Trouble downloading EQ2 onto a Vista computer

[Karysma1]

<p>Hey!  I have a question.  *Warning... I am just this side of completely computer illiterate... but here goes!*</p><p>I just got a new computer - HP Elite with Vista.  I am trying to download EQ2 onto it but am coming up a little lacking in skills.  </p><p>I have McAfee (which is turned off), I tried the scheduler.. but realized that I do not yet have an EQ2.exe file to select.  </p><p>I have tried putting in my old CD, but it doesn't recognize it properly.  </p><p> I have tried downloading from the website from the "Get the Game".. and then "Reinstall EQ2".  When I do this I get as far as the SOE box - Scanning for updates.  When it gets to 'Loading Graphics'... it gives me a message saying <u>Window: "Everquest 2 LaunchPad" Images could not be loaded.</u>  I have tried to uninstall and restart the process, but I get the same result.</p><p>Not sure what I have done, but I just got the machine yesterday so I haven't had too long to do much of anything... lol!</p><p>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!</p><p>Karysma  <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Elorah]

Hmm.  With Vista, you need to run the program as admin...  Try that and see if it helps.

[Karysma1]

<p>I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about... lol!</p><p>... How might I run a program as an admin?</p><p> Karysma  <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>*Thanks thanks thanks for the suggestion!*</p>

[Rench]

Right click on the shortcut or program (wherever your launching it from) and choose run as admin. Also, somewhere in the options under properties (when you right click the icon) you can change it to always launch as admin so you don't have to right click every time and run as admin (compatibility tab, near bottom, checkbox for run as admin).

[Karysma1]

<p>Genious!!</p><p>Thanks guys for the suggestions/assistance!  I have now made it all the way to the launchpad!</p><p>Thanks!!</p><p>Karysma</p><p><img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>If you run into any other problems when trying to complete the download then you may want to run through the rest of these steps as well.  These are the steps I recommend for configuring the game to work with Vista.</p><p>1. Right click on the program launch icon2. Left click on "Properties".3. In the new window that pops up click on the "Compatibility" tab.4. In the "Compatibility Mode" area check the box next to "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"5. In the drop down list make certain that "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)" is selected.6. Under "Privilege Level" make certain that the box next to "Run this program as administrator" is checked.7. Click on "Apply" then click on "Ok".8. Double click on the program launch icon.</p><p>If this did not fix your issue, or have any further inquiries, please contact us again.</p>

[Erronsi]

<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It appears<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I have encountered this same problem, one similar at least</span></span></span>, and I have followed all instructions in this thread. I have run as admin, compatible with service pack 2, disabled UAC, and disabled antivirus. My station launcher displays updating, but all that seems to change is the approximated time not the % downloaded. I do not believe after one hour of this the updates would still be at 0%, unless I am mistaken. Does anyone have advice on where to go from here?</p>

[Erronsi]

<p>ah nevermind, it looks like I got it running.</p>

[Adamma 2]

<p>I recently bought a New Dell Laptop Precision 4300 running Vista.</p><p>I downloaded the eq2-us.zip file that expanded ok onto the desktop, Loading the Everquest2 startup icon.</p><p>When I click on it to launch the installer and download the game proper it gets as far as "Loading Graphics" and error's out</p><p>the window that pops up reads </p><p>Window."Everquest II LaunchPad" images could not be loaded.</p><p>and the only option i'm given is to click the OK button and the launcher quits.</p><p>I even bought another digital download thinking maybe it would work better and I didn't get a download option after it ran my credit card. I'm in Georgia s your Phone Tech Support isn't available to us east coast folks till 1:00 PM our time.</p><p>Please post a work around.</p><p>thanks</p><p>Adamma</p>

[Adamma 2]

