Invalid handle

[Guerilla surgeon]

After a couple of months playing Civilisation four, the program refused to
load. I tried everything but all I could get at the very most was a message
that said "the handle is invalid" I swear I haven't touched a thing! (I might
say, that of Microsoft wants to use these forums to improve their products,
they could get some more understandable error messages.) I uninstalled and
reinstalled to no avail, I used system restore but it didn't solve the
problem. It now refuses to let me uninstall the program, I get a message
saying something like "set up exe has developed a problem and will have to
close" so I now have gigabytes of stuff on my hard drive I can't get rid of
and I can't even play the game. I'm old, I don't need this. Does anyone
have any suggestions in relatively simple language as to what to do. I would
be extremely grateful.

 

[VanguardLH]

in message

After a couple of months playing Civilisation four, the program
refused to
load. I tried everything but all I could get at the very most was a
message
that said "the handle is invalid" I swear I haven't touched a thing!
(I might
say, that of Microsoft wants to use these forums to improve their
products,
they could get some more understandable error messages.)

Um, how is Microsoft responsible for error codes or status presented
by a game developed by Atari who sold it in 2004 to Take 2 Interactive
Software (now selling under their 2K Games label)?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_(computer_game)

You don't mention applying the patch for this game. So, have you
applied the patch?
http://www.google.com/search?q=+civilization++patch

I uninstalled and
reinstalled to no avail, I used system restore but it didn't solve
the
problem. It now refuses to let me uninstall the program, I get a
message
saying something like "set up exe has developed a problem and will
have to
close" so I now have gigabytes of stuff on my hard drive I can't get
rid of
and I can't even play the game. I'm old, I don't need this. Does
anyone
have any suggestions in relatively simple language as to what to do.
I would
be extremely grateful.

Here's a wild stab: Are you using a dual- or quad-processor computer?
If so, you might have to set affinity for the game so it uses only one
processor.

A forum of Civilization users might know.
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=+civilisation|civilization++forum

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

After a couple of months playing Civilisation four, the program refused to
load. I tried everything but all I could get at the very most was a message
that said "the handle is invalid" I swear I haven't touched a thing! (I might
say, that of Microsoft > wants to use these forums to improve their products,
they could get some more understandable error messages.)

Microsoft? This isn't a Microsoft product. It's produced by a company
called 2K Games. Microsoft isn't responsible for the error messages,
or any other problems, created by such a third-party software company.
Your complaints are directed to the wrong place.

Moreover, this is a public newsgroup, not a forum, and its purpose is
not for Microsoft to improve its products, but for Windows XP users to
get help with Windows XP, not other software, from other Windows XP
users.

It's highly unlikely that Microsoft will even see your complaint here.
This is a peer support newsgroup. We are all just Windows XP users
here, helping each other if and when we can. We are not Microsoft
employees (not even those of us with "Microsoft MVP" behind our names;
that's an honorary title for having provided consistently helpful
advice) except for an occasional employee who posts here unofficially
on his own time.

The reason you think this is a forum is that you are using the web
interface to read and post to this newsgroup. That's the slowest,
clunkiest, most error-prone method there is. If you want to continue
to participate here, do yourself a favor and switch to a newsreader,
such as Outlook Express, which comes with Windows. See
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

I uninstalled and
reinstalled to no avail, I used system restore but it didn't solve the
problem. It now refuses to let me uninstall the program, I get a message
saying something like "set up exe has developed a problem and will have to
close" so I now have gigabytes of stuff on my hard drive I can't get rid of
and I can't even play the game. I'm old, I don't need this. Does anyone
have any suggestions in relatively simple language as to what to do. I would
be extremely grateful.

Sorry, I can't help at all. Again, this isn't a Windows XP issue at
all, but one with the particular game you're trying to use. I don't
play computer games, and know nothing about this. You should contact
the game's manufacturer for assistance.