oh well, you're welcome [img]smile.gif[/img] .

no i don't blame anyone. i'm stupid myself for not reading befor buying, even though i thought that it can't be that big of a problem to play a game under winxp, that can be played on win95/98 only. so one might think.

Okay, you've now confused me. What OS are you running?

There are specific things that need to be done to get W&W to run under Win2k or XP. If that's the OS, you can look at those.

If you're on Win98, I'd look again at drivers, directX, and a W&W reinstall. That may be enough to do the trick. I run under Win98 on this machine, and have no problems.

We can get you there, believe me. It can be done, and you can play [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

yeah. hopefully i can play this game.

i use windows xp professional sp1. i've tried the win95/98 comp mode without success. i'll always get that error:

The instruction at 00423dba referenced memory at 10060000
The memory could not be written

eNTI,

That's roughly the exact same error message I got when I first started W&W. I had at that time:
P3-866 Gateway
XP Home edition (sp1)
128MB ram
I think DirectX was 8.something.
My vid card was a Riva(I think) 8MB.

As soon as I did the VirtualDub fix and purchased a new vid card: GeForce 3xxxTI I had no other distinct error messages. So, my expectation is there is something happening with your vid card (as in driver)...otherwise there's a distinct need to simply reinstall W&W.

I did install the patch as well since I was having problems picking up the crystal with the bauble stick in the crypt as Wyv has stated in this thread.

ok, maybe it's time to post my sys-specs as well, though i'm not sure that helps much :/

AMD AthlonXP 2000+ (1666Mhz / 133[266]FSB)
Epox 8KHAL (VIA KT266A)
786MB Infineon RAM
Asus V8460 Ultra GeForce 4 Ti4600 128MB (Detonator 45.23?)
IBM 80GB 7200rpm / Segate 40GB 5400rpm
Logitech MX700

WinXP Prof. SP1

SP2 is a must have. You won't be able to enable compatibility mode without it. If you have trouble with it, try SP3 (be sure to backup while installing!). There are some new adjustments and improvements to the compatibility mode in that upgrade. But there are a few things you can't get rid off. For instance the game WILL crash more often when using Win2000. What I experienced was the constant crashes when trying to cast a spell, opening a chest, using/giving an item etc. Running the game in compatibility mode will solve those crashes but the game will still crash. (And Iplay logged in as a user with administrative priviligies).

OK, I doubt that your graphics problems is due to Win2000 (well it probably is but not in the same way as above). Which graphics driver are you using? The most stable Nvidia driver is 30.82. Try using that to check your driver since you don't need the Detonator FX drivers for your card (lucky you ;) ). 41.09 is also a pretty good one.

There are several known problems using DirectX 8 on windows 2000 (or any other OS for that matter). However the DX8.1 has several bug fixes and runs smooth on most machines. I'm guessing you were using 8.1. But the 8.1 is fully compatible with the DX7 on most machines.

BTW, what crashes do you experience with Win98? 1Gb Ram shouldn't be a problem (win95 could recognize up to 2Gb RAM). The only thing about that is that Win 98 will never use that much.

But this "constant" crashing is probably due to video programming. I'm not quite sure how W&W is programmed but I'm guessing there could be some movie "files" in there to open chests, animate spells etc. Unless a patch to correct these errors is presented I doubt W&W will be completely compatible with WIndows 2000.

OK Macoati gave you some pointers. Try downgrading your drivers. As I stated to Radek, you don't need the detonator FX drivers. And IIRC the latest drivers offer DX9 support which you definitely do not need! The 41.09 driver is optimized for dx 8.1 so try that one. Also try the latest VIA drivers. I doubt they will help you much but the 4 in 1 is somewhat better than the earlier version although the VIA chipset generally sucks.

But since you are using Windows XP you can try the compatibility tools or the wizard. They are way better than the compatibility mode (still the same thing though but with lots more settings and options).

