Freelancer Not Starting At All Help
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Malevolent_Sponge wrote:
Ive installed freelancer in several different locations aswell like in program files and on two other external hard drives (all at a different time)If you do not feel comfortable with RegEdit, then don’t use it. Wicked_Witch’s advice is correct but your “shotgun” style is not well suited to RegEdit.
Have you uninstalled Freelancer? Or just re-installed multiple times?
Something happened early on that made Freelancer fail. It is not all that easy to make Freelancer fail completely, so think back to when you first began to have troubles… what changed on your computer just before you first noticed trouble with Freelancer?
When you re-install, you are installing vanilla Freelancer, right? Not a mod?
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You could alos try to restore your computer via the inbuilt system backup/restoration option.
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Bas that’s never worked for me - ever.
This type of problem has always turned out to be the accounts files for me.
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Ok ill start from the beginning
Ever since i got this comp i hav been able to play FL and Discovery. This is HP p6120a got it last year in November with Windows preinstalled. I had a few graphics issues like writing and words stuffing up and going havok over the screen (anyway i solved it by upgrading the driver on the onboard graphics chip and this was before i got a new graphics card in January so this is most likely irrelevent).This problem only started to happen about 3 weeks ago.
I got problems when ever i logged on like “User Account failed to log on” etc i went searching on the net and tried to find a solution. One day it jus got real bad and it refused to log on at all. So i went onto another account and looked for a solution and the only real easy way out was to delete the account and make a new one. So i jus went ahead and retrieved all my documents through the other account and put them onto a new account. I havent had any account problems and so on all programs work fine except for Freelancer which doesnt start at all.Prevouisly i had FL installed to a portable HDD and it worked fine off that. But when i got probs with the game after making a new account i unistalled if off the HDD. I tried to install it again but into the normal Program files place it installs fine and i restart and all relog in and all everything loads fine no problems and its only when i try to open Freelancer.exe it doesnt do anythin and windows automatically (in the background) files an application error report as like one i hav posted above. Also i have uninstalled all mods and the FLMM and FAM etc, So even with mods activated it doesnt work aswell.
Ok so it doesnt work and all ive done is Uninstall and install again and still doesnt work. Ive gone and downloaded two more compies of Freelancer and they dont solve the issue so theres nothing wrong with the cd.
Also on my very ancient IBM thinkpad which is about 8 years old freelancer installs fine and works although very laggy and im able to play Discovery on that so theres nothin major bout my account gettin deleted.
So i hav gone and done a few reg editing not too much only searched for Freelancer and deleted the entries where there was C:/Program files/Microsoft Games/Freelancer etc and
a few entries from F;/Games/Freelancer (my HDD pathfile)
Installed again today still not working…
Finally i dont want to go to Restore and i know that this wont solve the issue all it would mainly do is take me back to User Account Failing problem and also the comp is used by my parents for work and its been a while since Freelancer Worked properly
Oh and as i mentioned above ive used TuneUp Utilities to clean the registry and and Defrag it also aswell on the C drive
So hope most of this information can help you solve the problem thanks heaps in return -
Malevolent_Sponge wrote:
This problem only started to happen about 3 weeks ago.
I got problems when ever i logged on like “User Account failed to log on” etc i went searching on the net and tried to find a solution. One day it jus got real bad and it refused to log on at all. So i went onto another account and looked for a solution and the only real easy way out was to delete the account and make a new one. So i jus went ahead and retrieved all my documents through the other account and put them onto a new account. I havent had any account problems and so on all programs work fine except for Freelancer which doesnt start at all.Maybe try to think very hard what have changed when this start.
You say that you use the pc from your parents, ask mom or dad what they have changed on it.Did you already try to start in compatible modus to?
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Yea i hav tried to run it in compatibility mode several hundred times not workin
I highly doubt any changes would of been done by my parents they dont do much on the comp except doing emails and internet browsing and word preocessin
They havent changed anythin on this comp
Nah the only thing i see is that causes FL to fail is the account problem i had. -
This definately sounds like the accounts folder is screwed up.
I note that you mention having freelancer previously installed on a different windows user account, the answer to your problem probably lies there, perhaps the accounts folder still exists on the other account and that’s killing the game on launch.
If all else fails, backup all your data and recover your windows installation, your os might be more screwed up than you know if you have a dead user account, stinks of a trojan to me.
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Hmm highly doubt its a Trojan like i scanned my comp several times with McAfee and Avast and no viruses were found.
