Max 188's Classic EAW Guide: CLICK
HERE.
VonOben's
EAW Tutorial: CLICK
HERE.
Files to run EAW with WIN 2000: CLICK HERE. and HERE.
|
The EAW message boards (forums) at SIMHQ and FRUGAL are
THE places to go for the latest in EAW. To post messages you'll need to
register (it's free). The 'search' archives facility will give you acces to
many of the questions asked previously and many of the answers from community
members. A great source of information:
 
|
The FAQ's listed below were from members of the EAW community
and submitted through the EAW message boards at the SIMHQ and FRUGAL forums.
If you find a FAQ that causes a problem, please E-mail me from the
'Contact' link at the ' Home' page and I'll try to put you in contact with the
person concerned. |
 'Max 188' registry edit for Windows 9x, 2K or XP users. Includes
readme files created by 'Huntress'.
 |
EAW in Windows XP problems
(Answer
submitted by Wallace 'Wudpecker' Wood
QUESTION - Problems initially installing EAW and
it to run in Windows 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" .
2 - Also in XP, your game version may cause
problems. InfoGames EAW doesn't 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
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 and don't
install it. Copy it onto your HD. EAW doesn't have to be installed, once you
have a copy on the HD.
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 and delete
it. That's right. Delete every instance. 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....IF it's 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.
4 - As a last
resort, make a shortcut of the Eaw.exe file by right-clicking mouse and
choosing shortcut. Put this on your desktop and run the game from
there. This sometimes works when other solutions don't in
XP.
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EAW in Windows XP problems
(Answer submitted by Kay 'Huntress' Hammil)
QUESTION - On starting EAW I
get an error message saying 'not a valid win32 application'.
ANSWER - This is the fresh copy of a newly
installed EAW version 1.0 EXE file. Replace the current EXE file with this
version.
The
original EXE file should be renamed so that it is retained by the game, in the
event that the user ever wanted to revert to that file. |
QUESTION - On starting EAW I
get an error message saying 'not a valid win32 application'.
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.
|
EAW in Windows XP problems
(Answer submitted by Mark L Tucker)
QUESTION - On starting EAW I
get an error message saying 'not a valid win32 application'.
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. |
EAW in Windows ME problems
(Answer submitted by Steve T)
QUESTION - On starting EAW I
get black screen.
ANSWER -
Should work in ME, so I'd look at your video card drivers - try updating
them. |
Installing EAW in WIN
2000
(Submitted by Kay 'Huntress'
Hammil)
QUESTION - Problems with installing EAW in WIN
2000.
ANSWER - See
below:
Although it can be relatively complicated to install EAW under
Windows 2000, a number of SimHQ community members have done it and have
documented their methods so that others can do it also. There are a number of
potential solutions, some quite simple, some fairly involved. There are no
universal solutions due to different language versions of the sim and different
Windows installs, so all of the known solutions are presented. Many thanks to
those who contributed: Adrian (SimHQ Member #12403), kippercod (SimHQ Member
12428), and Sandbagger (SimHQ Member #2253). The SimHQ forum thread which
provides the bulk of this information is located in EAW archive #3, this URL:
SimHQ
1 (Note: to access this thread, the easiest way is to use the forum
seach function, choose to search EAW Archive 3 in the Search Forum field
[Select from the drop-down list for this field], and search for By Registered
Member Number. Use Adrian's number: 12428. The thread you want is called "How
To; EAW in win2k/xp and TM USB joystick." This said, the known procedures I
have located by searching the forum archives are these:
The easiest
method is to download and use kippercod's file which eliminates the operating
system check from the EAW executable file. This file is located here:
HERE. or
kippercod's
Downloads. You are looking for the file called eaw2K_110.zip.
