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Running the CD or DVD versions of Captain Claw on Windows XP. 1) Are you trying to run the DVD version of Captain Claw on Windows XP but are having no success? 2) Do you want to run Captain Claw (either the CD or DVD versions) under a Windows XP User account but cannot get it to work? 3) Do you get the error ?Insert the CD?? even though it is inserted? If you use Windows XP and answered yes to any of the above questions then your answer might be within this post. The intention of this post is to provide instructions that should enable Captain Claw to run on Windows XP. Under Windows XP, the only configuration that might not need a fix is if both of the following are true: 1) You run Captain Claw under an Administrator account and 2) You have the CD version. With Windows XP, the DVD version requires a fix under all circumstances. Captain Claw is one of those games that were designed for Windows 95/98. Monolith does not support other operating systems for this game. How to enable Captain Claw (DVD or CD) to work under a User or Administrator account in Windows XP Home or Pro. An Administrator needs to perform the following: 1. If Captain Claw is not already installed, then install it. 2. If the version is prior to version v1.2, then download and install the v1.2 update (version 1.3 is ok). There is a link to the v1.2 update on the www.captainclaw.com homepage. Note: The updates will only work with the CD or DVD versions. For the DVD version, perform the following: 1. Click the Windows XP Start button then click Run. 2. Type in REGEDIT. Click OK. 3. Open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SOFTWARE, Monolith Productions, Claw, 1.0 tree. 4. Right click on 1.0, point at New, then select "DWORD Value". 5. Name the new value "Disable DVD Movies" without the quotes. Press Enter. 6. Double click "Disable DVD Movies" and enter a value of 1 (that is, the number one). Click OK. 7. Close Regedit. For use under a Windows XP user account, perform the following: 1. Click the Windows XP Start button then click Run. 2. Type in REGEDIT. Click OK. 3. Open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SOFTWARE, Monolith Productions, Claw, 1.0 tree. 4. Right click on 1.0 then select Permissions. 5. Select the Users group. (For XP Pro, there is a Power Users group but Power Users can already modify the keys. Make sure that you have selected the Users group and not the Power Users group.) 6. Under "Allow" click to place a checkmark next to "Full Control". Click OK. 7. Close Regedit. 8. Click the Windows XP Start button then click Run. 9. Enter, without quotes, "CACLS C:\GAMES /T /E /G USERS:C ". Select OK. If Captain Claw is asking for the CD/DVD even when it?s inserted then perform the following: 1. Ensure your version is at least v1.2. If not, then download the v1.2 update (or the v1.3 beta if so desired). 2. Click the Windows XP Start button then click Run. 3. Type in REGEDIT. Click OK. 4. Open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SOFTWARE, Monolith Productions, Claw, 1.0 tree. 5. Right click on 1.0, point at New, and then select ?String Value?. 6. Name the new value ?CDROM Drive? without the quotes. Press Enter. 7. Double click ?CDROM Drive? and enter the drive letter of the DVD or CD drive that is used to play Captain Claw. Only enter the letter. Don?t enter the colon or the backslash. 8. Click OK. 9. Close Regedit. You are through! Have fun! Note: If CLAWADV.EXE needs to be run, a WinXP administrator will have to run it. A user cannot run it even with the above changes. What do the above procedures do? 1) For the DVD version, disabling DVD movies allows cutscenes to work. This basically makes the DVD version work just like the CD version (that is, the CD cutscenes are used vice the DVD cutscenes). The DVD cutscenes can be played outside of Captain Claw with a software DVD player, such as WinDVD or PowerDVD, at any screen resolution and bit depth. (They are in the ?MOVIES? directory on the DVD. The CLAW.FEC file contains the CD cutscenes but cannot be played outside of Captain Claw.) Alternatively, enabling Win95 640x480x256 compatibility works with Captain Claw v1.1 but not with Captain Claw v1.2. 2) For a Windows XP User account, permission is given to allow the user to modify keys in the ?HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Monolith Productions\Claw\1.0? area. Normally, Winodws XP (and Win2K) only allows users to modify registry keys in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER area. Permission is also granted to allow users to change files in the c:\games folder and subfolders. This allows the user to change the c:\games\claw\claw.usr file and also allows WAPWORLD and PORTAL to run (although PORTAL seems to be useless). If the user cannot change the claw.usr file, then their progress will not be recorded and they will always be forced to start in the same place. 3) CD/DVD problems. Having more than one CD/DVD drive installed in the computer can sometimes cause CD/DVD problems (like the Captain Claw DVD is in the DVD drive but Captain Claw is looking for it in the CD drive). Problems can also arise if the drive letter changes on single DVD/CD drive systems. The new registry entry tells Captain Claw where to look for the Captain Claw CD/DVD. Joe Robb (not affiliated with Monolith, just a user) |