Legacy game won't run - Heroes of Might & Magic IV

kingsmedley · External Since: Jun 07, 2007 Posts: 1

I recently picked up an older game, Heroes of Might and Magic IV. I
used to love HOMM2 years ago, and picked this one up on an impulse at
Best Buy since it was only $10.

Anyway, I get home and install. Install wizard runs fine except for
one thing - despite the fact it correctly identifies all my hardware,
it tells me that my 2GB RAM fails to meet the 128MB requirement.
Despite this, it says I can still run the game but it may run poorly.
I figured since the game was released back in 2002 their code may
simplyu not anticipate 2 full gigs of RAM so I press onward.
Installation completes with no further incident.

When I try to run the game, however, I get a blue screen of death.
Something about cdd.dll trying to write a protected area? I tried
using Ubisoft's support page, they suggested using the compatibility
tab in "Properties" to an earlier version of Windows. This did not
work. Further attempts to get more help from them simply lead them to
marking my issue as "solved" with no new suggestions.

My System
- Vista Home Premium (x64)
- AMD Athlon64 3800+ CPU
- Nvidia 7900GS video card
- 173GB free on hard drive
- 2GB RAM

This is the only game that won't work for me (so far). Any suggestions?

Andy · External Since: Mar 15, 2007 Posts: 154

<kingsmedley.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1181224842.754553.131710@p47g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
>
> When I try to run the game, however, I get a blue screen of death.
> Something about cdd.dll trying to write a protected area? I tried
> using Ubisoft's support page, they suggested using the compatibility
> tab in "Properties" to an earlier version of Windows. This did not
> work. Further attempts to get more help from them simply lead them to
> marking my issue as "solved" with no new suggestions.

Sounds like whatever copy protection this older game uses it could be trying
to read the CD via a protected mode, or directly, not going through the
Vista Kernel.

I'm pretty sure Vista will see this as a hack attempt and just kill your
system (BSoD).

http://www.gamecopyworld.com

Look up your game, be careful that you don't download a virus or adware,
look for a NO-CD Patch. Hopefully that'll take out the CD check on your
game. It might let the game startup.

Is HOMM4 a DOS based game, or is it actually Windows. My friends live on
that game, just can't recall if it was still DOS based or not.

Good luck,
A.

Dan Mazurowski · External Since: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 5

Well, the no-cd thing didn't work - the game still made a call to
cdd.dll and the system crashed.

>
> Sounds like whatever copy protection this older game uses it could be trying
> to read the CD via a protected mode, or directly, not going through the
> Vista Kernel.
>

This comment made me think, and I did dome digging. Looks like this
game is one that used Starforce. And according to Wikipedia, the 32
bit versions WILL NOT run on a 64 bit OS. Considering this game was
released in 2002, I highly doubt it is using the 64-bit version.

Still, this may not actualy be what is happening, so I am still open
to suggestions. Anyone?

AntoNZ · External Since: May 28, 2007 Posts: 6

Yes I have played Heroes of Might and Magic IV on my 32-bit version of
Windows Vista Home Premium with a gig of ram so because they didn't have
64-bit at the time the only option for you is to play the game on a 32-bit
windows envirionment. There's Homm V as well but im not sure if it is
compatible.--
Processor: 4.0
Memory: (RAM) 4.2
Graphics: 5.9
Gaming Graphics: 5.4
Primary Hard Disc: 5.8

"Dan Mazurowski" wrote:

>
> Well, the no-cd thing didn't work - the game still made a call to
> cdd.dll and the system crashed.
>
> >
> > Sounds like whatever copy protection this older game uses it could be trying
> > to read the CD via a protected mode, or directly, not going through the
> > Vista Kernel.
> >
>
> This comment made me think, and I did dome digging. Looks like this
> game is one that used Starforce. And according to Wikipedia, the 32
> bit versions WILL NOT run on a 64 bit OS. Considering this game was
> released in 2002, I highly doubt it is using the 64-bit version.
>
> Still, this may not actualy be what is happening, so I am still open
> to suggestions. Anyone?
>
>

Dan Mazurowski · External Since: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 5

On Jun 10, 2:35 pm, AntoNZ <Ant....TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Yes I have played Heroes of Might and Magic IV on my 32-bit version of
> Windows Vista Home Premium with a gig of ram so because they didn't have
> 64-bit at the time the only option for you is to play the game on a 32-bit
> windows envirionment. There's Homm V as well but im not sure if it is
> compatible.--
> Processor: 4.0
> Memory: (RAM) 4.2
> Graphics: 5.9
> Gaming Graphics: 5.4
> Primary Hard Disc: 5.8
>
>

Since I am playing other legacy games like CivIII, Roller Coaster
Tycoon, and Age Of Mythology on a 64-bit OS, I just assumed this one
would work too. But then again these games were all much more popular
than HOMM$. Perhaps Microsoft just made sure the big titles would run?

Is there a way to force 64-bit Vista to run in a 32-bit mode?

