Unofficial Tex Murphy

So, I've got a laptop running Windows XP Pro with a P4 1.8Ghz processor, 256MB RAM and more hard drive space than I can reasonably use for a work laptop, and I figured what else to do but install some of my favourite old games on it?

So, I installed the DVD version of Overseer (just to carry one disk in the laptop case instead of 5), and I installed DVD Express and the 1.04 patch, and installed it all in Win95 compatibility, but run it without any compatibility settings. It's running in 800x600, widescreen, with bilinear, trilinear and mip-mapping all enabled, and it was running great, apart from the "Error: This error has no information" error message I've seen others post about when running on XP.

Anyhow, smooth sailing for everything until I got to the Anasazi Ruins. I can gather all but one of the stones in the ruins. The last stone, with the snake, is where I encounter a problem. I set up the trap, and when I click on the snake to set the trap, I cut to the FMV of the snake getting trapped in the box, and then for a brief instant I get the "Going to Anasazi Ruins" loading screen, but then crash out of the application with a Windows memory error. I can provide the exact error when I get back to the laptop, but it's of the generic "Memory could not be READ" kind of errors. The only thing I haven't tried yet is changing around resolutions, but does anyone have any other recommendations, or perhaps could point me to a save file out there somewhere that exists immediately following the acquisition of the final brick for the gods puzzle?

So, I found me a workaround. I started the game with the CDROM version, got past the problem point, saved the game, and then restarted from the save point with the DVD version. Problem avoided! It also worked for Bosworth Clark's lab. I don't yet know how often I'll encounter the problem from here on out, but if it's too persistent, I think I'll be able to deal with the disk swapping and interlaced video...

Interesting...I might try that. I've got the same seemingly insurmountable trouble down the road a bit in the game.

The problem you're having with crashing in the Anasazi Ruins sounds like the same problem that has been occurring when trying to attach the pole to the chandelier in Gideon's Gallery. And there is a fix for that; start the game and go to the config section and click on the Audio tab. Now mute the MIDI sound, and go back to the point to just before where the crash occurred and try it again. Once you're beyond the point where it crashed, you can go back and un-mute the midi. Give it a try!

Nilo

Using the CD worked for me! Of course, I was saddened to have finally removed the shrink wrap from the CD's, which had remained after all these years of using only the DVD...I feel like I've violated something pristine...

Nilo, I'll try muting the MIDI next time. I realize that I've never actually heard the MIDI in Overseer. Is it any good?

I tried muting the MIDI, to no avail...As for unsealing the CDs, since I hadn't had a DVD drive when I purchased the game, mine were already open. I'll keep that in mind as a solution later on, though. Thanks!

Here's another solution:

1. Reformat the hard disk with something other than XP - say...98SE
2. Remove the XP installation CD from the jewel case
3. Go down to the basement and find something hard
4. Smash the CD as hard as possible until the disk is nothing but a few harmless shiny scraps.

It worked for my friend, what can I say?

Emphatically put my, friend, and positively the best solution to be offered!

Nilo

Actually, I had more trouble with it on my other laptop, which had Win98SE. No problems running the CD version on either platform, but the DVD version, apart from the problem mentioned above, has been far better behaved on the XP platform for me...