Next easiest would be to try the Win2000 file set from here:
Win 2000 files
Finally, Adrian summarized the methods he tried to use in the post which begins
the SimHQ forum thread cited above. Because it isn't all that easy to get to
this thread now that it's in an archive, I have copied the text of his post. I
hope he does not mind; it's an excellent resource for people running this
operating system and trying to install and run EAW. I have included the
joystick configuration information he provided in the event that this would be
helpful to those running Win 2K.
Quote:
The methods below show
how I got Eaw to work in win2k Pro, installed the compatability modes as per
XP, and then got EAW to recogise my joystick (Thrustmaster fox 2 Pro USB).
Hopefully this is useful for somebody, I used it for EAW, might work for
problems with other programs.
Disclaimer; I am not an IT professional,
I have no affiliation with M'soft or Thrustmaster; This is simply how I got my
program to finction. I could find no solution to my problem on the web, so have
posted this in order to make it easier for someone else and to avoid my
headaches!.
Undertake the methods below at your risk. They worked for
me, that's all I can say...
General Approach
In order to
run games such as EAW (originally XP/w2k incompatible), they need to run in
compatibility mode. This is installed by default in XP, but is also optionally
availible for w2k after installing SP3 (and SP2 as well).
Here is a
summary of the 5 methods that I have found to work in w2k to enable a win95/98
game (EAW) to work;-
--------------------------------------------
[Single Program, No mode modification methods]
1. Run setwin95.cmd from NT4
(single program only, no mode modification)
2. Run apcompat.exe from w2k cd
(support draw of win2k cd). (single program only, no mode mod' but nice GUI
box)
3. Install Application compatibility support from win2k sp3 (single
program only, mode changes accessible from properties tab on shortcut, no mode
modification.)
[Single program Mode Mod possible]
4. Use Qfixapp.exe
from application compatibility toolkit. (single program only, but allows
detailed mode modification) Can also use appverif.exe from application
compatibility toolkit, does same general thing. I liked the qfixapp.exe
better.
[Multiple program, Mode mod automatic, Mode manipulation
possible]
5. Install win2k sp2 or sp3, install app' compat' support (via
command prompt see below) use application modification support from
Aapplication compatibility toolkit, add new sysmain.sdb from xp support pack,
modify custom mode database (sysmain.sdb) (many programs, preset modes
availible, individual mode manipulation possible, nice GUI interface)
--------------------------------------------
I tried all methods
for EAW, but finally used 5. as it was the only one in which I could get my
joystick to work as I had to turn off a fix in the win98 compatibility
mode.
In XP, it is nice and simple. The OS recognises your program and
installs the predetermined fixes in sysmain.sdb, or alternatively you can go to
properties tab and select a generic win95 or win98 compatibility mode. This
will apply a generic batch of modifications to allow the game to run in an
enviroment simulating win95/win98. This does not always work, so you may need
to make a custom environment (your program is not in the sysmain.sdb), or
modify your win95/win98 modes (ie so your joystick etc will work).
Automatically setting modes for a particular program in XP/w2k
XP will automatically apply a modified set of enviroment modifications, if it
recognises the exe. This is why many people with XP have no problems running
EAW first time.
****Get Application Compatibility Toolkit For win2k,
you need to download the windows application compatibility pack (for xp/w2k) to
get this to work as per XP (See microsoft windows update, win2k).BUT FIRST YOU
MUST install Win2k sp3 (or 2), and type a command at the command prompt to
enable it.
ie for detailed info see
Tips
command at "run" in start menu on my box; regsvr32
c:\winnt\apppatch\slayerui.dll (regsvr32 %systemroot%\apppatch\slayerui.dll,
where %systemroot% is where win2k lives)
Right clicking on properties
tab of a shortcut to your exe should now bring up a compatibilty tab.
****Update Sysmain.sdb The information for these programs is contained in a
file called sysmain.sdb, which in my w2k box is located in the winnt\apppatch
directory (note you need to apply the windows application compatibility toolkit
to find this file in your win2k directory) .
