37 minute hang at INIT ENGINE

[scottadams]

Wow... running this game is a job in and of itself.

I have done everything in this (and the other) solutions -- including unpacking my own assets art file, removing my ATI files and CIV4, reinstralling both with the DV version on the CD... everything to the letter.

I do not get an error when it initializes, but the "hang" at INIT ENGINE (both for the main game and again with the tutorial mod) is anywhere from 30 - 44 minutes. It slows my machine to a crawl the entire time, and eventually (30+ minutes later) starts the game.

Also, my machine is not slow at ALL. My specs are below, but I have a AMD Athlon-64 3200+, 1G RAM, ATI 9800XT (256 on board), SB Audigy 2 ZX Gamer.

Am I alone in the hang time???

HELP! Scott

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System Information
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Time of this report: 10/30/2005, 16:30:36
Machine name: SCOTT

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)

Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-6702
BIOS: Version 07.00T
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz

Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 589MB used, 1870MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

[Aeson]

That is weird. Is the hard drive active the whole time? If it is, have you defragged it lately?

[scottadams]

I never connected my HD light on the case, but the system comes to a CRAWL for the entire time. I am assuming the HD is working... and there is a whirring noise (but I have so many fans, it is hard to tell sometimes.

As for a defrag, I am clean... 3% fragmented. I run every few days.

-- SA

-----------
defrag
-----------

Volume Main (C
Volume size = 153 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 90.69 GB
Free space = 62.69 GB
Percent free space = 40 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 3 %
File fragmentation = 6 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

[Aeson]

That's the only thing I could think of. My system is pretty similar to yours (with a slower CPU, faster VPU) and takes about 7 seconds to load CIV. Your's should be as fast or faster if everything was working right with CIV.

Just a couple shots in the dark. Have you tried without the SB card installed (or any other non-required hardware)? How about without any pagefile at all?