<p>I forgot to mention I tried running the compatibility as windows XP service pack 2 and running it as an administrator as well no dice.</p><p>Adamma</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p><cite>Adamma 2 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I forgot to mention I tried running the compatibility as windows XP service pack 2 and running it as an administrator as well no dice.</p><p>Adamma</p></blockquote><p>When you say that you are running as administrator, how are you doing so?  Did you click the check box in the compatibility menu or are you actually starting the game by right clicking and selecting 'run as admin'.  The right click then run as admin step is what you will need to do at this point if you aren't already.  The error you're describing basically means that the computer was able to download the files but the computer will not allow the game to install the updates.</p>

[Erronsi]

<p>Okay I posted about a day ago probably, and then responded and said I was fine. Well I got the game to update to about 4-6% every time but it fails because of some error. So I have brought out my lap top with xp installed, and download everything with no problem. I have tried all aforementioned techniques in this thread and need assistance. Thanks. Just as a reference point, it takes me about five hours to download 2-4%, while on the laptop it has been running for 20 minutes and is up to 30%. The hardware on my desktop exceeds the laptop drastically, so that is not the problem. Only difference is I have vista on the desk top.</p>

[Wingrider01]

<p><cite>Erronsing wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Okay I posted about a day ago probably, and then responded and said I was fine. Well I got the game to update to about 4-6% every time but it fails because of some error. So I have brought out my lap top with xp installed, and download everything with no problem. I have tried all aforementioned techniques in this thread and need assistance. Thanks. Just as a reference point, it takes me about five hours to download 2-4%, while on the laptop it has been running for 20 minutes and is up to 30%. The hardware on my desktop exceeds the laptop drastically, so that is not the problem. Only difference is I have vista on the desk top.</p></blockquote><p>It is a security setting on the Vidta box. You have a couple of choices</p><p>1. Disable UAC - NOT recommended, the game will run with th UAC on when the security is configured properly. Disableing the UAC turned off a lot of the security functions of Vista, and it can affect your malware/anti-virus system depending on which it is and how the vendor wrote it. If you use this method, it is at your own risk.</p><p>2. Install the station launcher and eq2 program outside of the ..Program files directory. Vista's security model handles this directory differently for heightened protection. I have a directory on my data drive named ..gamessoe under that I installed the new station launcher and the everquest 2 game. This method gets the game and the launcher outside of the control of the UAC.</p><p>Have been running all of SOE's games using method 2 on Vista Ultimate since before the OS was released to the public. Have had very few issues with this that can be attributed to the OS and it's security model. Another performance enahncer would be to exclude the game directory from the real time scanning of your AV.</p>

[Erronsi]

<p>I disabled the uac already and I don't seem to have any security problems as far as I can tell, but I do have a question about your number 2. Where did you place this games file? Is it the same as the folder with games such as purble place and other stock games that came with vista? Or did you just create a folder in the local disk all on its own?</p>

[erronsing]

<p>I'm the same guy as the original Erronsing. Well I transferred stations files from program files to a new folder on the hard drive parallel to program files. The problem is now everytime I go to update, the station launcher is set on decompressing files in the program files directory even though there is nothing there. I will copy and paste the error below in quotes.</p><p>"There was a problem decompressing the file C:Program FilesSonyEverQuest IIlp_tempambxrt.dll.gz. Please try again. If the problem persists use the Help menu above for more info and help."</p><p>I understand what this means I just don't know where to go from here. Thanks for the help.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p><cite>erronsing17 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I'm the same guy as the original Erronsing. Well I transferred stations files from program files to a new folder on the hard drive parallel to program files. The problem is now everytime I go to update, the station launcher is set on decompressing files in the program files directory even though there is nothing there. I will copy and paste the error below in quotes.</p><p>"There was a problem decompressing the file C:Program FilesSonyEverQuest IIlp_tempambxrt.dll.gz. Please try again. If the problem persists use the Help menu above for more info and help."</p><p>I understand what this means I just don't know where to go from here. Thanks for the help.</p></blockquote><p>Greetings,</p><p>It sounds like your desktop shortcut might be pointing to the wrong location now that you've moved the Everquest 2 folder.  Delete the icon off your destop and then navigate to the new folder you have Everquest 2 in.  Once in the new Everquest 2 folder, right click on the game icon and select 'Send to' > 'Desktop (create shortcut)'.  That will create a new shortcut that points to the correct location.</p>

