Unable to run Civ 3

[Paladin-X]

I installed Civ 3 Complete on my new laptop successfully. When I try to run the game, the initial little load window comes up and then a few minutes later I get the error report screen. When it's trying to load, the drive keeps making odd noises like it's try to load it but it's not loading. I can play any other game no problem with the cd in the drive. The civ cds work fine on my desktop. I also tried disabling all startup programs and non-microsoft services using msconfig, but same problem.

Also, I had this same problem on my previous laptop which was an Inspiron 9300. I did manage to get the game to work on the old machine with a no-cd crack. NOTE: I am using a retail copy of civ3 complete.

System specs:

XPS M170
17" WUXGA (1920x1200)
2GHz Pentium M
Go7800GTX
1GB DDR2
TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-L532B


Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 10/21/2005
Time: 7:23:01 PM
User: N/A
Computer: CRUSADERXPS
Description:
Faulting application civ3conquests.exe, version 1.22.0.0, faulting module ~df394b.tmp, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0008d86b.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 63 69 76 ure civ
0018: 33 63 6f 6e 71 75 65 73 3conques
0020: 74 73 2e 65 78 65 20 31 ts.exe 1
0028: 2e 32 32 2e 30 2e 30 20 .22.0.0
0030: 69 6e 20 7e 64 66 33 39 in ~df39
0038: 34 62 2e 74 6d 70 20 30 4b.tmp 0
0040: 2e 30 2e 30 2e 30 20 61 .0.0.0 a
0048: 74 20 6f 66 66 73 65 74 t offset
0050: 20 30 30 30 38 64 38 36 0008d86
0058: 62 0d 0a b..

[tinribs]

Hi,

I did a bit of "googling" and found this:

The splash screen shows and the game stops or gives an error in ~DF394B.TMP

This is an error in the copy protection, try running the game with a different cdrom drive or remove the Safedisc copyprotection (this is illegal in USA and some other countries though). Contact Infogrames through their technical support and they can give you a legal copy of the .exe file without the Safedisc protect if you prove that you purchased the game.

I got this from here

Good luck!

Tinribs

[Paladin-X]

I guess that just about sums it up. :(

Strange thing is that my old laptop had a different brand dvdrw drive.

I will try their technical support and see what happens. I guess it doesn't matter too much since I should be getting Civ4 this week.

Thanks for your help.

[liquidice327]

i found this a while ago, and maybe you might want it: http://www.gameburnworld.com/cdgamecopypatches.shtml