Curiously, the sysmain.sdb
included in this bundle is very small (302kb), with support for a minimal
number of programs. To get the latest comp. modes, I downloaded the XP service
pack (XPsp1, note very large 134 mb), found the compressed file sysmain.sd_ in
the temporary directory after I tried to run the service pack (ie try and run
the XP service pack under w2k). You can also find the sysmain.sdb from earlier
patch files for XP ( ie Q308381.exe)This file will not be the most up to date
(Oct2001), but has the advantage of not being 134 mb! Run the service pack
(dont worry; it won't install), but will expand the .exe, which you need to do
in order to obtain the sysmain.sd_ from the temp directory it creates).
I found the temp directory before pressing the "Ok" tab in the message box that
the service pack is for a different OS; I think once you press the OK button,
the temporary directory is deleted. To find the sevice pack temp directory, do
a search for sysmain.sd_, or *.dl_. Should be a directory with a strange
number/letter combination (ie 5b5b48g443...etc).
The single sysmain.sdb
file might be availible on the web somewhere but I couldn't find it.
I
then expanded the sysmain.sdb file via command prompt(290kb to 1058kb), and
used it instead of the original in the app comp pack (302kb). This will allow
you to use the latest modes for xp in win2k without having to figure them out
for yourself.
Copy the sysmain.sd_ file from the xp service pack temp
directory to c:\temp. go to command prompt, type cd c:\temp type expand -r
c:\temp\sysmain.sd_
Copy the new sysmain.sdb file to winnt\apppatch
(first rename the smaller original sysmain.sdb file that the newly obtained one
will replace)
*****Joystick Fix;Modify win98 compatibility
mode*****
However, although I found the above allowed the Eaw
program to work, my joystick was still not recognised in EAW. Therefore I
needed to manipulate the compatibility mode.
I used Qfixapp to play
with the mode eaw.exe was running under and found that it was the "emulate
joystick" fix in the win98 mode (which I used for EAW) that was causing me
grief. Note that the mode for eaw in the sysmain.sdb for xp uses the w95
compatibility mode, so you might need to manipulate this one if your joystick
dilemas are in xp.
In the app comp pack, there is included a program
called the Application Compatibility Tool. It can also be used to manipulate
the compatibility modes for a program, and to enable the creation of custom
modes for new programs not contained in the sysmain.sdb.
Run the
Application Compatibility Tool program (Compatibility administrator). I made a
custom database for eaw, with its own custom fix.
Method; Click "New"
button, select new database, click on database menu, mouse over "create new",
click application fix. Wizard opens Give your fix a name (ie Eaw no Joy emulat)
Vendor "Microprose Software" select program file location ( for eaw.exe for
eaw) Compatibility modes wizard; Select win 98/Me (or win95 if you want it)
Compatibility fixes. Find "emulate joystick" fix. UNCHECK THIS BOX. Click next
Click finish (you have now created a new custom database, containing a single
application fix)
Press save button to save database Right click on the
name of your databasel. select install.
The database should now be
found under installed databases, and should be active.
Run eaw.exe. EAW
should now work in Win2k, and your joystick as well.
Note. I'm not sure
if the application fixes listed in the systems database are active, of if they
need to be moved to a custom database, and then installed to become active. You
might need to try this if you want to enable the automatic preset modes found
in the sysmain.sdb file. It is fairly simply to make a new database, just cut
and paste modes and fixes from the system database. I found that you cannot
modify the system database fixes/modes (only disable), although you can with
the custom databases.
For EAW above, I used a custom application fix,
rather than the preset fix as I wanted w98 mode rather than w95 as per the
preset.
This method allowed my Eaw program to work and my joystick to
be recognised and function correctly in the program (yippee!!)
Good
luck, hope this is useful
Adrian
End Quote
Be aware
that issues will exist for your video card if you have an nVidia GeForce chip
or better or if you have a Radeon chip. These issues occur over all operating
systems and are not XP specific. They are covered in another document at this
website.
|
Installing EAW in WIN
XP
(Submitted by Kay 'Huntress'
Hammil)
QUESTION - Problems with installing EAW in WIN
XP.
