Problem with WC4 in XP

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I had previously played WC4 CD in XP and had no problems. I recently purchased a new laptop and when I go to install it it runs install but freezes up on the screen where it says it will now do a system/display test, locking up the computer. Has anyone else had this and if so, know how to get around it?
 
im afraid ive never heard of this problem i play wc4 cd on xp all the time infact i just installed it again and it works no problem! but im sure one of the other guys can help! sorry!
 
I dont know which cd version. I bought it back in 95 or 96 and still have the original. I know this is wierd because like I said, I have played it on XP before on my older computer. I am thinking that because I have a very new laptop that has the wider screen resolutions, it may have a conflict. I feel wierd asking but this was one of my favorite games.
 
Unregistered said:
I feel wierd asking but this was one of my favorite games.
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No need to feel wierd. We're pretty much all here because Wing Commander holds a special place in our hearts. In fact at least every other day someone new is in here asking for help getting wc4 to run in XP. When I'm able, I'm only too glad to help another fan keep the magic alive.

It seems to me though that wc4 shouldnt have a problem with the screen because it sould be switching resolutions when it loads. To me it would seem that the only problem might me stretching/cropping. As per version, if it isnt already the win95 version, then the problem might be dos.

If you have the Dos version, install the game using Dosbox. Then apply the win95 patch. Then set the compatibility of the executable to win95 and you should be off and flying.

If it is a screen size ratio problem in XP, check out your display settings to see if there are any options that are specific to your computer to run things in 640x480.
(one question: It locks? or can you alt-tab out of the installer?) There is the possibility that the laptops LCD is not capable of 640x480 resolution and therefore also needs to run an included program along side wc4 to compensate.
 
Ok, I tried your solution and the message I get is "EMS driver is not VCPI compliant". Do I need to change something in my config.sys file?
 
Oh and I forgot. I set ems=false in the dosbox.conf file but it still gets caught up at the screen test.
 
Phew. I got WC4 to work. Thanks for your help. I had to mount the hard and cd drives in dosbox, do ems=false, then run install. It wasnt freezing, just super slow. By increasing the framerate a ton, I was finally able to install! Then with the 95 patch, the game runs great!!! Again thanks for the suggestion.
 
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