Technical problems with THE HORROR: downloading, installing, and running it

[Bass Junkie]

KNOCK ON WOOD....I'm serious do it!

I did it, then I realised that not only was I following a silly superstition, but I was doing it due to the demands of someone on the Internet. 

Caffeine levels < 0

[Avi]

Okay, so I uninstalled the arr'd copy and installed the real thing that my husband bought me and EADM is telling me my copy isn't the final release.  WTF?  What did I do wrong?  I uninstalled everything.  Did I miss something?

[TapThatBooty]

I have managed to get the horrid lines off of my sims, I had changed a setting in my ATI driver when trying to fix the crashing to desktop problem. The crashing is still happening though. I've tried a fair amount to try and sort it, but nothing. I have been using that FPS tool, and it still happens. My computer is capable of playing it, but it doesn't want to.
If anyone can help, I'd much appreciate it.
My system specs are:

   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: FUJITSU SIEMENS
       System Model: GA-8I915PM
               BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
          Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
             Memory: 1024MB RAM
          Page File: 452MB used, 3543MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

 Card name: ATI Radeon X300/X550/X1050 Series
     Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
        Chip type: RADEON X600 (0x5B62)
         DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5B62&SUBSYS_0490174B&REV_00
   Display Memory: 256.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (75Hz)
          Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
  Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
      Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6925 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 2/25/2009 22:41:10, 325120 bytes

Any help I would very much appreciate.

[Fubuki]

Okay, so I uninstalled the arr'd copy and installed the real thing that my husband bought me and EADM is telling me my copy isn't the final release.  WTF?  What did I do wrong?  I uninstalled everything.  Did I miss something?

The arr'd version probably left some crap behind in your registry. I use CCleaner to clean my registry whenever I uninstall something.

[Avi]

I did play around a bit in the registry before uninstalling it for the second time, but to no avail.  I'm going to try this CCleaner.  Thanks, Fubuki.

[ShortyBoo]

I went and picked up my copy of the game from GameStop earlier and attempted to play it. After 10 minutes in CAS, the music stuttered for a few seconds and the screen went black. I couldn't do exit the game or bring up task manager, so I had to restart. So it looks like my problem playing the game is still here. I'm really getting frustrated because I've spent close to $300 already doing things that might fix my problem. I tried a VGA cooler, I bought a new power supply, I changed to a new case with great airflow and cooling, and even cleaned off the old thermal compound and replaced it with Arctic Silver 5 on both my video card and my processor. I'm just not sure what the problem is. I've tried everything I can think of and it's driving me crazy that I can't play TS3 or any other game without my computer freezing up on a black/grey/orange whatever color screen. I know I have the newest video card drivers. I completely uninstalled my old drivers and installed the newest ones just the other day. Any ideas what I should try next? Here are my specs:

Antec Nine Hundred case (It has four 120mm case fans, 2 in front, 1 on the side and 1 on the rear and a top 200mm fan.)
Windows XP Home SP 3
ASUS M2R32-MVP AM2+/AM2 AMD 580X CrossFire ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor
3 GB RAM (3X CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V PSU

[Bass Junkie]

I went and picked up my copy of the game from GameStop earlier and attempted to play it. After 10 minutes in CAS, the music stuttered for a few seconds and the screen went black. I couldn't do exit the game or bring up task manager, so I had to restart. So it looks like my problem playing the game is still here. I'm really getting frustrated because I've spent close to $300 already doing things that might fix my problem. I tried a VGA cooler, I bought a new power supply, I changed to a new case with great airflow and cooling, and even cleaned off the old thermal compound and replaced it with Arctic Silver 5 on both my video card and my processor. I'm just not sure what the problem is. I've tried everything I can think of and it's driving me crazy that I can't play TS3 or any other game without my computer freezing up on a black/grey/orange whatever color screen. I know I have the newest video card drivers. I completely uninstalled my old drivers and installed the newest ones just the other day. Any ideas what I should try next? Here are my specs:

Antec Nine Hundred case (It has four 120mm case fans, 2 in front, 1 on the side and 1 on the rear and a top 200mm fan.)
Windows XP Home SP 3
ASUS M2R32-MVP AM2+/AM2 AMD 580X CrossFire ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor
3 GB RAM (3X CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V PSU

Run a memory test and a HDD test - dead sector on HDD could possibly cause this. Do you have instability with any other apps? It could also be another application which TS3 is dependant on which is causing the crash.

