Nix on 28/4/2004 at 03:29

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I had this problem as well, the Dos4GW problem. Bout the only way I could change them was to go into Safe Mode with Command Prompt and delete them via the command line. Then go back into windows and unzip the other file you want to use. You can also rename the file to whatever you want through here if you wish, and that's done by typing

ren [Old Filename] [New filename]


without brackets in case you dont know the commands for the command line.
Now this is if you're running XP. If you're running XP and the above doesnt work, you'll need to boot from your windows XP install CD and go into the recovery console, the real low-level commandline, and delete from there.

Unless someone has an easier solution to help out, this is how I've been able to delete the files.

Omniverse on 6/5/2004 at 14:12

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Here are my specs:

Asus A7V600 Motherboard
Athlon XP 2100+ (running at 1.7GHz) processor
ATI Radeon 9800 128MB video
Sound Blaster AUdigy sound
512MB of DDR333 RAM

Basically, I went through the guide, and fiddled around a bit, and now the game runs fine, so long as I have VESA disabled in the settings for VDMSound. The game will RUN with VESA enabled, but it's absurdly slow. I want the VESA to work because, without it, I can't play at 640x480. Any suggestions?

Hylix Ulyx on 17/5/2004 at 12:27

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To Paul:

I'm going to assume you have Win XP

WARNING: THE PROCEEDING ADVICE IS GIVEN ASSUMING YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR OS, DOS, AND DELETING FILES. IF NOT, DO NOT ATTEMPT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

go to:

Start
Run
In the window, Type: cmd
a dos prompt window will pop up
at the dos prompt, Type: cd c:\sshock
hit enter
*note: type whatever the path is to your system shock folder. for example, if you have sshock on a d: partition, type: cd d:\sshock or cd d:\games\sshock and so on*

now hit ctrl-alt-del
in the task manager hit the tab processes
left click on explorer
click end process on bottom right corner
hit yes when you see the pop up.
do not close the task manager
the desktop should be completely blank, except for the dos prompt
click on the dos window to see your cursor
type: erase dos4gw.exe (or whatever the name of the offending file is, like 1.97 or whatever)
*note: it should look something like this in the dos prompt window:
C:\SShock>erase dos4gw.exe*
hit enter
type: exit
hit enter
go back to task manager
click "File" in the upper left hand corner
click new task
type: explorer
Hit enter

You're done

Do this with all of the instances of dos4gw, or the offending file by typing the path to the folder containing the exe in the dos prompt.

{for example,
if you have another instance of dos4gw in c:\program files\new folder
type: cd c:\program files\new folder,
then when you see:
c:\program files\new folder>
type: erase dos4gw.exe}

Why xp suddenly locks you from deleting or rename certain innane and unnecessary files I'm not sure. It happens alot from what i've seen and read, so you're not alone. Good luck.

Deckard_BR on 18/5/2004 at 14:21

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Ooooookay. I'm already 90% of the way there, thanks to this thread. I did everything except the mouse program (which might be what's doing this), because everything seemed to be normal when I started up.

Until.

So, the game plays perfectly normally (really!) in 640x480, except for a kinda slow mouse cursor until I get outside the healing suite (so, about 10 minutes of play time). Then, the bottom two-thirds of the screen freezes, and the top third turns into an active, but chopped-up representation of the bottom third of the screen. I mean, I'm actually able to pull up the options menu and quit out normally (it's a bit tricky, given that you have to follow the mouse cursor around as it wraps around the area, but I can do it).

Here's the box. It's a homebrew:
Pentium 4 3.0 GHz w/HT
1 GB RAM
WinXP Home SP1
80 GB HDD w/ ~12GB free space
ATi RADEON 9500 PRO 128 MB AGP
CL Audigy2 card

Any ideas on what's causing that? Do I just need to bite the bullet and toss the mouse program on the barbie?

Oh, yeah, I ran into that dos4gw problem, too, but I just specified the actual name of the file (2_0a, IIRC) instead, and no apparent problems. Or IS that my problem? Thanks for any suggestions.

Deckard_BR on 19/5/2004 at 14:17

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Hey. Just updated them this morning, but, when I wrote that, they were 4.3.

I did some tweaking and seem to have corrected that problem myself (I'd forgotten to fool with the EMS/XMS settings on the VDMSound shortcut to CDSHOCK.BAT and the memory settings on the Mok patch EXE). Doing some poking around, I noticed something rather interesting. Under "Compatibility" for the shortcut Properties, checking "Enable basic VESA support" and "Enable low-end CD-ROM compatibility (MSCDEX)" actually DEGRADE performance severely with my setup, so I left them unchecked, and unchecked joystick support, too.

I can now say the game runs 98% optimally. :) Remaining problems:

* I took a CTD while on Level 2. No error message. Guess that means "save frequently."

* All digital sound files cause the CD to spin up, resulting in a five-second freeze every time the game accesses one. Is there any way to avoid this?

* Spyware! One of the linked sites--the one with VDMSound--installed an ad popup on my system (I clicked "yes," like an idiot). In any case, it would popup randomly during the game (and at other times, grrr), forcing the game to switch to the ad. I think I've killed it, but I have a nasty feeling it's connected to one of the Toolkit files, and it may reinstall itself every time I run CDSHOCK.

(ETA: cjb.net's adware installs are really very pernicious--I actually had to do a System Restore to return my system to normal working order. Hell, McAfee flagged it as a trojan. I hope, for their sake, it's just a malicious third-party piggybacking on their bandwidth, and not a conscious marketing decision. Anyway, the answer to "Do you want to install" popups is always NO. Bad Deckard, bad!)