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Useful tips on how to update your drivers.
General information
Which drivers/programs are required?
Which drivers/programs may also be required?
Where can I find hardware drivers?
These websites might be able to assist you with your search. It's also a good idea to check the website of the hardware device manufacturer. Before you begin your search, please be sure you know exactly what hardware you have installed (see here).
Important: If you are using a notebook you should use the drivers recommended by the manufacturer of your notebook. Special hardware is used for many notebooks which differs greatly from that used in desktop PCs. Therefore, only specific drivers available from the manufacturer should be installed.
What are the Specifications of my Hardware?
In order to update drivers for your hardware, you will have to identify the hardware that you have installed (graphics card, sound card etc.) first.
These are listed in your "Device Manager". You can get there as following:
- Click "Start", then "Control Panel".
- Click "System". If this symbol is not there, click "Performance and Maintenance" and then click "System".
- Using Windows 95, 98, ME or Vista, click "Device Manager". On Windows 2000 or XP, choose "Hardware" first and then click "Device Manager".
- You should now see a list (or "tree-view") of your hardware devices.
- If you click on the "+" symbol next to the respective hardware categories (i.e. "Display Adapters"), then the exact name of the devices will be displayed (i.e. nVidia GeForce, ATI Radeon etc.).
- The sound card can be found in "audio, video and gamecontrollers" (click on the "+" next to the hardware category). Typically, these devices are not sound cards: "Audio Codes", "… Gameport", "Legacy Audiodriver", "Legacy Video Recording Device", "Media Controller", "MIDI Port", "Standard Gameport", "Video Codecs". Establish the manufacturer of your sound card (i.e. for "Creative SB Live! Value" – "Creative Labs" would be the manufacturer) and visit their website in order to find the latest drivers (If in doubt, simply do a search on the Internet).
- Unfortunately, there is no easy way to determine which mainboard you have installed. If possible, refer to the receipt you received during purchase or contact the retailer that you purchased your PC from and ask them for details. You could also try finding a label or imprint on your board. In some (unfortunately not all) cases you will be able to receive some information from the "“MS-Info" tool:
- Click "Start", then "Run" (In Windows Vista, just click on the search box).
- Type "msinfo32" (without the quotes) and confirm.
- Wait for Msinfo to open.
- On the right side, you can find the entries "System Model" and "System Type". If you are lucky, then the mainboard manufacturer and the model can be found here (one example: "Micro-Star Inc." and "MS-6566E"). Try searching the Internet for those terms, you might find the manufacturer as well as the required drivers.
Diagnostic tools
If you contact us regarding any technical problems it is essential that we know your system configuration. Therefore, you should always attach the two diagnostic files "Dxdiag.txt" and "Msinfo.nfo" to your email.
In order to create the "DxDiag.txt":
- Click on "Start" in your Windows task bar and then click on "Run" (In Windows Vista, use the search box instead).
- Type "dxdiag" in the text field and confirm.
- The DirectX diagnostic tool will start now; please be patient while it checks your system.
- If the diagnostics process starts but discontinues your system is too unstable to run the game properly. You should download the latest version of DirectX from the Microsoft website and install it. Afterwards you should attempt step 3 again.
- Click on "Save all Information" and select the destination folder where the "DxDiag.txt" file will be created.
- Attach this file to your email.
In order to create the "MSinfo.nfo" file:
- Click on "Start" in your Windows task bar and then click on "Run" (In Windows Vista, use the search box instead).
- Type msinfo32 in the dialog field and confirm.
- The MSinfo diagnostic tool will start now.
- Click on "File" --> "Save".
- Select *.NFO as the filetype.
- Choose a name for the file (e.g. the name of the PC or the current date) and save it to your hard drive.
- Attach this file to your email.
Note that because the file size of the "MSinfo" file can in some cases be relatively large, you may wish to compress it using conventional formats like ZIP or RAR.
Which drivers/programs are required?
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Always apply the Windows updates
Description:
You should frequently update your system for security and stability reasons! The most convenient way would be to use the Windows Update function: Simply click the "Start" Button, and then "Windows Update".
Necessary for the following Ascaron Games:
- Big Scale Racing
- Darkstar One
- Devastation
- King of the Road
- Patrician II
- Patrician III
- Tortuga - Pirates of the New World
- Port Royale
- Port Royale 2
- Sacred
- Sacred Plus
- Sacred Gold
- Sacred Underworld
- The Great Art Race
- Tortuga - Two Treasures
Download: Use the Windows Update function: Click the "Start" Button, then "Windows Update"
Size: Varies.
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Microsoft Windows 2000: Apply Service Pack 4:
Description:
A collection of the most important (essential) patches for Windows 2000. Virtually all Ascaron games will only run under Windows 2000 if you have installed Service Pack 4.
