Does SMAC conflict with other software?

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Author Topic:   Does SMAC conflict with other software?

Dim Cat posted 04-05-99 03:01 AM ET
Here is a weird thing I ran into. I played the game for almost a month without major problems (I mean crashes ). In fact I even reinstalled the original version without patches, because it seemed to be more stable.
Now yesterday I'm starting the game, looking forward to PB couple of Hive bases, and all of a sudden the game crashes right after the first screen with Firaxis logo. I reboot the computer, try again, same story. Next time, the game starts, but then crashes at the next movie of a Secret Project. I'm going slightly mad, because everything worked fine just a day ago. I go through the usual routine, reinstall video drivers, try adding patches - nothing helps. I even took the computer apart and reinserted my video card in the slot (you can tell how desperate I was ). It still crashes. Then I realize that a day ago I was browsing through a demo CD that came with the latest PC Gamer, and among other junk, it installed Quick Time for Windows to show demo movies. To make the long story short, after I unistalled this stupid thing, SMAC started to run as if nothing happened. So I wonder if at least some crashes reported in this forum may be due to undocumented software conflicts, or is it just an extraordinary case? I have Pentium 200MMX, 96MB RAM with Diamond Viper 550 3D card (with latest drivers from Diamond's website).
FYI: Quick Time WAS NOT running, when I tried to play SMAC. However, it changed some file associations, so I assume it attempted to intercept references to SMAC movie files, when the game tried to show the intro movie or a Secret Project movie.
So what else SHOULD NOT be installed to run SMAC without problems?
cousLee posted 04-05-99 04:38 AM ET
Anything Norton. Installed is ok, but I have had Norton Antivirus, Crashguard, and Sysdoc, all cause game play problems and crashes. I turn these off and don't have any SYSTEM problems with the game. disable these if you have them and see if it helps.
Dick Knisely posted 04-05-99 11:40 AM ET
In the past I've lots of trouble with Quicktime causing all sorts of trouble. Now avoid it like the plague.
JamesZman posted 04-05-99 11:54 PM ET
I use Windows NT. I got tons of crashes with realplayer G2. So before I play the game, I have to terminate realplayer.exe. Otherwise, the game will crash somewhere down the road.
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Author	Topic: Does SMAC conflict with other software?
Dim Cat	posted 04-05-99 03:01 AM ET Here is a weird thing I ran into. I played the game for almost a month without major problems (I mean crashes ). In fact I even reinstalled the original version without patches, because it seemed to be more stable. Now yesterday I'm starting the game, looking forward to PB couple of Hive bases, and all of a sudden the game crashes right after the first screen with Firaxis logo. I reboot the computer, try again, same story. Next time, the game starts, but then crashes at the next movie of a Secret Project. I'm going slightly mad, because everything worked fine just a day ago. I go through the usual routine, reinstall video drivers, try adding patches - nothing helps. I even took the computer apart and reinserted my video card in the slot (you can tell how desperate I was ). It still crashes. Then I realize that a day ago I was browsing through a demo CD that came with the latest PC Gamer, and among other junk, it installed Quick Time for Windows to show demo movies. To make the long story short, after I unistalled this stupid thing, SMAC started to run as if nothing happened. So I wonder if at least some crashes reported in this forum may be due to undocumented software conflicts, or is it just an extraordinary case? I have Pentium 200MMX, 96MB RAM with Diamond Viper 550 3D card (with latest drivers from Diamond's website). FYI: Quick Time WAS NOT running, when I tried to play SMAC. However, it changed some file associations, so I assume it attempted to intercept references to SMAC movie files, when the game tried to show the intro movie or a Secret Project movie. So what else SHOULD NOT be installed to run SMAC without problems?
cousLee	posted 04-05-99 04:38 AM ET Anything Norton. Installed is ok, but I have had Norton Antivirus, Crashguard, and Sysdoc, all cause game play problems and crashes. I turn these off and don't have any SYSTEM problems with the game. disable these if you have them and see if it helps.
Dick Knisely	posted 04-05-99 11:40 AM ET In the past I've lots of trouble with Quicktime causing all sorts of trouble. Now avoid it like the plague.
JamesZman	posted 04-05-99 11:54 PM ET I use Windows NT. I got tons of crashes with realplayer G2. So before I play the game, I have to terminate realplayer.exe. Otherwise, the game will crash somewhere down the road.