No the problem i had was a fault in Windows 7 its a bug which is pretty common as ive heard. A few of my mates hav had the same problem too when they upgraded to 7
I contacted Microsoft for a solution and they told me to go to this site
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947215and i was able to fix it in like half an hour.
Its still very strange i can manage to install and play every other application except FL (which is kinda the only thing i do want to play)
Oh and i jus remembered i forgot to mention this may be the important info you need to know of this problem.
Ok after i had made a new account and all and Freelancer refused to install i decided to uninstall and install again and i did the restart thing
When i restarted CHK DSK came up and asked that C drive needed to be checked for consistancy so i jus let it go ahead.
As it was scanning i noticed a whole lot of files where being recovered or i dunno but i noticed that some of thexse files were like Li_fighter_dmg_engine.3db etc and other files which i recognized are part of FL they were being recovered or orphaned.
So yea i hope this helps shed some light into the situation
I dont really want to go to horror situation of restoring the Factory Recovery image settings on this comp. I spose if there isnt much of an easier solution ill jus stick to playing on the old Thinkpad. Kinda works but jus annoying cause the graphics adapter is only like 64mb and really laggy.
Anyway thanks so much for the help so far and early responses -
It is difficult to help you with this one, MS, but the only thing that stands out is a possible rights issue. Files installed in one user profile (ie, desktop) may not be accessible by another – not even to delete or uninstall. It is best to keep programs in the Programs folder for this reason.
For the future, I would recommend a different approach to debugging. Try making one change at a time, keep notes of your changes, and take frequent backups. Try to avoid making a confusing mess out of your computer by changing many different things at one time.
I’m not picking on you – I have been there and done that, too, once upon a time. Experience teaches you quickly to be more methodical.
By the way, when I say that you should “run installers as Admin”, I do not mean being logged in to an Admin account. I mean using one of these methods:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11841-run-administrator.html
Unfortunately, if others use the same computer for work, then the best advice would be to stop messing with it. That goes double for the Registry. I know that is not what you want to hear, but it sounds as though you are the Administrator for this machine, which means that you have a responsibility to the other users. Consider how much trouble could be caused for your users if the computer were to suddenly become inoperable… before you have all of their software and data backed up?
Regarding the ChkDsk experience, that only means that files were open when the computer crashed. If you terminated Freelancer (or Windows) with Ctrl+Alt+Del, then that could cause ChkDsk to have to clean up failed entries. NTFS does a pretty good job of keeping your disk safe, short of a hardware failure. If ChkDisk runs repeatedly, then it could be sign of a failing disk drive. Otherwise, if ChkDisk only runs after you terminate a running program, then it is usually not a problem.
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I think ive tried as much as i can do on this issue
All i can gather up is that Windows 7 refuses to cooperate with some past games.
And i can only see from the report myself is that Freelancer.exe is an incompatible program with windows 7 it may of been caused by an update but oh well. I’ll jus stick to playing FL on Laptop.
Thanks for the help ill do a few small twigs with trying to make it work but ill probably come to the conclusion to move on and try out a few newer games.
A bit sad really Freelancer was the like to first PC game i got and ive loved it ever since and had enjoyed playing on the Discovery servers for the past 3 years but i think ill move on and try out some newer space mmos like JGE (when they decide to release it lol)
Thanks very much for your time and efforts and hope this doesnt happen to many or any others. -
We hate to lose you pal.
I’ll bet that if I come over I’ll find you still have the \My Documents\My Games\Freelancer\Accts folder somewhere on that machine!
But it will cost you:-
1 full day travel and pay @ £300
1 return taxi fare from my house to the nearest rail station
1 return rail ticket to your home town from my home town
1 return taxi fare from your rail station to your house
2 mugs of tea
1 evening meal if it’s after 5pmYou’re looking at around £550!
So instead….
Do the following 10 steps, step by step by painful step, and report back with details and screenshots if you have any problem…
1. Log in on each computer user account, go to My documents and delete the whole My Games folder on all of the computer accounts.
2. Try very hard (i.e. repeatedly, don’t give up on the first failure, try at least 3 times!) to uninstall Freelancer from Control Panel. If it does, great. If it doesn’t don’t worry, if you get the option to remove it from the list of programs then do that.
3. Delete all of your Freelancer folders manually. Be SURE that each and every one is deleted!
4. Open an Explorer and right-click on your
drive, and search for “Freelancer”. If any are found, go find and delete all those folders too. You may not be able to do so unless you are logged into the account that created them! So be sure they are deleted!5. Do the same for all other disk partitions (D:, E:, F: etc) if you have them.