[slainwizard]

<p>I've got the same problem about the ambxrt.dll.gz, help!</p>

[TSR-KenC]

<p><cite>slainwizard09 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I've got the same problem about the ambxrt.dll.gz, help!</p></blockquote><p>Greetings!</p><p>Have you tried most of what was suggested on this forum so far? Running the launcher as an administrator and ensuring your EQ2 shortcut is referring to the right place (DanielH's last post) would be what we recommend so far - please let us know if you still have trouble after those, though!</p>

[LordWyktin]

<p>I am having the same issue with the launcher (I am using the newest version of the Station Launcher) reporting failure to decompress the same file (ambxrt.dll.gz).  I have examined the directory itself for this file (minus the gz extension), and it does not exist.  I have also run a search on the drive for the file, again no file found.  I have tried to bypass the Station Launcher and launch directly from the EQ2 icon, which gets me to a login screen, however, immediately after entering the login information it reports its inability connect to the login server, suggesting I try again later.</p><p>I am running Windows 7 and I have gone through the circus of setting it to run as administrator.  That is not the problem.  I use no desktop shortcuts, running instead from the taskbar, so no, redirecting the shortcut on the desktop is not the issue either. </p><p>Edit: I have the physical media and installed that way first.  Then, I used the launcher to uninstall the game, assuming it would reinstall and the problem would be solved.  Ironic that even when the game isnt installed, it still cannot seem to decompress the same file to install the game in the first place digitally.  I am at a loss.  This is simply ridiculous.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>Where are you installing the game?  Everything in the program files directory is placed under a higher level of security, so I would advise installing the game to a completely different folder.  Also, what do you have your User Account Controls set to?  That is the specific security feature that will cause this error to occur.  Lowering the security level or disabling the feature entirely will usually clear up the problem.</p>

[LordWyktin]

<p>User Account Settings were set at default for Windows 7.  I tried modifying all settings (to and including disabling UAC), and continued to get the error.</p><p>Next, I created a new directory under C:/Users/Public/Games/Everquest II(similar to the install path used by World of Warcraft and other online games), and the updater now shows the full download.  I am going to reinstall using the TSO physical media and retry the update again.  I will update this post once I know if it is successful and can actually login or if other issues occur.</p><p>Edit 1: Of course, that would be nice if it didn't give me a "You cannot install to the users directory" alert everytime I install.  Attempting a direct C:/Everquest II installation and will test that instead.</p>

[cherush]

<p>i'm having a similar prob w/ my downloader..i downloaded it on my laptop which hs vista and it goes good, no errors..but it opens and just is stuck the SOE screen and goes nowhere...and i did everything suggested, changed the open admin thing an service but i went and downloaded it on my dad's comp with vista an it works.what is my prob here i dont get it! plz help >.<</p>

[Azerack]

<p>My nephew had this problem, got the same error message re: <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> <p >There was a problem decompressing the file C:ProgramDataSony Online EntertainmentInstalled GamesEverQuest IIlp_tempambxrt.dll.gz.</p><p > </p><p >However, it wasn't where EQ2 was installed it was where the Station Launcher thought it was located.</p><p > </p><p >My recommendation (and this worked for my nephew) is to uninstall Station launcher.</p><p >When you re-install it and first click "Everquest 2" it LOOKS like it has found Everquest 2, but it actually has an odd made up path (that starts with ProgramData, btw).</p><p >Instead, click Browse and find where you actually installed your EQ2 game and then confirm that it now has the proper path to your game.</p><p >Once that's done he didn't have a problem and it went to Launch Game after updating and no more error message with that file.</p><p > </p><p >Hope that helps you guys. The Station Launcher is.. well it's okay but it is quirky and needs to go thru a few more bug fixes..</p><p > </p><p >- Colian</p></p>