Trouble installing Rome Total War

[bullwinkle]

My son is having trouble installing Rome Total War.

When you supply the 2nd disk, it pops up a window which asks for the 2nd disk all over again.  I've cleaned the disk, but to no avail.

My son's system:
CPU: AMD x86 2200MHz
Memory: 4gb
Windows XP sp3
2x nVidia GeForce 7800GTX

Thanks

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

When it asks for the second disc, do you press Ok in the dialogue box?

Does the installation keep asking for the second disc?

[bullwinkle]

I put the second disk in and wait a few moments for it to gain speed.  If it gains speed before or after I hit the OK sign, it still gives me the same error.

Of course, substituting the third disk generates the same error too.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Has it ever worked? Or did you just buy the game?

Did you buy it new or used?

If you bought it used, it is possible you were given the wrong disc.

[bullwinkle]

The game works...I have it on my own PC, straight from those same three CDs.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

When you get that "Insert 2nd CD" message, can you change the location of the disc? Is there an option to choose a folder/location?

[bullwinkle]

No, it just presents a vanilla screen saying to insert the 2nd disk. 

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Something you could try:

1. Insert the first disc into the computer.
2. Go to My Computer, right click the disc, and select Open.
3. Copy the contents of the disc into a folder on the desktop.
4. Do the same with the other discs. While copying, ensure that you don’t overwrite any file.
5. Once the copy completes, double-click on the setup file.

With any luck, it won't ask you to insert any other discs, however you will still need to insert the first disc to play the game.

[bullwinkle]

I created a directory in my 2nd drive and copied each disk to it.  It set up a subdirectory for each disk, so I then copied the contents of each directory into the first one.

I ran startup but hit an error when it couldn't find the sky.cab file (disks 2 & 3 are cabinet files).  I did a system wide search for that file but came up empty.

This just seems too difficult, I'm afraid.

Thanks for your time and assistance.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Do not set up a directory for each disc. Put the contents of all three discs in one folder.

[bullwinkle]

This is what I tried to do.  When I copied each disk into the same directory, it set up a separate directory.  So I copied the contents of each into one directory and executed startup from there.

I didn't put it on the desktop, just in another directory on the hard drive.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Alright. So all 3 discs in one folder.

If it didn't work, I'm not sure what else you could do.

If you have another computer available, you could try installing the game again. If it doesn't work on the third computer, then the discs are damaged.

[bullwinkle]

I believe I have the source of the problem.

Upon closer inspection, I see that the CD label art is different for the first CD than it is for the next two.  This leads me to believe that the first CD does not belong with the other two and that incompatibility is the problem.

This is my favorite game of all time and so I have bought another copy over the years.  Evidently they are not interchangeable.  I will try to find the other CDs.

Thank you very much for your time and assistance.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Ahh That was my first assumption, but you had mentioned installing it previously.

If the cover art is different, it is most likely from a different version of the game (i.e. deluxe versus standard versions).

Good luck!

[bullwinkle]

I have located the matching CDs and the game loads without a hitch.

thanks again!

(now if you could only find a way for the original Thief game to run on Windows XP)