Nightowl · External Since: Jun 10, 2006 Posts: 5

Right click on the icon for Heroes Of Might & Magic IV, then go to the
Compatibility Tab, and set the the game to run in WindowsXP with SP2 Mode,
and if necessary, as I recall on that same tab, also set the game to run in
Admin mode if necessary. I did this with the Windows 95 game Golden Nugget, a
Casino Game, and it ran perfect on Vista 64.

I've got the first 3 Heroes of Might and Magic games, but I never bothered
trying to install and run them on Vista 64, as I got tired of the
compatibility problems with Dungeon Siege 2: Broken World, which crashed
videodrivers on exit, both Knights Of The Old Republic Games, not working,
Quake 4 not working, and Soldier Of Fortune 2, not working on Vista 64, I
removed Vista 64 from my computer, and went back to WindowsXP, until at least
the first Service Pack for Vista is out, and drivers, and game and
application compatibility has improved for Vista.

I can provide a list of games, that I did have working on Vista 64 if you
are interested.

"Dan Mazurowski" wrote:

> On Jun 10, 2:35 pm, AntoNZ <Ant... RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> > Yes I have played Heroes of Might and Magic IV on my 32-bit version of
> > Windows Vista Home Premium with a gig of ram so because they didn't have
> > 64-bit at the time the only option for you is to play the game on a 32-bit
> > windows envirionment. There's Homm V as well but im not sure if it is
> > compatible.--
> > Processor: 4.0
> > Memory: (RAM) 4.2
> > Graphics: 5.9
> > Gaming Graphics: 5.4
> > Primary Hard Disc: 5.8
> >
> >
>
> Since I am playing other legacy games like CivIII, Roller Coaster
> Tycoon, and Age Of Mythology on a 64-bit OS, I just assumed this one
> would work too. But then again these games were all much more popular
> than HOMM$. Perhaps Microsoft just made sure the big titles would run?
>
> Is there a way to force 64-bit Vista to run in a 32-bit mode?
>
>

Dan Mazurowski · External Since: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 5

On Jun 20, 12:48 am, Nightowl <Night....DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:
> Right click on the icon for Heroes Of Might & Magic IV, then go to the
> Compatibility Tab, and set the thegameto run in WindowsXP with SP2 Mode,
> and if necessary, as I recall on that same tab, also set thegameto run in
> Admin mode if necessary. I did this with the Windows 95gameGolden Nugget, a
> CasinoGame, and it ran perfect on Vista 64.
>

That didn't work either. I guess this won't just isn't going to run.

But I wanted to share with you an interesting side-effect of using the
no-cd method that had been suggested earlier. The other day I went to
play an MP3 file, and a little error message flashed up. It said
"CDfxSdk Message: DFX SDK Evaluation Expired". I searched my copmuter
for this CDfx and found the files I had downloaded for the no-cd fix
all started with this. And naturally there is no uninstall option to
remove whatever it is. I uninstalled HOMM4, but apparently left this
behind. Now every time I try to play an MP3 file (using MusicMstch -
oops, I mean Yahoo Music, or using Windows Media Player - I haven't
tried other players) I get this message. It also happens for video
files. Funny thing is, the file still plays. It is just an annoying
little pop-up. I've found no help on the internet, so I'm actually
considering re-formatting my drive and re-installing everything just
to kill it.

Dan Mazurowski · External Since: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 5

On Jul 8, 11:20 am, Dan Mazurowski <kingsmed....TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Jun 20, 12:48 am, Nightowl <Night....TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Right click on the icon for Heroes Of Might & Magic IV, then go to the
> > Compatibility Tab, and set the thegameto run in WindowsXP with SP2 Mode,
> > and if necessary, as I recall on that same tab, also set thegameto run in
> > Admin mode if necessary. I did this with the Windows 95gameGolden Nugget, a
> > CasinoGame, and it ran perfect on Vista 64.
>
> That didn't work either. I guess this won't just isn't going to run.
>
> But I wanted to share with you an interesting side-effect of using the
> no-cd method that had been suggested earlier. The other day I went to
> play an MP3 file, and a little error message flashed up. It said
> "CDfxSdk Message: DFX SDK Evaluation Expired". I searched my copmuter
> for this CDfx and found the files I had downloaded for the no-cd fix
> all started with this. And naturally there is no uninstall option to
> remove whatever it is. I uninstalled HOMM4, but apparently left this
> behind. Now every time I try to play an MP3 file (using MusicMstch -
> oops, I mean Yahoo Music, or using Windows Media Player - I haven't
> tried other players) I get this message. It also happens for video
> files. Funny thing is, the file still plays. It is just an annoying
> little pop-up. I've found no help on the internet, so I'm actually
> considering re-formatting my drive and re-installing everything just
> to kill it.

Sorryt to bring this dead thread back to the top again. But I wanted
to say that it was NOT the no-cd fix which caused my error. The file
name match was just a coincidence. I had tried to install Musicmatch
Jukebox, but apparently it is no more and instead I downloaded Yahoo
Music. Which I didn't like as much as MusicMatch so I got rid of it.
And when I did, the error went away - even when using other players.

Launcelot82 · Joined: Sep 05, 2008 Posts: 1

I just got this game and have a 32-bit version of Vista. I have tried all of these things suggested, but have still been unable to get the game to work. Any other suggestions?