ANSWER - See
below:
EAW can and does install and run under Win XP; there are no
differences relating to EAW between Win XP Home and Win XP Pro. The easiest
path to take is to install Service Pack 1 for Win XP since Microsoft included
an EAW-specific compatibility module as part of its legacy games support
provided in the service pack. Since this method gives a better compatibility
than using the more general compatability modules XP natively includes, these
instructions assume that SP1 has been installed prior to installing
EAW.
So, from the top, you would install EAW, using the full install
option in the event that you will want to use one of the no-cd fixes available.
Do not allow the game installer to create shortcuts--you will create your own
later. (While most XP users can use installer-created shortcuts, enough cannot
that I advise against attempting to use them; rather, create your own after
you've finished your install entirely.) The installer may create the shortcuts
anyway; if you cannot launch the sim using them, just delete them all and they
can be created later, following the installation of the Microprose/Infogrames
(now called Atari) game patch or following the addition of your chosen modified
executable file, whichever you decide to use after installing the patch
file.
Note: If you are unable to run the EAW installer from the CD
because you get an error telling you that EAW will not run under NT, or the the
installer is not a valid Win32 application, cancel the installation process.
Leave the CD in the drive. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the setup.exe
file on the CD. Right-click it, choose Properties, choose the Compatibility
tab, and check the box to the left of Run this program in compatibility mode
for: Choose Windows 98/ME. You are assigning a compatibility mode only to the
installer. It should now run for you.
Once the sim has installed, go to
Start | Run, browse to the location of your EAW install and select the
executable file. Run it. Launch one single mission. Take the plane out of the
hangar, then hit your Esc key. This is enough to cause the game to create your
eaw.ini file so that you can now install the patch that takes the sim to v.1.2.
Run the v.1.2 patch and let it find your install and patch it. If you have the
Infogrames version of EAW, this patch is located on your CD. If you have the
MicroProse version, you can download this patch from Sandbagger's EAW Key Files
page, located here: Key
Files. You will want to choose to patch your sim to v.1.2 for the
purposes of most add-on campaigns which include executable files; while you can
use the v.1.1 executable file following patching, other changes to the sim
files are made during the patching process upon which those campaigns depend so
the recommendation is to patch the sim to v.1.2.
Note: Some people are
not able to launch the mission necessary to create the .ini file due to
compatibility errors. This happens more often with the Infogrames version than
with the MicroProse version of the executable file. MicroProse always advocated
beginning a single mission prior to installing any of the patches; it was their
position that the patch might not fully install if a .ini file had not been
created prior to running the patch file. Some do install this patch with
success without creating the .ini file; I would err on the side of caution and
do what I could to launch that mission. To this end, a MicroProse version of
the v.1.0 executable file has been provided here:
HERE . Download this file. In
Windows Explorer, browse to the location of your current executable file,
right-click it and choose to Rename it to eawold.exe or something like this.
This preserves this file in case you ever want it again. Extract the downloaded
file into your EAW directory and use this as your executable file. From Start |
Run, browse to the location of the downloaded executable file and run it. If
this file will allow you to launch the sim, then start a single mission, Escape
from it as soon as your plane leaves the hangar, and then you can run the patch
file. If this version of the executable file will still not run for you, then a
very generic .ini file is also available from the same page as is the
MicroProse v.1.0 executable file, located just below that file. Download it,
extract it, and copy it into your EAW directory. You will need to double-click
this file which opens it in Notepad and verify that the letter assigned to the
CD-ROM in the line Debug Path= is the same letter EAW would assign to your
CD-ROM; the letter in this file is D. Change it if needed and hit File | Save
to save your change. Now run the patch file either from your Infogrames CD or
from Sandbagger's. Many find that the patch for EAW also helps in the area of
compatibility for Windows XP, so you should have no more problems once the
patch installs successfully. On your main menu screen in EAW, the verison
number is located in the lower left corner so you will know if the patch took,
hopefully fully. If you are not able to launch the sim from the Start | Run
command line, try double-clicking the executable file in Windows Explorer. Just
be sure that the file you are trying to run is named eaw.exe.
