Windows XP & Patch 1.1 Bug

Kull · April 20, 2002, 11:19

Has anyone else experienced this problem?

On a clean Windows XP installation (ie not an upgrade), CTP2 loads fine, but the 1.1 Patch refuses to install (the error message says it can't verify that CTP2 exists on the system)

Since the odds of Activision fixing the install program are slim and none, does anyone have ideas on how to get around this problem? A zip folder containing all the patched files might work, but I have no idea which they are.

This is potentially a serious problem for those modders looking to "grow the gamer base", since without the patch none of the mods will work, and "newbies" with Windows XP machines will be unable to experience the improved CTP2.

Locutus · April 20, 2002, 11:45

Hmm, are you sure it doesn't work? Sometimes uninstalling and reinstalling everything solves this problem. If not, check the register settings (Start->Run->Regedit): does HKEY_LOCAL_MACHNE -> Software -> Activision exist? What values are in it?

Edit: please ignore, just testing something here.

child of Thor · April 20, 2002, 11:52

dear,dear....XP,
Lots of games have problems with XP it seems- good ol M$!
The obvious thing that springs to mind is have you used the original install path for CTP2 and is the patch looking in that place too? I use CTP2 in an F: directory on a slave drive(yep it works with all the mods and 1.1patch), and can get the patch to work through that.
So if it isn't a pathing problem it looks like its XP to blame - i run on good old 98. It could indeed be a problem for the future as more pc's ship with XP - CTP2 could die out

This could be serious! maybe someone else has XP to try it out?

Kull · April 20, 2002, 12:15

Locutus - Here's what RegEdit found (Do you need a shot from a different part of the directory?):

Locutus · April 20, 2002, 12:18

Don't be silly! If the problem is really XP, I'll just make a manual patch for whoever needs it. All that the patch does is replace some files and update the registry. A .zip can take care of the file replacements and a .reg file can update the registry. Creating these files would require some effort but after that installing it is no harder than with regular mods.

Locutus · April 20, 2002, 12:21

Kull,
Does CTP2 contain anything? (Besides the default key) And the uninstall key thingie?

Kull · April 20, 2002, 12:26

Ask and ye shall receive:

(all pix removed)

Locutus · April 20, 2002, 12:39

And the Activision_CtP2Uninstall thingie?

Kull · April 20, 2002, 12:44

As Requested (by the way, the "Activenet" and "Applications" directory contents are identical to "Activision"):

(pix removed)

Kull · April 20, 2002, 12:48

...and that IS the directory in which the game resides. It's also the same directory format I used in W98se, and the patch worked fine there.

Locutus · April 20, 2002, 12:56

Quote:

(by the way, the "Activenet" and "Applications" directory contents are identical to "Activision")

I know

Well, the contents of your register is identical to mine, so that's probably not a problem. What you should do is uninstall CtP2 and reinstall it in C:\Program Files\Activision\Call to Power 2 (the default folder). If this doesn't solve the problem, we can be fairly sure it's an XP problem, and I'll start working on putting together the necessary files for the 'manual' patch.

What I would also kindly request you to do is to edit out those attachments again. They served their purpose and right now they're only contain *very* useful information for software pirates. And even though there are other ways of obtaining this information, the owners of this site have a very clear no-piracy policy, so these pictures ought to be removed now.

Kull · April 20, 2002, 13:03

uninstall/reinstall test now underway.....

Kull · April 20, 2002, 13:18

No Dice (see below for details):

1) Uninstalled CTP2 - This worked fine, and i was even told to go remove the directories in order to completely remove all traces.

2) Installed CTP2 - Again, no problem. Started a "new" game and everything loaded fine.

3) Ran ctp2patch_1.11.exe - Program started up, but then gave the same error message "Unable to verify the location of Call To Power 2 on your system. Click OK to exit the installer."

Locutus · April 20, 2002, 13:23

Wow, that was fast...
Oh well, I guess I'd better start looking for the files that are changed by the patch then... (I have no idea how long this will take - don't be too surprised if you don't hear anything for a few days).

Kull · April 20, 2002, 13:33

Thanks Locutus! I'm only back in town for today anyway, and then disappear into the ether again for another 2 weeks. Hopefully the "Modders XP Bug Patch" will be ready when I return. My plan is to have a multi-O/S system anyway (with Win98 and others on a different HD), but the real concern was that "new customers" would find Modded CTP2 inaccessible, and that would truly sound it's death knell.

