[READ FIRST] Common Issues and Solutions

[Copied from the official C&C forums]

Last updated 07/05 '13

Most of this is meant for the First Decade and original versions but a lot of this should apply to The Ultimate Collection too.

TO KEEP PLAYING THE OLD GAMES ONLINE SEE THIS POST HERE OR THIS POST HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS THREAD WITH YOUR PROBLEMS BUT MAKE A NEW THREAD

When posting with a problem, remember to state your OS, which game your problem applies to and which version of the game you're running, ie. an original game, The First Decade version or The Ultimate Collection!

CTRL+F to search for keywords is your friend! This around 8,000 words long so scrolling through all of it to search for your problem is not going to be a fun endeavor.

Also, if your problem is about the serial code or payment then contact EA customer support, we can't help you.

Mouse Pointer disappearing in the Ultimate Collection? Disable mouse trails in Windows to fix it.

Note: Vista/7 Users should install the game in Admin mode, to do this run Windows Explorer then browse to your DVD drive,
right click on Setup.exe -> Properties -> Compatibility > Tick "Run This Program as an Administrator". Also please install DrectX 9c for Windows Vista (32bit & 64bit)/Windows 7 (32bit) from the following link:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/e...displaylang=en

For Windows 7 64bit download & install the DirectX SDK from March 2008:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en...ng=en&id=10568
Load up both the 32bit and 64bit DirectX Control Panels and enable Hardware Acceleration:
Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft DirectX SDK (March 2008) -> DirectX Utilities -> DirectX Control Panel -> DirectDraw -> Tick "Hardware Acceleration" -> Click OK
Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft DirectX SDK (March 2008) -> DirectX Utilities (64-Bit) -> DirectX Control Panel -> DirectDraw -> Tick "Hardware Acceleration" -> Click OK

This will mean that all the older versions of DirectX are correctly installed and should avoid problems (mainly with Renegade) of games loading and not showing anything but a black screen.


The methods and tools in this text are intended to fix problems and get the games running properly.
Note that most of the fixes on this page are files you need to put in your game folder. The default TFD installation folder is:
"C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command & Conquer The First Decade\"

If it's not there, simply right-click on the TFD launcher link on your desktop, go to Properties and see which directory it launches from. That should be the sub-folder "Launcher"
of the main TFD install folder. There should be a "Find Target" button to go right to that location. If you go one directory up from there you end up in the main install folder.
In there you will find a folder for each of the games, and a few more for the TFD launcher, patches and internet files.

Unofficial 1.03 Patch
This patch contains most of the fixes listed in this thread, get it here:
http://cnp.cncnz.com/tfd/
or alternatively here:
http://cnc-comm.com/community/index....a=view;down=16
Note: This patch includes files which cause problems with Internet play in TS, RA2 & YR, please check those sections after installing for the solutions to these problems.

Nyerguds' guide to installing & patching TFD:
http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/...lling_tfd.html
(note that this is mostly just the manual way of applying all fixes that are in patch 1.03)

General fixes:

Games won't run in Vista/7: Vista/7 users should take ownership of the TFD main folder. To do this, right click on the "Command & Conquer The First Decade" folder,
go to Properties -> Security -> Advanced -> Owner -> Edit -> Select your username -> Tick "Replace Owner" box -> Apply.

Vista/7 users should also disable User Account Control:
Start -> Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Turn User Account Control On Or Off -> Untick "Use User Account Control" -> OK -> Restart
Business & Ultimate users:
Start -> Control Panel -> Classic View -> Administrative Tools -> Local Security Policy -> Local Polices -> Security Options ->
User Account Control: Behaviour of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode -> Change to: Elevate without prompting
User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode. Change to: Disable
-> Restart

Games won't install:
Check that your DVD-ROM supports dual-layered disc's - to do this, go to
Control Panel > System > Device Manager (Vista/7)
Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager (XP)
copy the model name of the DVD-ROM into Google (or any other search engine) and look for a site that lists its specifications.

"Autorun.exe is not a valid Win32 Application" errors can be fixed by removing InCd - it seems to cause conflicts with the security part of the DVD-ROM.

Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) errors can be solved by booting into safe mode and installing the game from there (log on as the administrator account).
You could also copy the entire disc contents to a folder on your HD and see if it'll install from there.
If you have 2 DVD-ROMs on the same Data cable that can be the problem, Put one of the DVD-ROMs onto the same data cable as you Hard Drive.
This only applies to IDE (PATA) devices where there is only one hard drive and two DVD-ROMS.

If you get An Error {-5004 : 0x80070002} has occurred or similar error then reinstall the InstallShield software:
Hold the windows key on your keyboard and press the r button > The Run dialogue should appear > Type C:\Program Files\Common Files into the text box and click OK
Right-click the InstallShield folder, and select Rename > Change the name to InstallShieldOld > Start the game installation again to reinstall the InstallShield components with the newest version.
If the install succeeds after this then delete the InstallShieldOld folder.

"Incorrect CD-ROM" errors - if you have emulation software like Demon Tools or Alcohol 120% then make sure you don't have more than 1 virtual drive.
You could also try removing the software too in "Add/Remove Programs" (XP) or "Programs & Features" (Vista/7) in control panel.
Note: The TFD Launcher program can be the cause of these errors (especially on Vista/7) so try making shortcuts to the games instead. The xcc shortcut installer will do this for you:
http://xhp.xwis.net/utilities/XCC_TF..._Installer.exe

Games crash on dual core machines: If you have a dual core CPU, and games seem to crash for no reason, start the game
and press CTRL ALT DEL (For XP Pro select Task Manager!), right click on the game's .exe process, click "set affinity", and deselect one CPU.
ForceCore is a small program that automates this process:
http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/.../forcecore.zip

Video's hang: On some systems Tiberian Dawn, Red Alert, Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2 can hang with repeating sound in the first
second of video, this often means it is impossible to get past the Westwood Studios logo. To fix this run Dxdiag and disable Sound acceleration
Start > Run > type dxdiag > OK > Sound > Hardware Sound Acceleration Level - Move slider until on 'No Acceleration'
Picture Guide: http://www.cncworld.org/?page=features/tutorials/tdhang