Can anyone help me out with a problem

[angry pankration warrior]

I downloaded Elder Scrolls Arena, but the problem is, when I click on
it to play, I get this message,

16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem
drive:\program path
XXXX. An installable Virtual Device Driver failed DLL initialization.
Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

-or-

16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem
drive:\program path
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\VirtualDeviceDrivers. VDD. Virtual
Device Driver format in the registry is invalid. Choose 'Close' to
terminate the application.

So, can anyone help me get rid of this and get elder scrolls arena
running please?

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Sounds like an old Windows program that won't run on XP since you cannot
change system files in XP. Try right clicking on the executable, go to
Properties and choose Compatibility tab. Then pick run for Win 95 or 98. If
it doesn't work, you need an updated XP version of the program.

 

[Andre Da Costa]

See link:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/apcompatmode.mspx

Andre

 

[KC Wong]

I downloaded Elder Scrolls Arena, but the problem is, when I click on

it to play, I get this message,

16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem
drive:\program path
XXXX. An installable Virtual Device Driver failed DLL initialization.
Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem
drive:\program path
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\VirtualDeviceDrivers. VDD. Virtual
Device Driver format in the registry is invalid. Choose 'Close' to
terminate the application.

So, can anyone help me get rid of this and get elder scrolls arena
running please?

The error message indicates a problem that modifying registry can fix... but
it's highly likely that Arena won't play even after that fix. Which OS are
you using? 95/98, ME, 2000 or XP Home/Pro?

In all case, it'd be best if you following the instruction on the official
site and use DOSBox to run Arena... and also refer to DOSBox's readme on how
to tune its performance.

 

[angry pankration warrior]

The error message indicates a problem that modifying registry can fix...

Tell me more. How?

you using 95/98, ME, 2000 or XP Home/Pro?

XP

 

[KC Wong]

The error message indicates a problem that modifying registry can fix...

Tell me more. How?


XP

Start Regedit, navigate to this node:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\VirtualDeviceDrivers

You probably have a value in the key VDD. Delete it, then recreate it with
type REG_MULTI_SZ, and leave it blank. Check this URL for more details:
http://www.timmonet.co.uk/html/2000vdm.htm

But as I said, this won't get Arena to run... the solution is DOSBox.

Or, if you're interested in replacing some core files of Windows (remember
to make a System Restore point before installing), VDMSound may also allow
Arena to run in XP. I've read reports that people found out the reason Arena
can't run because it cannot initiate sound - as XP has no real DOS mode, and
does not support 16-bit sound drivers. VDMSound solved that by providing
16-bit sound emulation. I haven't tried myself though.