Matrix Games Forums

Hello,

I am still unable to play the Starshatter demo and therefore can't decide if it would be worth purchasing given the age of my PC.

I've tried downloading the file from several sources. I've uninstalled the demo numerous times. Each time I try to install the demo, one of the files won't install correctly into the Windows\TEMP\ directory. When I try to run the demo, the program immediately quits because it cannot establish the palette. I have no idea if these problems are related.

My PC is composed of (amongst other things) an old Intel P3 550
Geforce 2 w/ 32 megs
FAT 16 file system
384 RAM
Windows 98 (with numerous updates added via Microsoft)

Should I take this as a sign that the game simply can't run on my machine?

No, the game can run fine. As I said, it is a problem with the installer, it won't extract the .DAT file that contains all the game data on some systems, particularly FAT16/98.

If you have access to another system, you might be able to install the game there then copy the .DAT file onto a CD and bring it back over. Or I guess someone could stick the demo's DAT file up on a webspace.

Andrew,

The release version of Starshatter has the following requirements:

Windows 98SE / ME / 2000 / XP
Pentium II 400MHz (rec. Pentium III 700MHz)
DirectX 7
128 Mb RAM (rec. 256 Mb RAM)
TNT-2 3D Accelerator or better (rec. GeForce 2 Accelerator or better)
8x CD-ROM
100Mb free Hard Drive Space

It looks like your system should be able to handle it just fine, so I'm guessing this is most likely a windows or file system error. Have you done the usual maintenance lately (Scandisk, Defrag, Check Registry for errors)?

Can you post which file is having a problem installing? Maybe John can figure out what's going on if you manage to catch the exact file name.

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

I have burned demo install to CD-R and I have tried it with 2 Win98SE machines. One has FAT32 file system and it didn't install. Other 1 has FAT16 and no problem. I underline that in both cases install file was in CD-R.

FAT16 is obsolete and it has at least 2 major problems: large allocation units and maximum size for logical partition of 2 gigabytes (2048 kilobytes). Today it is used in floppy disks and on harddiskdrives mostly becouse its compatibility between various operating systems. I use it so I can play old DOS games from DOS.

Erik,

It's funny you mention that because with all the problems I was having I ran the whole gamut of maintenance tools (cleanup, scan, defrag) this past weekend.

The error message is:

"C:\Windows\TEMP\Ins7042.tmp is unable to write to C:\Windows\TEMP\Ins7042.tmp"

This happens during installation of the demo. If I continue with the installation, and try to run the game, the program announces that it cannot establish the palette and quits immediately. As I'd said before I don't know if these problems are related.

Of course if you check out another thread I have going on with TheDeadlyShoe and Matti, the big question is whether my file system is FAT16 or FAT32. I assumed it's FAT16 because all of my partitions are 2 gigabytes. I have two hard drives. One of them is 2 gigs. That's the C: drive. The other one is 10 gigs. It's broken into 5 partitions of 2 gigs each.

I use C: for operating system stuff and program files only. Games and things I keep on the second HD. My question is, is it possible that the second HD is FAT16, and the lone C: is FAT32, and this is causing the problem?

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Andrew,

The release version of Starshatter has the following requirements:

Windows 98SE / ME / 2000 / XP
Pentium II 400MHz (rec. Pentium III 700MHz)
DirectX 7
128 Mb RAM (rec. 256 Mb RAM)
TNT-2 3D Accelerator or better (rec. GeForce 2 Accelerator or better)
8x CD-ROM
100Mb free Hard Drive Space

It looks like your system should be able to handle it just fine, so I'm guessing this is most likely a windows or file system error. Have you done the usual maintenance lately (Scandisk, Defrag, Check Registry for errors)?

Can you post which file is having a problem installing? Maybe John can figure out what's going on if you manage to catch the exact file name.

Regards,

- Erik

The problem occurs because the game does not install fully, the reason of which is not completely tracked down, but may or may not be related to whether you are using FAT16 or FAT32. The data file is not extracted and it is impossible to run the game in any way without it.

ORIGINAL: andrewb1

I use C: for operating system stuff and program files only. Games and things I keep on the second HD. My question is, is it possible that the second HD is FAT16, and the lone C: is FAT32, and this is causing the problem?

Right click logical drive and choose Properties. There should be part File system: This in Windows 2000 and I'm not at my Win98SE now.

In a blazing fit of Windows usefulness (Win 98 that is), right-clicking the drive reveals that the drive is in fact a FAT drive, but not which format.

Anyone else had this problem or found a solution yet?

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

ORIGINAL: andrewb1

I use C: for operating system stuff and program files only. Games and things I keep on the second HD. My question is, is it possible that the second HD is FAT16, and the lone C: is FAT32, and this is causing the problem?

Right click logical drive and choose Properties. There should be part File system: This in Windows 2000 and I'm not at my Win98SE now.

Roofle.

Yeah, you just need the data file.

Ahrg.... I just uninstalled the demo...ill have ot reinstall to get the file. I'll upload it and PM you the addy. Sadly uploading will take a while. [:(]