Dale · April 21, 2002, 00:54

Sorry Kull, don't know the problem. I'm on XP (fresh install) and had no problems installing CTP2 and patch 1.11.

Hermann the Lombard · April 21, 2002, 17:46

My home machine is Win XP Home, and I had no problem with the patch.

Locutus · April 21, 2002, 18:36

Hmm...

In that case it's a system specific problem. It might still be useful to have a manual patch, but that does reduce it's priority...

FallOfRome · April 29, 2002, 15:42

Weird... I just reformatted my machine and went to install CTP2. Installed the game fine to the default directory (c:\program files\activision\call to power 2) and the patch is also not jiving for me.

It's complaining about anet.inf not being in c:\windows\temp. For kicks I copied it there manually and now it just says can't find the installation.

Ugh..

Locutus · April 29, 2002, 16:01

Never heard of that particular error message before... Anyway, I figured there would be more people who would have problems with this, so I still plan on making that manual patch one of these days...

azalae · May 1, 2002, 00:00

Did you install the game using administrator level access or normal user access?

Try to install it using admin access.

It is not really WinXP "bug" or problem. You have to remember that the game was not made for XP.

The main feature of XP is file access security. If you don't have a sufficient clearance you can't make changes. So can't accidentally delete system files and make the system unstable.

Now I think CTP2 need to make some modifications to sensitive portion of system registry (e.g. environment variables), thus if you didn't have admin access you can't and the game won't be installed properly.

Maquiladora · May 1, 2002, 00:18

Do you have any other programs running, ie virus protection software, while running the patch?

Sorry, if this has already been mentioned, i scanned over a abit.

Paythan · October 6, 2002, 04:35

Guys I know this thread is a little old but I have just purchased CTP2 and installed it onto XP. I have the same errors cropping up, cannot find the installation. Have uninstalled and reinstalled several times, all as administrator and still no luck. Has there been any further word on a workaround for this?

Thanks

Paythan

Pedrunn · October 6, 2002, 05:28

I wasnt here to give a suggestion for this thread but have you changed the CTP2 default dirctory name during its intallation?

Paythan · October 6, 2002, 06:07

It has been installed to the default directory.

I have managed to get it working by copying a friends installation that allowed the patch to run over the top of the CTP2 install on my machine and changing the registry entry from 1.0 to 1.1.

It would be better if there was another way to fix this though.

Pedrunn · October 6, 2002, 06:28

Good to know you solved.
But there is a way to get the content of the patch creating a fake CTP2 directory and zipping this content. So that it can be manually installed.
Would be nice if someone had time for this. It was done before by Martin Gühman but i dont think he has it anymore

.

Off-Topic: Do you or any of your friends ever posted here?

Paythan · October 6, 2002, 07:20

I used to post here a little when I played CTP1 but have not been here in over a year. Most of my friends and I play MP games, many on the net, but they do not spend much time on the net aside from playing. I on the other hand like to know more than what is good for me about most things and spend a fair bit of time on the net reading boardsand doing research.

SMIFFGIG · October 6, 2002, 08:28

I hope you and your mates play Modded ctp2

MM2?

Maquiladora · October 6, 2002, 11:29

Quote:

Originally posted by Pedrunn
Good to know you solved.
But there is a way to get the content of the patch creating a fake CTP2 directory and zipping this content. So that it can be manually installed.
Would be nice if someone had time for this. It was done before by Martin Gühman but i dont think he has it anymore

.

Off-Topic: Do you or any of your friends ever posted here?

I take it Locutus didnt finish the manual patch, i guess it wasnt the most important concern seeing as the problem with WinXP was pretty random.

Can someone tell me how to get the files from the patch? I tried creating a false CtP2 dir and placing just the old ctp2.exe in the right dir, but it couldnt find the "old" installation to update. I know theres a really simple way to do this, or even better someone has already made a zip of the patch...

Maquiladora · October 6, 2002, 15:20

YES!!!

Okay nm ive extracted the files from the wise patch installer, i dont know how legal that is, but if people cant use it with WinXP then i think its ok.

The unfortunate thing is, it comes to 8.70MB. Ive made the reg. file to fix it upto version 1.11. I used a program called "hwun". Ill zip it all up and see how big it is.