Command & Conquer: Red Alert (First of the three) on WinXP

AtheistChase · Fri 01/05/2009 20:22:35

I have Windows XP SP3, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
On this i try to run C&C: Red Alert. When i open RA95.exe it opens as a black window, and stays that until i terminate the process.
If i attempt to use the compatibility mode, it doesn't open at all, so i have to terminate the process with TaskMng.
Once it opened it ran at a very high speed for about 3 seconds, then crashed requiring be to terminate the process.
On some occasions of trying to run it, after terminating it i cannot open Task Manager, or shut down the computer or, indeed, launch any program apart from Opera.
I cannot run the program as administrator, i simply do not have that option even tough i am on the administrator account.
I have searched for help on the internet, the solutions did not help me.
This forum was my last resort.
Thank you for helping in advance.

Hudders · Fri 01/05/2009 20:48:20

Patch it.

AtheistChase · Fri 01/05/2009 21:17:31

Quote from: Hudders on Fri 01/05/2009 20:48:20
Patch it.

I had tried patching.
I obtained the game from an abandonware website (Sorry). Abandonware is software that is no longer sold [read "free"]
For this reason i cannot patch it, it renders the .exe useless.

Oliwerko · Fri 01/05/2009 21:41:51

Actually, Red Alert was released for free by EA not a long time ago as .ISO images ready for WinXP installation. Google it, there are numerous download locations for them.

AtheistChase · Fri 01/05/2009 21:52:59

Quote from: Oliwerko on Fri 01/05/2009 21:41:51
Actually, Red Alert was released for free by EA not a long time ago as .ISO images ready for WinXP installation. Google it, there are numerous download locations for them.

I will.
Can someone provide a link, just in case?

EDIT: Link not needed.
Thanks, Oliwerko.

I will report back, should any problems occur.

EDIT:
No dice.
I am getting exactly the same results.

Oliwerko · Sat 02/05/2009 07:33:16

Did you try patching that one?

AtheistChase · Sat 02/05/2009 17:12:26

Quote from: Oliwerko on Sat 02/05/2009 07:33:16
Did you try patching that one?

Yes. I'm a nightmare case

Oliwerko · Sat 02/05/2009 17:21:21

Hmm, here my knowledge ends, I'm afraid.

Hudders · Sat 02/05/2009 17:47:58

You say it renders the .exe useless; can you expand on that?

Arboris · Sat 02/05/2009 18:26:18

http://webdesign.smallbusinesspages.org/myblog/command-and-conquer-red-alert-1-downloads.html

Tried the red alert manager ?

AtheistChase · Sat 02/05/2009 19:13:38

Quote from: Hudders on Sat 02/05/2009 17:47:58
You say it renders the .exe useless; can you expand on that?

It cannot be launched.

EDIT: The manager did not work, it turned out the same result.

Arboris · Sat 02/05/2009 19:53:51

A shame, the manger worked fine and dandy for me. I could play it without a single error in vista 64bit and on a HD4870 videocard

AtheistChase · Sat 02/05/2009 20:33:45

Quote from: Arboris on Sat 02/05/2009 19:53:51
A shame, the manger worked fine and dandy for me. I could play it without a single error in vista 64bit and on a HD4870 videocard

I think the manager fixes installation issues. I had none of those, i think.

Arboris · Sat 02/05/2009 21:24:14

it also helps you to install the patches correctly, manually i would get a black/white screen with garbled stuff in it when i tried to run red alert after I installed it. And then it would ultimatly crash back to the desktop. When using this tool step by step (first only install the game, then only install the first patch then only install the lastest patch, so i runned it 3 times) and now it works perfectly.

AtheistChase · Sat 02/05/2009 22:28:20

Quote from: Arboris on Sat 02/05/2009 21:24:14
it also helps you to install the patches correctly, manually i would get a black/white screen with garbled stuff in it when i tried to run red alert after I installed it. And then it would ultimatly crash back to the desktop. When using this tool step by step (first only install the game, then only install the first patch then only install the lastest patch, so i runned it 3 times) and now it works perfectly.

Ah, i see. I will try this later.

EDIT: It launched. The intro video was slow motion for some reason, the sound was corrupted. And after a few seconds gameplay it crashes.
When put on Win95 compatibility, it doesn't launch at all.
But lots of thanks for getting me this far.

Hudders · Sat 02/05/2009 23:14:20

How many processors / processor cores does your machine have?

AtheistChase · Sun 03/05/2009 00:07:47

Quote from: Hudders on Sat 02/05/2009 23:14:20
How many processors / processor cores does your machine have?

Dunno.
One?