Don’t worry about the registry, leave it alone.
4. Log into the account you want to run Freelancer in.
5. Ensure you are not connected to the Internet, and disable MS Security Essentials if you have them, and disable any anti-virus programs, especially if it’s Symantec or Macafee, (AVG and AntiVir and Avast are usually OK).
6. Install Freelancer. It cannot refuse to install unless your CD is corrupt or you don’t have rights!
7. Copy the entire Freelancer folder (with it in the right Explorer panel, click on it to select it, press Ctrl-C then Ctrl-V), and leave it alone for future use.
8. Start Freelancer and run the SP game for a while
9. Apply the GLS Workaround patch to your Freelancer folder.
10. Start your Internet connection, start an MP game, note your account ID, and see if you get the list of servers. Let us know!
There is another way - give someone here who has Windows 7 Remote Access to your computer for a while to sniff around and try to find your problem.
Good luck pal.
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Freelancer works on windows7, I can vouch for that because I’m using it, it’s not the reason for your problem.
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Nice post, StarTrader!
Note: (6) Install AS ADMINISTRATOR and install INTO THE Programs FOLDER (both for Win7 and Vista – for XP they do not matter).
@Malevolent_Sponge: Don’t take me wrong, I do not mean to discourage you. Many people run Freelancer on Win7. I am just suggesting a more methodical approach… such as StarTrader’s.
Good luck!
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Ok I’ll take your in your brilliant instructions startrader and I’ll try it out after school tommorrow. If this fails to work I’ll post up here again so I can give details of my skype account so that you may see in full detail wat I am getting. I dunno but i think you may be getting the wrong impression it not a problem with installing or running the game. The problem is initiating the game it’s like the game application is refusing to start. I know like I sound a bit like a noob and not following instructions properly but I mayhav caused something on my system to refuse play the game….ah it’s so hard to explain
sorry bout last post I sounded like I was givin up. But this issue is really starting to get on my nerves. I haven’t found any other problems like this so I musta caused this myself when the account got deleted. Anyway it’s getting late but ill get onto fixing this tommorrow thanks very much on your support.
Ps and yes I hav installed on adminstrator as in right click on setup install as administrator option and I hav deleted the my games folder in documents even though there was only borderlands and bioshock in there (which don’t really care bout) -
Malevolent_Sponge wrote:
it not a problem with installing or running the game. The problem is initiating the game it’s like the game application is refusing to start.Right. So the question is, why won’t the game start?
There are many things that will cause Freelancer to crash, but the vanilla game is usually pretty reliable about starting from a clean installation with no saved games.
Common causes for Freelancer to crash:
[olist]
- Bad Saved Game (including Restart.fl)
- Improperly (or incompletely) installed mod
- Mod with ENB Shader on systems that will not run it
- Vista/Win7: Rights issues caused by non-Admin installation.
[/olist]
The last point is more commonly associated with FLMM than with Freelancer, but your initial post showed Freelancer installed on the Desktop. The Desktop is in your profile, which has very different rights than the Programs folder.
So a clean installation, from the CD, into a folder where you have proper rights, with no interfering saved games… that combination should work.
The fact that does not work for you suggests that either your installation or your saved games are causing trouble.
As for following instructions, remember that we cannot see your computer. We may ask you to do something redundant just to make sure that we understand the state of your computer before a next step. As you say, something you did was not correct, so starting from the beginning is the best way for us to help you to make it right again.
Dont’ panic – You are getting good advice in this thread.
PS: You do not have to delete the entire My Games folder. You can delete My Games\Freelancer.
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Yea it should of worked but i hav now followed exactly your instructions Star Trader and they have not worked. I know this is really annoying cause its i know its supposed to work. Could there be fault in a Windows application dll file like rundll32.exe that could cause the problem?
Ok ive come to the point i think i need some remote support with this issue dunno who should do this though…… -
I tell you what you could try, click start and type freelancer in the search box, if you have a saved game folder hiding on another account that may well find it. It should show you any folder existing on the machine under that name.
If you see any after you have uninstalled freelancer and FLMM then delete them all.
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Yes Mal, very frustrating, and the best thing is if someone here who has WIndows 7 experience can connect to your machine via Remote assistance connection and take a direct look at the machine and folders.
Can anyone do this for Malevolent Sponge?
Heheheh - that’s a mouthful to type!
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I sent him a PM but have not heard back from him.
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