1. I am unable to install w98. I have been told that I cannot install w98 because the memory above 512 MB prevents me from installing. The only possibility is removing memory chips from the computer so that no more than 512 MB remain in it, installing w98, and putting the chips back.
This corresponds to my experience. The installation starts and runs up to the first restart. Immediately before the restart, the installation says that it is checking the hardware but it checks nothing (the check lasts a small fraction of a second), it restarts the computer and starts from scratch. The Czechs have a funny song that is sung in circles again and again, until all singers get unconscious :D - and the installation behaves exactly like the song. You can install until the hell freezes. The problem can be solved by leaving no more than 512 MB of memory in the computer.
2. The drivers. I am a militant fanatic/2 so that I don't know which versions of drivers I am using under windows [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] It's the driver that comes with the video card. Because the card is rather new, the driver should not be old. I will check.
3. DirectX. I am using DX7 that comes with the game. I have the best experience with this version of DirectX as far as W&W is considered. Perhaps, the w2000 isn't compatible with it. I don't know.
4. The crashes. I don't think that the game is the only one that is guilty. Example:
I can open almost all chests in the Valeia region, in the Crypt, and in the Serpent Temple. But I cannot open even a single chest west of Ishad N'Ha, in the Shurugeon Temple, in the Mines and in the Prison. The game crashes immediately on every attempt to pick the lock. I don't think I'll be able to open some chest later in the game. In fact, I've already given up and I am opening all chests by means of the Disarm Traps spell. It works. Now, why is it possible to open chests in Valeia and why is it unpossible to open chests later in the game? We can be sure that the "chest interface" haven't changed. The problem cannot consist in the interface alone.

Oh you can't even install it. You haven't got a ghost lying around do you? That would probably take care of it. ;)

Check the drivers and downgrade them to test a little. My favorite is the 41.09 (since it has better dx8 support than 30.xx).

Hmm I'm not suer if there was a special DX7 for windows 2000. If you used a installer from a game it could be that you are using a dx version for windows 9x. Try downloading the DX 8.1 for windows 2000, there is a special one. I never had any problems with that version.

But Radek, your line of reasoning about the chests hold true the other way around as well. If nothing in the interface or the system has changed, why shouldn't you be able to open the chests? But the mapping can, and probably do change in the game. All that's necessary is one tiny map of a small piece of a stonewall that isn't compatible. The question is; what is it that the mapping isn't compatible with? But I was able to open chests in the entire Serran. Strange...

<font color=deeppink>Edit: NOTE that according to Microsoft, directx 7.0a is NOT compatible with Windows 2000! So when installing DX from the W&W installer you get an incompatible version of DirectX.</font>

[ 08-12-2003, 08:49 AM: Message edited by: WillowIX ]

1. DirectX. Good. I have run DxDiag from w2000 of course. DxDiag has told me that everything is okay, everything is installed correctly, no conflicts or other problems has been found and so on and so on... It isn't, as we can see. But is anything okay with windows at all? I don't think so... [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]
Thanks. I think MM8 contains DX8. I will try it.
2. The chests. I think it's a matter of pointers and, perhaps, timing. As we proceed from chest to chest, the pointers change. West of Ishad N'Ha, the pointers can point somewhere into hell for some unknown reason. It can be a result of joint effort of w2000, DX7, and W&W. But it is not all.
The game behaves strangely west of Ishad N'Ha. Examples:
a) I have seen packs of trollie taka taka west of Ishad N'Ha. I've never seen so low level creatures there before. The lowest level troll west of Ishad N'ha was Troll Haju Li so far. I am playing "hard - often - hard" as I always did.
b) When I entered Shurugeon Castle, I got the Sinister Sentry immediately instead of getting it after returning from the D'Soto's room. The game seems to lose control over ordering of events. Is it caused by the (effectively) 2.2 GHz CPU? I guess it can. Can it be a reason for pointers poining into hell? It can - if the game tries to use a pointer not set so far.