Patch 1.09 installation problems - help please

[Morcas]

Really hope someone cah help with this.

Unlike a lot of people here, I have been lucky and have had very few problems playing Civ IV, no CTD, no BSOD, no stuttering of movies or sound etc. In fact, apart from not being able to load the game in windowed mode, it runs pretty well, until now!

I am/was playing a few PBEM games and my partners have upgraded to the patch, which appears to upgrade the game turns in addition to the game itself, the result of which is not being able to open patched turns on a non patched system.

Unfortunately, for some reason, I cannot install the patch. I have downloaded it from several different sources and in each case I get the message, that some others have also reported, that the installation cannot find a copy of Civ IV installed on my system and just ends.

I have also tried to update from within the game, everything seems to be working, the game connects to the server, it appears to start the download but then just sits there, having downloaded 1k!!!

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the game several times and (yes through add and remove programs) Post removal I have also cleaned the registry of all entries and have made sure all directories and files for the game have been removed.

This is not a D2D copy of the game, it was purchased from Amazon and is the full retail edition.

Obviously the macrovision installer program the patch uses is looking for a specific install string and is not finding it.

Thanks for any help

[Kinjiru]

Not sure that I can offer any help, but do you have access to any other computer? If so, try to install from your media and then patch it. If it fails on a second machine then you must have a bad disc.

If it does work on a different machine, then there must be something on your main pc that is problematic. I would suggest wiping the drive and doing a windows reinstall (which should really be done every six months or so anyway IMHO).

[Morcas]

Kinjiru

Thanks for the reply. I haven't tried installing on another PC as the only other box I have is running Linux and does not have enough space to accommodate the game.

One thing I did forget to mention, I borrowed a copy of the game from a friend, once again a full retail version and it too fails to install the patch.

My XP pro games machine was wiped and reinstalled a week ago and I have tried to install the patch both before and after the XP installation with the same result.

I have tried using a different administrative account, tried installing in different paths and different partitions. Tried with and without other applications loaded, i.e. without my firewall, antivirus and anti spyware and its always the same...

[Petek]

Is your copy of Civ 4 installed in the default location (C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization4)? I think that some of the others who had this problem had the game installed on a different drive or folder.

[Morcas]

Petek

Thanks for the reply. You have me curious now. Currently my game is installed in:

C:\Program Files\Firaxis\Sid Meier's Civilization 4

Which is a little different from the path you suggested and as far as I remember from the installation, is the it wished to use.

I will, however, try the path you have suggested, but I would really like to know what the correct path is.

[Petek]

One correction to the path that I posted: the last folder should be

Sid Meier's Civilization 4

with a space after the word Civilization. I'm pretty sure that I accepted the path offered by the installation program. However, I already had Alpha Centauri installed in C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games, so perhaps the existing folder was used for Civ 4.

[Morcas]

Well, looks like I am screwed with the patch. Yesterday I went through the whole thing yet again. killed XP, wiped the disk, clean install, then installed Civ IV as the first and only app, tried the patch and...you guessed it, the game could not be found...

Tried different variations on the path and none make a difference, but having talked to some friends with the game I don't believe this is the problem as they have installed it all over the place and in most, not all cases, their patch still works.

Getting a bit bitter now, having played Civ for a lot of years and having paid 60 odd bucks for the game and shipping only to find I can't update it...

[Petek]

Weird problem. Here's one more question, assuming that you know how to use REGEDIT (let me know if not). Look in the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Uninstall

Is there a key named

{CFBCE791-2D53-4FCE-B3FB-D6E01F4112E8}

? If not, that could be the problem (it represents the uninstall information for Civ 4). If the key is present, then look at the contents for any possible errors. For example, I found that if I changed the data in the Version entry from 1090000 to 1080000, the 1.09 update then thought that I had version 1.08. (Without this change, the update told me that I had the most recent version.)

[Morcas]

Interestingly, that key does not exist. Under

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Uninstall

All I have is a 'Civilization4' key, and all that contains is a pointer to the uninstall exe.

I did search the registry and although there are many keys related to Civ, none appeared to contain a version number.

Maybe this is the problem, although why is a mystery.

[Petek]

Interesting. I also think that this is the problem. (I don't have a Civilization 4 key in the uninstall location, just the one mentioned in my prior post.)

I exported my registry info to a text file, edited it slightly and attached it to this message as Civ4.txt. If you wish to do so, you can import it into your registry as follows:

(DISCLAIMER: These instructions and the attached file should work. However, changing the registry might cause your computer to stop working and require a reinstallation of the operating system. Use at your own risk.)

* Open the file in Notepad or any other pure text editor.

* Edit the "InstallSource" and "RegOwner" entries as appropriate. (I replaced my information with asterisks.)

* Edit other entries as appropriate (such as paths that may be different on your system).

* Save the file.

* Change the file name to Civ4.reg.

* Double-click on the file (in Windows Explorer).

You should get a message to the effect that the information was imported to the registry. I suggest that you now try to start Civ 4 to make sure that it still works. (Let me know if you run into any problems.) If all is well, try to install the patch again and let us know what happens.

[Morcas]

I think you may have just solved the problem Petek

Having edited and imported the reg file I am now able to install the patch. Now, however, the game has some issues finding its required files. That, however, is only a matter of tweaking a few path statements here and there and I am pretty sure that once done, everything will be just fine.

Its still a mystery as to why my registry didn't contain the required key, but thats an issue for another day.

Thank you very much for taking the time to help with this, its really appreciated.

[banglah]

Originally posted by Petek
Interesting. I also think that this is the problem. (I don't have a Civilization 4 key in the uninstall location, just the one mentioned in my prior post.)

I exported my registry info to a text file, edited it slightly and attached it to this message as Civ4.txt. If you wish to do so, you can import it into your registry as follows:

(DISCLAIMER: These instructions and the attached file should work. However, changing the registry might cause your computer to stop working and require a reinstallation of the operating system. Use at your own risk.)

* Open the file in Notepad or any other pure text editor.

* Edit the "InstallSource" and "RegOwner" entries as appropriate. (I replaced my information with asterisks.)

* Edit other entries as appropriate (such as paths that may be different on your system).

* Save the file.

* Change the file name to Civ4.reg.

* Double-click on the file (in Windows Explorer).

You should get a message to the effect that the information was imported to the registry. I suggest that you now try to start Civ 4 to make sure that it still works. (Let me know if you run into any problems.) If all is well, try to install the patch again and let us know what happens.

i have the same problem as OT.
i can't download the file that you uploaded, the forums showed some error with its database or something, can someone kindly repost the civ 4 uninstall reg info so that i can give it a shot

thanks a mil

[Petek]

Originally posted by banglah


i have the same problem as OT.
i can't download the file that you uploaded, the forums showed some error with its database or something, can someone kindly repost the civ 4 uninstall reg info so that i can give it a shot

thanks a mil

Please try to download the file again. The database may have had a temporary glitch. (I can download the file with no problems.)

Post again if that doesn't work and I'll repost the file.

[banglah]

alright link is working now, so is the patching
thank you so much

[DewA_LavaU]

hi i'm having the same problem too except i cannot install the newer patch version (1.52),can u please explain step-by-step procedure of how doing this regedit things?thanks for your help