Dd needs help with CD Rom game please

[Earlybird]

DD installed a game (Zoo Tycoon 2) on a new Christmas laptop (PC) a few days ago and was able to play the game once.

Today when she tried to play the game, it would not load. She has tried re-booting and re-installing with no luck. The game will not load.

Any suggestions for a very frustrated dd? I'm afraid I'm a numpty, so hoping someone here has a simple solution.

It sounds like an odd one, considering it ran the first time, but if I recall correctly Zoo Tycoon 2 isn't a particularly new game, so it could be a compatibility problem with the (much newer) operating system - I assume the laptop is running Windows 7?

Try running it as administrator and in compatibility mode and see if that does anything. Go into the folder it's installed to, find the .exe that is the game (if there's more than one file with a .exe extension, pick the one that sounds most likely to be the game, if the extension isn't showing, it's one that's listed as an 'application' in the type column), right click it and go into properties. There will be a 'compatibility' tab - tick the box to run it as administrator and from the dropdown, set it to run in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode.

If that doesn't help, report back and I'll have another think.... Does it do/say anything when DD tries to run it, an error message or something, or does nothing happen at all?

Thanks for your advice. DD is trying it out atm.

Yes, we have Windows 7, and yes it is an older game (though a new purchase for a Christmas gift). Tbh, I hesitated to buy it as there is not an updated version (think it is 2008 or somewhere 'round there).

As I said before, I'm such a numpty with geek stuff that I feel apprehensive about changing settings on new laptop to accommodate this silly game. Do we need to restore factory settings for 'normal' non-Zoo Tycoon use of laptop?.

Wouldn't it be funny if this game actually ran 'better' on our ancient laptop? Might give it a try.....

You wouldn't need to restore anything for 'normal' use - compatibility mode does not change anything about how the laptop operates in general, it basically tells the laptop 'treat this program as if you were an older operating system because it's too old to understand you otherwise'. Think about it like speaking up a bit to accomodate an older person who may be a little deaf :o

You could certainly try it on the older laptop, can't hurt!

Success! Either through your good advice or some lucky messing about, the game is now working.

Thanks very much for your suggestions.

Excellent! Glad it works now :)