running on your system, some of them loading at start up. Some of these programs can be shut down by right-clicking on the icon, and choose to Exit, Close, Suspend or Disable the program/utility. Others can only be shut down by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL which brings up Windows Security, click on the Task Manager button near the bottom of this window. Next, click on Applications and highlight the program you want to close, and click on End Task. You should try closing any other applications here before you install or launch the game to see if this resolves any problems you're having with the game.

 

You should also install the latest release version of DirectX from http://www.microsoft.com/directx

 

Make sure you install any updates available for the game from http://support.lucasarts.com/patches/patches.htm

 

If you still receive the error, this issue may occur if one or more of the following Windows system files are missing or corrupt:

 

Config.nt

Autoexec.nt

Command.com

 

Please refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 324767 for more information:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B324767

 

Other users have reported that they were able to correct this issue by running a Windows search for the file AUTOEXEC.NT in the C:\WINDOWS\REPAIR folder and copying this file into the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder, replacing the one that is present there.

 

Note: We do not recommend making any changes to your system without first contacting your computer manufacturer or Microsoft about the configuration of your computer.

 

J

 

Wonder if anything can be retrieved from the wayback machine?