Tech Support: patch 3.19 and Win7

[Keydet96]

I've been playing Civ4 since it came out. It had been a (really long) while since I had checked for updates. On a whim today I did so and got the 3.19 patch. Downloaded and installed it now when I start the game up it brings up an in-game error message saying my computer doesn't meet the recommended specs and the game downgraded all my video settings. It also changes the sound settings from stereo to mono. The game is still playable, but before I had patched it I was able to crank all the graphical settings up to the max. My system is homebuilt and crushes the recommended specs. Specifically:

intel quad core i7-920 processor
Gigabyte (brand) X58 chipset mobo (with onboard 5.1 sound support, although I currently just use a 2.1 speaker system)
4 Gb RAM
GeForce 260 GTX with 896Mb onboard video memory
Litescribe DVD burner drive
1TB hard drive with tons of space left on it
(Windows system information score in the games window is a 5.9)

I was wondering if anyone else had encountered this and if there is a work-around that will let it save my settings? Any help would be appreciated. I want to enjoy the game in all its audio-visual glory.

EDIT: suppose I should also mention I have the Warlords and BTS expansion packs installed as well.

[Brael]

Are your drivers updated?

[Flash]

Common problem when installing 3.19 patch from ingame installer.

This happened to me.
1) go to your Mygames folder for BtS and delete the patch.
2) Go to www.firaxis.com and download the patch.
3) run Patch.

4) If that doesn't work...
5) options... are clean registry, defrag registry, and defrag harddrive.

*Note* I did all the options before it worked for me.

[Keydet96]

drivers were up to date as usual
reinstalling patch manually seems to have fixed it.
also i clicked even harder on the UAC warning box's "allow" button this time.

[Blaupanzer]

"Clicked even harder..." I love it!

[rah]

Yeah, classic. NEVER use the ingame update button.

[wodan11]

Yeah, classic. NEVER use the ingame update button.

Don't blame him, though, that's a classic blunder we can lay at Firaxis' and 2K's feet.

[rah]

Yep, I wished I had a buck for everyone that ever hit that button and then wondered 10 minutes later if anything was happening.

[powindah-scum]

BTS installer trouble

Hi, the BTS installer quits when it does its "checking for DirectX components and updating as necessary" bit. No error messages, it just quits and, as far as I can tell, ends the whole "process" cold turkey.

I've got Windows 7 64-bit and purchased all of my Civ4 products from direct2drive.com

Any ideas on this? Thanks.

[self biased]

is your Civ4 vanilla patched up before you install BTS?

[YC4B4U]

I did the following:

1. Download patch
2. delete old patch from Mygames folder
3. ran new patch - it uninstalled BTS (?)
4. I reinstalled BTS
5. I installed new patch
6. Ran game - same error appeared (doesn't meet recommended specs)

I guess now I have to do part 5 in Flash's post. How do clean the registry? How do you defrag the registry?

[YC4B4U]

Update: same error appeared initially. Subsequent times it does not appear - I guess my problem is solved

[City Builder]

The same thing happened to me and I only have to wonder... Does it matter?

I mean that I reset my graphics settings to what I want them to be (all high again like they were prior to 319 patch), so does it really matter if I use the patch that was downloaded through the game or if I go to firaxes site and download their 3.19 patch?

Thanks,