If all else fails, do a reinstall of Windows.

[ShortyBoo]

Run a memory test and a HDD test - dead sector on HDD could possibly cause this. Do you have instability with any other apps? It could also be another application which TS3 is dependant on which is causing the crash.

If all else fails, do a reinstall of Windows.

I can test the memory with a program my brother has, but how do I test the HDD? So far, it's only 3D games causing the problems. Like I can play the ZSNES without any problems and I'm fine when just doing stuff on the net. I could do a reinstall of Windows, but I'm not entirely sure where I put my key. That, and it's a hell of a lot of work to do. But I guess I'll do it as a last resort.

[Bass Junkie]

I can test the memory with a program my brother has, but how do I test the HDD? So far, it's only 3D games causing the problems. Like I can play the ZSNES without any problems and I'm fine when just doing stuff on the net. I could do a reinstall of Windows, but I'm not entirely sure where I put my key. That, and it's a hell of a lot of work to do. But I guess I'll do it as a last resort.

Run scandisk, I can't remember how you set it to run next bootup, but that should do a good check.

If it's only 3d programs, sounds to me like Direct X is buggered. Perhaps look on the Microsoft website for an update? If none available, then reinstall it is.

Good luck.

[crunk]

Has anyone experiencing the "Unauthorized copy" issue with a legit game found a work around? I uninstalled, used the ccleaner, and reinstalled - only to have the same message pop up. Suggestions are welcome.

[ShortyBoo]

Run scandisk, I can't remember how you set it to run next bootup, but that should do a good check.

If it's only 3d programs, sounds to me like Direct X is buggered. Perhaps look on the Microsoft website for an update? If none available, then reinstall it is.

Good luck.

I can't find Scandisk. I thought it was under Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools, but it's not there. I did test my RAM and no errors were found. I'm going to try reinstalling DirectX (can I even go higher than 9.0c since I'm on XP?) and see if it helps. Another thing I'm going to try is running Disk Defrag too to see if it helps. I just remembered I haven't run it in a few months, so I guess it couldn't hurt. If none of that works, I have about 20 gigs worth of files that won't fit on my 2nd hard drive that I'll have to burn to DVDs before I can reinstall Windows.

[morriganrant]

Has anyone experiencing the "Unauthorized copy" issue with a legit game found a work around? I uninstalled, used the ccleaner, and reinstalled - only to have the same message pop up. Suggestions are welcome.

https://easims.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/easims.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=ankuvozj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_faqid=22234

Well, according to EA, it's because you still have programs installed that they have issue with. Like MagicISO or Daemontools.

[ShortyBoo]

Has anyone experiencing the "Unauthorized copy" issue with a legit game found a work around? I uninstalled, used the ccleaner, and reinstalled - only to have the same message pop up. Suggestions are welcome.

https://easims.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/easims.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=ankuvozj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_faqid=22234

Well, according to EA, it's because you still have programs installed that they have issue with. Like MagicISO or Daemontools.

I have Daemon Tools, and it's not doing that for me. And it was running while I installed and tried to play before it crashed. I didn't have anything mounted, though, so maybe that made a difference.

[Irishman Too]

Run scandisk, I can't remember how you set it to run next bootup, but that should do a good check.

If it's only 3d programs, sounds to me like Direct X is buggered. Perhaps look on the Microsoft website for an update? If none available, then reinstall it is.

Good luck.

I can't find Scandisk. I thought it was under Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools, but it's not there. I did test my RAM and no errors were found. I'm going to try reinstalling DirectX (can I even go higher than 9.0c since I'm on XP?) and see if it helps. Another thing I'm going to try is running Disk Defrag too to see if it helps. I just remembered I haven't run it in a few months, so I guess it couldn't hurt. If none of that works, I have about 20 gigs worth of files that won't fit on my 2nd hard drive that I'll have to burn to DVDs before I can reinstall Windows.

To run Windows scan disk, click Start\Run...in the pop-up that follows type cmd and hit OK. A DOS window will open, type chkdsk /F and hit Enter. It will warn you the volume is in use and ask you if you would like to schedule it, press Y and hit enter. Then restart your PC and when it books you'll see it doing it's thing.