If you do
not want to use any of the modified executable files which will include no-cd
fixes, then you may now create your shortcuts to the Desktop and/or Start |
Programs menu by opening Windows Explorer, browse to the location of your EAW
folder. Highlight that in the left pane, right-click your eaw.exe file in the
right pane and choose Send To | Desktop (Create Shortcut). Leave the shortcut
alone if you just want a Desktop one; if you also want one on the Start |
Programs menu, drag and drop the shortcut on the Start button. Create another
for the Desktop or the QuickLaunch tray if you want by following the same
procedure and dragging and dropping the shortcut where ever you want
it.
If you do want to use a modified executable file and one of the
purposes is to take advantage of the no-cd fix, then do not make your shortcuts
just yet. Instead, in Windows Explorer, browse to your eaw.exe file and
right-click it. Choose to Rename it, and call it something like eawold.exe or
something like that. This preserves it in case you ever want it for some
reason. Now copy in your chosen modified executable file (Andy has several of
them at his Add-Ons page at Sandbagger's Dispersal site here:
Andy's Add-Ons ), right-click
that file, and rename it to eaw.exe. Under Win XP, the executable for EAW must
be called eaw.exe or it will not run for you. You'll get an error telling you
that EAW will not run under Win NT if you try running an EAW executable file
with another name. Once you rename the file, then you can now make your
shortcuts to this file using the instructions above.
Lastly, to take
advantage of the no-cd fix using one of Andy's files, you will need to edit
your eaw.ini file in Notepad. Browse to the file in Win Explorer, double-click
it to open it in Notepad, and under the Miscellaneous header, you will see a
line which begins with Debug Path= and continues with the path to your CD-ROM.
Remove the path and replace it with .\ --that is, your line will now read:
Debug Path=.\ where you have typed a period and a backslash following the
equals sign. Hit File | Save to save your change.
For the purposes of
installing EAW under Windows XP, you are now finished. You may face other
issues with video cards, however, which are documented in other areas. NVidia
chips as well as Radeon chips have rendering issues which have been solved with
one degree of success or another by the EAW community and those solutions are
located elsewhere on the site. These issues occur regardless of operating
systems and have to do with hardware and driver changes over the years, not
your choice of operating system.
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Dual Booting in WIN XP
(Submitted
by 'Wudpecker' Wallace)
QUESTION - Information for dual booting a PC
using WIN XP.
ANSWER - See
below:
Windows XP Pro, if installed so it doesn't over-write the old
Windows version, will offer a dual boot at each startup (and restart). You have
about five seconds to choose your boot-up program of XP or another version of
Windows, letting you keep many old settings and choose your EAW .exes without
extensive changes under XP. If you already over-written old Windows files, you
can add a dual-boot by reinstalling another version, say of Win98, in another
partition or hard drive. (It might work work in the same drive with XP, like
C:\--- but I doubt it.). Yes, it gripes and warns your new install may not
work. But it does it. It automatically searches for other Windows versions. You
may have to insert the XP Pro CD. Don't know about Linux detection for a dual
boot, but it mentions "other" operating systems are detected. By picking the
"R" (repair) option on a 2nd install of XP Pro, you can even dual boot XP
itself as well--though to do this you have to type "help" on the altered
DOS-like programs that come up, and be sure and read each one with "help"
before using! They are powerful. Such as HELP (for the DOS-like list) and HELP
BOOTFIX for the dual boot of another XP. BOOTFIX does it in this case of a
second XP boot (NOT in the automatic detection case of other operating
systems---it may or may not work for that). It asks odd questions with no
explanation and room only for 1 letter or number for the extra boot. (I just
hit "Enter", leaving a "blank" boot position, but you can name or number your
XP boot as you like).
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