Software Installation Problem

Question

Hello...

I have a Dell XPS630 dual-core processor desktop, running Windows XP

Professional, that I am unable to install several older games on, (Wizardry 8 &

Heroes of Might and Magic 3). When I insert the disk and either select

"autoplay" or just double-click and run the executable, the install screen will

come up. When I select "install", it appears to run for a few seconds and then

just stops. In the past, I have installed both of these games on a Dell

Dimension 8400 running Windows XP Home, so I know that it works with Windows XP.

Recently, I have also been able to install Wizardry 8 on a PC with a single core

processor, running Windows 98 and one running Windows 2000, so I'm fairly certain

that those disks are still good. So far, these are the only two applications

that have not installed on this machine.
I would guess that the problem is with either Windows XP Professional being

different from XP Home, or the fact that the machine has a dual-core processor

that's not compatible with the games. Does anyone know if there might be a

setting or two in XP Pro that might cause this, or if there is a way to disable

one of the cores on the PC?

Thank You!

TheRealFireblad · Answer

Welcome to the forums :emotion-21:     I don't know if you get the option for installations (it's usually selected for actually playing) - but what about 'Compatability Mode'?

Mac_61 · Answer

Thank you for your reply 'TheRealFireblade'! I'm sorry forgot to mention that...yes, I was able to select a compatibility mode for the installation.  I tried compatability with Windows 98 and the same thing happened.  Good suggestion though...Thanks again!

Alexandra_P · Answer

Pretty sure Fireblade knows about DosBox, but I may never find this thread again so figured I might as well jump in.....

Don't know about Wizardry 8, but Might and Magic will run using DosBox (a free DOS emulator). There's a bit of a learning curve, but if you don't like the command-line version look in the downloads section there for a front-end graphical interface. The site also a list of games known to run on it.

http://www.dosbox.com/information.php?page=0

The problem I usually ran into with those old games was either no sound or couldn't get the extended memory settings right, even in some cases when I still had Win98. It's possible just the memory settings are slightly different between the two XP machines. You could fool with that if you want (some info below), but DosBox is easier.

http://dosgamer.com/xp/

Mac_61 · Answer

Alexandra_P:

Thanks for your suggestion. I have heard about DosBox, but never used it. My understanding is that it allows you to run games originally designed for DOS, on Windows operating systems. Unfortunately however, the games I'm trying to install, were made to run in Windows. The minimum system requirements for Heroes of Might & Magic 3, is Windows 95 or higher; for Wizardry 8, Windows 95/98/2000 or higher. I followed your link to the DosBox site and checked out each of those games series. The last HOMM game that is supported by DosBox was Heroes 2 and for for the Wizardry series it was Wizardry 7. I played both of those games and if I recall correctly, each was the last in its respective series to run under DOS.

Your post did remind me of another potential issue though... when I checked the system requirements on the game boxes, both games were designed to run using DirectX 6. I'm not sure what version of DirectX is now generally running on most PC's, but I would imagine that it's considerably greater than version 6 and while it may not be the only problem here, it could also be a contributing factor. I will have to see if it's possible, (without messing up anything else), to install version 6 of DirectX, (assuming I can even find a download for it somewhere).

Thanks again for your suggestion...I appreciate your input!

Alexandra_P · Answer

D'oh!  My bad.    I had 'World of Xeen' on the brain, which was from an earlier DOS Might and Magic series.   And running and installing are 2 different things.   Double D'oh. A few more ideas anyway: 1) Try installing the games in Safe Mode - could be a running process in Normal interfering with the install 2) And/or, try disconnecting from the Internet and disabling all your security - firewall, antivirus, etc., and then try to install.   They might be blocking the installation. 3) XP Pro does have more elaborate administrator permissions than Home does.  Try installing using the built-in Administrator account - press CTRL-ALT-DEL twice at the Welcome/Login screen, choose 'Administrator'.  Unless you've set a password, it will be blank.  4) Usually the installer will tell you if it's a video issue, but just in case try bringing the screen resolution down a notch. Once you can get it installed, it might actually run fine.

Mac_61 · Answer

Alexandra_P

All good suggestions...I will give them a try! With a little luck one of them will be a winner.

Thanks once again for your reply...I will post back with the results, (probably not for a day or so though...I'll be on the road.)

Mac_61 · Answer

Alexandra_P You suggestion to install the games in safe mode was the charm!  They installed flawlessly and run as they should. Thank you again for your help!  :emotion-2:

Alexandra_P · Answer

Glad you got it going :emotion-2: .

There's a site called gog.com (Good Old Games) that you might want to check out. Their catalog is still a bit thin, but for $6 and guaranteed XP/Vista compatibility isn't a bad deal if you're looking for more old titles (plus they have some free ones if you sign up). The original Heroes of Might and Magic is supposed to be coming out soon there.

Mac_61 · Answer

Thanks for the tip...I'll check it out.

Windows General

Software Installation Problem

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