Oh and one other thing I noticed is you have a Radeon. I just went through hell shuffling some parts around between PCs this weekend because of ATI's newest drivers on an older card (not that your is that old but...). It was a Radeon 9600GT, and the newer drivers caused a restart every time I tried to play Half Life 2 on the PC I put it in. Thought it was bad memory, but Memtest 86+ turned up nothing. It turned out to be Winblows restarting on a blue screen because I was lame and didn't have Automatic Restart turned off in the System Recovery settings. Once I turned that off it led to the real error, which turned out to to be video driver related googling it. After trial and error rolling back to older versions (ridiculously old in my case) it was resolved. So you may try rolling back your video drivers a release or two at a time and se if that helps. It's a pain in the ass, but if memory and hard disk checks out, it's worth a shot. www.guru3d.com should have all the older versions for your card.

[crunk]

Has anyone experiencing the "Unauthorized copy" issue with a legit game found a work around? I uninstalled, used the ccleaner, and reinstalled - only to have the same message pop up. Suggestions are welcome.

https://easims.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/easims.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=ankuvozj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_faqid=22234

Well, according to EA, it's because you still have programs installed that they have issue with. Like MagicISO or Daemontools.

Those miserable bastards - I uninstalled Daemontools and the screen went away. On the upside, that answered my questions about random traces of stuff left on my system from the pirated version.

[anaximander]

Those miserable bastards - I uninstalled Daemontools and the screen went away. On the upside, that answered my questions about random traces of stuff left on my system from the pirated version.

I wonder - did you use digital download or did you purchase a physical copy?

[Gelina]

I have now installed the legal copy and it does seem to play smoother than the Reloaded version.  My video card is running a cooler temperatures consistently now.  However, I'm still having problems with the game randomly closing (no error message, it just disappears) and it's not due to overheating.  My CPU is consistently between 30-35 degrees while playing and the video card was at 66 and 71 degrees the two times it closed this morning.

[Jelenedra]

Might I suggest cracking your case open and blasting a can of air through your PC? No matter how clean you keep your desk, dust will still clogs up the works. Dust in vents = substandard cooling for your PC. All my card over heating problems have been fixed this way.

[crunk]

Those miserable bastards - I uninstalled Daemontools and the screen went away. On the upside, that answered my questions about random traces of stuff left on my system from the pirated version.

I wonder - did you use digital download or did you purchase a physical copy?

Physical, store purchased copy.

Also, restarting computer, with Daemontools still uninstalled, results in the message of DOOM popping up again.

[Gelina]

Might I suggest cracking your case open and blasting a can of air through your PC? No matter how clean you keep your desk, dust will still clogs up the works. Dust in vents = substandard cooling for your PC. All my card over heating problems have been fixed this way.

Done (my case is pretty much always left open and I clean it every few days).  I don't think it's an overheating problem at this point.

[Jelenedra]

Well, poop. Here I was hoping you'd come back with a story and a name you gave the dust bunny living under your processor. =D

[Madame Mim]

Those miserable bastards - I uninstalled Daemontools and the screen went away. On the upside, that answered my questions about random traces of stuff left on my system from the pirated version.

I wonder - did you use digital download or did you purchase a physical copy?

Physical, store purchased copy.

Also, restarting computer, with Daemontools still uninstalled, results in the message of DOOM popping up again.

I think it was Sims 1 that they targetted CloneCD. I couldn't run my legitimate game while I had that installed on my computer. It's what moved me over to Daemon Tools in the first place.

*sigh*

[crunk]

Disabling internet completely also gets rid of the message. Something in the authentication process, perhaps? Moar experimentation in the works.

Edit: it must be doing some sort of check at start up for SOMETHING - what that something is I have no idea. Blocking all internet connections when first firing the launcher up results in no "non-final, unauthorized copy" warning.

[ShortyBoo]

Well, I ran scandisk and it didn't report any problems, so does this rule out any hard drive problems? If so, that leaves just my video card. I just hope they'll still let me do an RMA even though I've removed the stock fan for a better VGA cooler. Of course, I'll put the stock cooler back on before I return it, but I just hope they won't notice/care.

[phyllis_p]

Disabling internet completely also gets rid of the message. Something in the authentication process, perhaps? Moar experimentation in the works.

Edit: it must be doing some sort of check at start up for SOMETHING - what that something is I have no idea. Blocking all internet connections when first firing the launcher up results in no "non-final, unauthorized copy" warning.

On the TS3 site, some are saying that cleaning cache and cookies of all internet browsers that you have will fix the problem.