[Stunaep]

I'm having problems running FS2 on WinXp. I've reinstalled the game and when starting it the game gives me the Error
"Freespace2/Fred2 cannot be launched from a root drive directory"



Ran fine on W98

[Fury]

Having WinXP and FS2, no problems whatsoever.

Interesting error though, please give detail information on following:

User rights you're using. (Administrator?)
How is your hard drive(s) partitioned, and what file system?
In what partition is your FS2 located?

Does other games and softwares work properly?

Edit:
By the way, did you make upgrade install?
If you did, make a clean install. Remember that Windows is an operating system, it is never recommended to upgrade an operating system, instead make a clean install. That ensures that there will not be any **** left, like incompatible drivers or such.

[Stunaep]

Admin rights of course, two hard drives, both FAT32: C drive 3,2 GB, win98 system files, D drive 25GB, WinXp system files and FS2, installed on D:\Program Files\Volition\Freespace2. Everything else works properly, and I have made a clean install.

[vadar_1]

Why are you dual-booting two windows operating systems? That seems like it could cause conflicts...

[Stunaep]

Never mind, installing the 1.20 patch solved the problem.

[Fury]

LOL, applying the latest patch should be the most obvious thing to do when you have problems.

[Fury]

Originally posted by vadar_1
Why are you dual-booting two windows operating systems? That seems like it could cause conflicts...

Nope, it does not cause problems. Windows that is based on NT kernel have better boot loader than W9x, and when windows is about to start, you just choose what operating system you wish to run. Remember that you need to install the oldest windows first, and the newest last. And C: drive is boot volume, it must be in a file system that all operating system can understand, eg. FAT32 because W9x does not support NTFS.
So, you can install Win98 in C: (FAT32) and WinXP in D: (FAT32 or NTFS).
Or you can even install both operating system on same partition, but they may cause problems in rare cases, because some system folders that are located in root of C: are shared. Like Program Files folder.

[Ulundel]

I have some other problems with FS2 and WinXP.

First, I can't play the FS2 campaign (or at least the first mission) cause it just locks up my machine when loading the mission.

Aaaaand, the stars are like...wtf. :doh:

[Fury]

Ten of Twelwe, try updating your video card drivers and motherboard chipset drivers.

Heck, update all drivers.

Lockups may be because of "Infinite loop" bug.
More about this here:
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=64

Or you can download Nvmax and try it to solve "Infinite loop" bug. Of course it is only for nvidia cards.
(Note: Nvmax is no longer supported, final version was released some days ago.)

If your lockups are not caused by "Infinite loop" bug, try to check out your bios settings and overclocks.

If FS2 is the only game where your system locks up, then I don't know what's wrong. Have you tried uninstalling, reinstalling and applying 1.20 patch?

[Styxx]

I'm running Win2k, and it screws up the cutscenes on I-War 2. go figure.

[Ulundel]

Originally posted by Mr. Fury
Ten of Twelwe, try updating your video card drivers and motherboard chipset drivers.

Heck, update all drivers.

Lockups may be because of "Infinite loop" bug.
More about this here:
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=64

Or you can download Nvmax and try it to solve "Infinite loop" bug. Of course it is only for nvidia cards.
(Note: Nvmax is no longer supported, final version was released some days ago.)

If your lockups are not caused by "Infinite loop" bug, try to check out your bios settings and overclocks.

If FS2 is the only game where your system locks up, then I don't know what's wrong. Have you tried uninstalling, reinstalling and applying 1.20 patch?

Thanks, my FS2 runs just fine again

[Fury]

Originally posted by Ten of Twelve


Thanks, my FS2 runs just fine again

No problem.

[Admiral LSD]

Originally posted by Stunaep
Admin rights of course, two hard drives, both FAT32: C drive 3,2 GB, win98 system files, D drive 25GB, WinXp system files

First things first, downgrade the account you use the most  to or create new account (if you're stupid enough to use the Admin account for everything) with at most Power User level privileges. Do this in Control Panel -> Administritive Tools -> Computer Management -> Users and Groups (the ghey user account wizard only creates Admin level and User Level accounts both of which are generally unsuitable for day-to-day use. gg Microsoft). Next, fire up a Command Prompt window and with no questions and no quotes, type "convert D: /fs:ntfs"

There is absolutely no reason to not install NT/2k/XP (no, dual booting with 9x isn't a valid reason) on anything less than an NTFS partition.

That said, I have never had any serious trouble getting FS1 or 2 running under Windows 2000 or XP. It was a simple matter of installing the game, installing the Silent Threat add-on (in the case of FS1) and installing the latest patch (which is what probably saved me the grief).

[Fury]

Admiral LSD, for you another user rights may be a good choice, but I did ran into problems in first 10 mins after creating power user account.

Some games couldn't start, some software installs and updates required admin rights and so on... I don't want to change login only to accomplish few simple tasks.

[Stunaep]

Originally posted by Mr. Fury
Admiral LSD, for you another user rights may be a good choice, but I did ran into problems in first 10 mins after creating power user account.

Some games couldn't start, some software installs and updates required admin rights and so on... I don't want to change login only to accomplish few simple tasks.

What he said!

[Admiral LSD]

Originally posted by Mr. Fury
Admiral LSD, for you another user rights may be a good choice, but I did ran into problems in first 10 mins after creating power user account.

Some games couldn't start, some software installs and updates required admin rights and so on... I don't want to change login only to accomplish few simple tasks.

Thats what you use the "Run As" feature for...

[Fury]

That is one of the bad sides of using less than admin rights.
So far I don't know any real benefits of using power user account over admin. You have about four less processes running in background and that's about it.

Admiral is trying to be l33t (power)user, huh?

Why the **** you even should look for "run as" every time you want to start your favorite game or program...
Little annoyance I admit, but I hate even little annoyances when you can get rid of it.

[Admiral LSD]

Originally posted by Mr. Fury
That is one of the bad sides of using less than admin rights.
So far I don't know any real benefits of using power user account over admin. You have about four less processes running in background and that's about it.

Admiral is trying to be l33t (power)user, huh?

Why the **** you even should look for "run as" every time you want to start your favorite game or program...
Little annoyance I admit, but I hate even little annoyances when you can get rid of it.

Thats why you set the shortcuts that need it to automatically Run As, duh...

In the 3 years I've been using NT, I've never needed anything more than a Power User account for my day-to-day stuff.

[CP5670]

The only reason I have not yet upgraded to XP is the DOS compatibility issues. Dual-boot sounds look a good option, though.

[Admiral LSD]

Originally posted by CP5670
The only reason I have not yet upgraded to XP is the DOS compatibility issues. Dual-boot sounds look a good option, though.

XP has built-in DOS sound emulation. You might also want to check out other utilities such as VDMSound and if you have a fast PC, Connectix Virtual PC as well. I have had varying degrees of success with all three but it really isn't a big deal in my case since I prett y much gave up on DOS and DOS games when I upgraded to Win2k a little over a year or so ago.