WinXP+guide



EAW in Windows XP problems


 * QUESTION - On starting EAW I get an error message saying 'not a valid win32 application'.**

(Answer submitted by Kay 'Huntress' Hammil)

ANSWER - Replace your current EAW. EXE file that is found in the main game folder with this version. This is the fresh copy of a newly installed EAW version 1.0 EXE file. http://www.sandbaggereaw.com/SG/eaw1_0.zip

Just in case, keep your original EXE file. Rename it something like EAW.BAK, in the event that the user ever wanted to revert to that file.

(Answer submitted by Mark L Tucker)

ANSWER - Make sure you set the 'Compatibility' to either 'Win95" or Win98/ME'. Do this by right clicking the desktop icon, select 'properties' and select the 'Compatibility' tab. Make sure the 'check box' is marked and select 'Windows 98 or Windows ME'.

If you run the EAW1.2a.exe patch, rename it to eaw.exe in the main EAW folder.


 * QUESTION - Problems installing EAW to run in Windows XP and using different ".exes".**

(Answer submitted by Wallace 'Wudpecker' Wood

Make a shortcut of the Eaw.exe file by right-clicking mouse and choosing 'shortcut'. It will be found under the "s" group below. Drag this on your desktop and run the game from there. This sometimes works when other solutions don't in XP.

1 - Any of the special "EXE's" available will have to be renamed to just "EAW.exe". XP will only run the name "EAW.exe" For instance, Andy's Eaw2c.exe will not work until changed to "Eaw.exe".

The great new game manager, OAW and OAW Unified will do the renaming automatically.

2 - Also in XP, your game version may cause problems. InfoGrames EAW doesn't always like XP on an install--though it works fine in XP without actually installing. Only the Microprose original works well when you do an install from CD.

Solution: Try and copy ONLY the game itself without installing it. Run it once, briefly, then quit. Then install the 1.2 patch from your CD. Why? Because this creates a couple of files the game needs.

Of course you had to install the game originally from CD, right? How else can you get the game files? By "installing" EAW in XP, there are some registry problems that can sometimes crop up and foul up the game in non-Microprose CD's. So you have to clean the registry or find a new "clean" Microprose version of EAW. Don't install it. Copy it onto your hard drive and make a shortcut. EAW doesn't have to be installed, once you have a copy on the HD.

The only registry entry needed is generated by your Graphics Card. So you can skip that one if you find it. Graphics cards are an entire subject in itself. Your game may go wild with crazy colors because of graphic card settings. Always turn "vertical sync" to "off".

3 - How to clean the registry? Go to "RUN" under the Start Menu, type Regedit, pick "Find" and then find every instance of Euro Air War with CTRL-F and delete it. That's right. Delete every instance-except your graphics card one if it appears. There are several.

There is a maker's folder under Program Files where the game is installed, but I forget the folder name. Delete that, too....but NOT the game itself. Remember, copy the game itself first (it will have the eaw.exe file in it and some other folders like music, etc.) and put it in a new folder. Run the game from that folder. Test it first, of course.


 * QUESTION - On installing EAW from disk, I still have problems**.

Don't forget to use the 1.2 "Patch". Run the game once so EAW can generate a special control file called "eaw.ini". You can copy eaw.ini files from other versions if you find one.

By Kay "Huntress" Hammil.

ANSWER - This is the EAW INI file; it's really better if a game install can generate its own, but I have read at different websites that if the game is still not running due to this error, people should just go ahead and install the patch. In this case, the patch may or may not take, since first, MicroProse, then later Atari tech support insist that a .ini file be in the game directory for the patch to take. I don't know the truth of this belief of theirs, but on the chance that they are correct, then this would provide a .ini file for people unable to launch a mission in order to generate one. When this file is downloaded, it should be opened in Notepad and the user should migrate to the [Miscellaneous] heading and verify that the letter used for the CD check (I have assigned D as being the most common letter assignment for the CD-ROM) is the same letter as the game would assign to their CD-ROM. If a change needs to be made in the letter, edit the file and save it (File | Save). That line is Debug Path=x\, where x is the CD-ROM letter assigned by the system and game. Copy the file into the EAW directory. This should get the file past the CD check, until the user can download a modified executable and get rid of the check altogether. I believe the other parameters set in this copy of the .ini are generic, so the file should do for what the patch wants it for. http://www.sandbaggereaw.com/SG/eaw1_0ini.zip