Combat Mission Shock Force Demo 1.30 won't start

[Don Tango]

OS: Windows 7 - 64 bit

When installing software as a standard user, you will have to enter an administrator password to get permission. This is the way I normally install software. After that, i run it as standard user.

So I did with the Shock Force demo. The demo chooses the my-documents folder of the administrator-account as standard installation folder. But I am not able to run the demo. After clicking the shortcut it tells me, that the linked exe doesn't exist anymore. I tried to get it to run with administrator privileges (right-clicking on the shortcut) but it still can't find the exe. This seems to be logical, because standard users shouldn't have access to folders of administrators.

Why is the my-documents-folder (of an admin-account) the standard installation folder? Which folder can I choose to run the game as a standard user?

If i would choose c:\program files (x86) folder as installation folder can i run the demo as a standard user or should I give the standard user permission to write in the c:\program file-folder?

Does the full game run using a standard user account?

I didn't find a solution in the helpdesk and the forums. The search engine of the forum didn't work for me, because i didn't pass the captcha (several tries ).

thanks

[Don Tango]

I checked my notebook today (Windows 7 - 32 bit). The installation folder on that machine is "C:\Program Files\Battlefront\Combat Mission Shock Force DEMO". I can run the demo as standard user (without administrator privileges).

So what´s the solution for Windows 7 - 64 bit?

[Schrullenhaft]

I'm not sure why Windows 7 64-bit would have you installing to the 'admin user's documents folder' and Win 7 32-bit would allow an installation to the '\Program Files' directory by default. Typically I would have expected it to install to '\Program Files (x86)\Battlefront\Combat Mission Shock Force Demo' directory. Can you redirect the demo to install to this directory instead ?

[Don Tango]

Thanks for your reply.

Maybe the installer tries to target the program files folder but on a 64-bit Windows that folder is for 64-bit software and the installer has no better idea than to copy the files to the my documents folder.

I installed the game in the program files (x86) folder and the game is running.

Everything should be fine now but ... I don´t know why this game don´t like me. The sound is crippled ... I waited so long for buying a new computer an at the end it won´t run ... :mad:

Any ideas? I have the latest firmware and drivers installed ...

[Schrullenhaft]

What exactly is 'crippled' in the sound ? Is it stuttering or delayed ? What sound chip do you have in your computer ? A very common one is the Realtek series, which may be an 'HD Audio' chip if you have purchased the computer in the last several years. However there are also other common audio chips, so you'll need to find which one you have. With a laptop you may be limited to the drivers that the laptop manufacturer provides (this can often be true of the video). If the audio chip has driver support directly from chip manufacturer, then that MIGHT be a better driver (sometimes it isn't), usually because it gets updated much more frequently than what a laptop manufacturer may post on their website.

[Don Tango]

You´re right. It´s a "Realtek HD Audio" on a new Intel DB75EN Board (onboard-audio).

And yes, the sound is crippled. It is stuttering, when using the pulldown-menues (is that the right word in English?), in the loading screen, and in the game there are noises but not the game sound.

[uPDATE]

It works now. Tested the compatibility-assistant (right-click on the .exe). It recommends to run the demo in Windows XP SP2 mode. A test run (with the assistant in the background) works fine. What I don´t understand: I cancelled the assistant (not using it´s recommendations) and the game runs now fine in normal mode too??? I´ve made no changes in the configuration of the computer so I can´t give a reason or a solution for the problem. It seems to be luck.

Thanks for your help Schrullenhaft.

(I´m from germany and now I also know the meaning of the word "schrullenhaft", haha, crazy word ... even in german language)

[/uPDATE]