Another Game Won't Start Problem

[AcePylut]

I've had DWU for a while... got a new hard drive about 6 months ago, reinstalled everything. Worked fine. Hadn't played in bout 4 months though, went to fire up DWU, nothing happens. I set the playmovie to 0. I've tried running it from Matrix folder, the quick start menu, and the regular launcher. I've done it all in Admin mode. Uninstalled and reinstalled game. Updated all my drivers.

All that happens is that when I click on the launcher to run the game... the "circle" spins for about 1 second, then nothing.

Here's my dxdiag file. As always any help would be appreciated.

[VPaulus]

Please check if you have any file named DW_CrashDump.txt and attach it to your message. You can find that file at your Windows documents folder at:
....\Documents\My Games\Distant Worlds Universe

[AcePylut]

Here you go.. thanks!

[VPaulus]

Ensure that you have Windows Media Player and IE11 installed and enabled. You can check these at:

Control Panel > Programs and Features > Windows Features > Media Features > Windows Media Player
Control Panel > Programs and Features > Windows Features > Internet Explorer 11


Also Direct Play needs to be activated:
Control Panel>Programs and Features>Turn Windows features on or off

Under "Legacy Components" ensure that "Direct Play" is ticked on.

[AcePylut]

Do I have to have IE11? Because I absolutely do not want that on my PC. I"ll look at Windows Media Player and the Direct Play - but IE11, I don't know why that would be necessary.

[VPaulus]

Yes, the game uses IE11 libraries for the Galactopedia, so you need to have it installed even if you don't use it.
It's a product requirement listed in the game product's page:
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/product.asp?gid=515

[AcePylut]

Roger that. I"ll give it a whirl and see what happens!

[AcePylut]

Activating IE11 and Windows Media Player did the trick, she works now! Thanks!