Thanks for all your suggestions, guys. I took the game back and exchanged it--after trying once again to install (I'm a little stubborn
) Came home eventually (the car decided to try the same trick by crashing momentarily.....) and the *&^* game installed like a dream!!! Now, once I fugure out how to play.....It's quite a bit different than my beloved Darkstone.
But, I *did* virus scan and do a full diagnostic on the system.
I *did* inspect the disk very carefully for visible defects as well as cleaning it.
I even resorted to checking for the .dll files BG said I was 'missing' and they were right where they were supposed to be. I e-mailed tech support and tried to call, but this company surely doesn't have very good support, does it.
So, it was the disk itself at fault in this instance.
Off to the game!!!..........
Garnet