Installing my old, old copy on new PC

[John1966]

Bought a new PC a couple of years back. My disc of CMBN was bought in 2011 and installed on a previous PC and a laptop (never uninstalled on either) but I recalled you could run it on three machines. Thought I'd never track down my key but found it in my account here from when I first downloaded (assume it's still valid).

Ran the disc. Never asked for key or Internet connection. Hit "Finished" and got "UI not found... Application will be terminated."

I've now found an archived thread about this and Windows 10. It seems I need to upgrade to a later version. Can I do that if I haven't managed to install the old version? Would it be easier to just buy a newer version (or will I encounter the same problem with Windows 10?).

Apologies for my lack of IT experience here.

[Schrullenhaft]

You can purchase the CMBN Upgrade 3/4 Bundle for US$15 that upgrades a CMBN 1.x or 2.x game to 4.x.

I believe, though I'm not absolutely sure, you can probably just run the installer for this (which should be a 4.x installer), even if the CMBN 1.x game isn't licensed. I assume that you may need to provide that CMBN 1.x license key during the licensing process (in addition to the CMBN 3/4 Upgrade license key(es)). You can possibly contact the Helpdesk (submit a ticket by clicking the blue '+ new ticket' button in the upper right) and ask what the procedure for this would be (i.e. - unable to license CMBN 1.x on Windows 10 and installing the 3/4 Upgrade).

[John1966]

Thanks for the swift reply.

So I install the disc (which then won't launch), then purchase upgrade and run it's installer? No patches first or anything?

[Schrullenhaft]

Yes, the 3/4 Upgrade should patch you to the latest without any intervening patches (i.e. - you don't have to install the 2.0 & 3.0 Upgrades before the 4.0 Upgrade). Admittedly the issue here is that the 1.x version will not even activate under Windows 10. So I'm GUESSING that you MIGHT need to provide the 1.0 license key at some point (possibly FIRST) during the activation process once the 3/4 Upgrade is installed. I believe the 3/4 Upgrade will actually have a different directory structure than the 1.x version (which may put ALL of the game files within a folder typically within the 'Program Files (x86)' directory). The 3/4 Upgrade will (if I recall correctly) install the scenario/campaign/saved game files and mods in the 'users' directory (under your account), thus splitting where the game gets installed (all later games did this, since it is Microsoft's directive).

I believe you can simply install the 3/4 Upgrade (which should hopefully simply be a FULL installer) without the 1.x version being present. Double-check with the Helpdesk (link provided in above post) to make sure this is actually a feasible method of installing/licensing.