Necessary for the following Ascaron Games:
- Big Scale Racing
- Darkstar One
- Devastation
- King of the Road
- Patrician II
- Patrician III
- Tortuga - Pirates of the New World
- Port Royale
- Port Royale 2
- Sacred
- Sacred Plus
- Sacred Gold
- Sacred Underworld
- The Great Art Race
- Tortuga - Two Treasures
Download: http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/downloads/servicepacks/sp4/
or use the Update function (Click the "Start" Button and choose "Windows Update").
Size: About 130 MB
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Microsoft Windows XP: Apply Service Pack 2
Description:
A collection of the most important (essential) patches for Windows XP, fixing many problems with the operating system. Virtually all Ascaron games will run under Windows XP if you have installed Service Pack 2.
Necessary for the following Ascaron Games:
- Big Scale Racing
- Darkstar One
- Devastation
- King of the Road
- Patrician II
- Patrician III
- Tortuga - Pirates of the New World
- Port Royale
- Port Royale 2
- Sacred
- Sacred Plus
- Sacred Gold
- Sacred Underworld
- The Great Art Race
- Tortuga - Two Treasures
Download: Use the Windows Update function: Click the "Start" Button, then "Windows Update"
Size: About 140 MB
Which drivers/programs may also be required?
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Adobe Acrobat Reader:
Description:
This program is required in order to read manuals in the pdf format ("portable document format"). . If your game box does not contain a printed manual, you might find a .pdf manual on your disc. You can only open it after you have installed the "Adobe Acrobat Reader". Both reading the manual and installing the reader program can usually be done from the Autorun menu.
Even though your manual might not require the latest version, we still recommend downloading the latest version for security reasons.
Necessary for the following Ascaron Games:
All versions with an electronic manual. A version of the Acrobat Reader is included on the game discs, but might be outdated.
Download: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Size: Varies according to version and installed operating system, between 10 and 23 MB
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Ageia PhysX
Description:
These are specialized drivers used for physical calculations in some of our games.
Important: These drivers will be required even if no additional card is installed for the calculation of physics. If you encounter any problems, we recommend downloading the latest Ageia drivers.
Necessary for the following Ascaron Games:
- Sacred 2
- Tortuga - Two Treasures
Download: http://www.ageia.com/drivers/drivers.html
Size: 33 MB
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Microsoft DirectX:
Description:
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of different components and interfaces for multimedia applications. It usually handles video and sound, input devices and sometimes network functionality. Because of the rapid development in hardware and software, it is absolutely necessary that DirectX is always updated to the latest version.
Please note: Microsoft frequently updates DirectX even if the version number does not change (i. e. Version 9.0c)! We therefore recommend downloading the latest version of DirectX frequently (especially if you are encountering problems).
Necessary for the following Ascaron Games:
- Big Scale Racing
- Darkstar One
- Devastation
- King of the Road
- Patrician II
- Patrician III
- Tortuga - Pirates of the New World
- Port Royale
- Port Royale 2
- Sacred
- Sacred Plus
- Sacred Gold
- Sacred Underworld
- The Great Art Race
- Tortuga - Two Treasures
Download: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.mspx
Alternatively: http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1321
Size: Varies, depends on the already installed version of DirectX and the operating system. Usually below 40 MB.
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Microsoft .NET 1.1:
Description:
Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1 is a programming platform which is made use of in some of our games.
Important: Higher version number of .Net are already available. However, they are not always compatible with Net 1.1! The games listed below do require Net 1.1. If .NET 1.1 is not installed then you need to download it from the Microsoft Homepage (it is included in the "Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1 Redistributable Package", the file name is "dotnetfx.exe"). You should also install the "Microsoft .Net Framework Service Pack 1".
Necessary for the following Ascaron Games:
Download: http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=ph;en-us;548
Size: 23 MB (+ 10 MB for the Service Pack)
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Microsoft Windows Media Format (wmfdist.exe)
Description:
This package is necessary for the playback of some video files as they appear during the intro of a game or as movie scenes inside the game. If you encounter any problems with videos, you should re-install the file wmfdist.exe which can be found on your disc.
Necessary for the following Ascaron Games:
- Arena Wars
- Port Royale 2
- Sacred
- Sacred - Plus
- Sacred Underworld
- Sacred Gold
- The Great Art Race
Download: A download is usually not necessary. The installation file "wmfdist.exe" can be found on the game disc.
Size: 4 MB
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Microsoft Windows Media Player
Description:
The Microsoft Windows Media Player is a software for playing digital media (audio and video files).
Necessary for the following Ascaron Games:
The software is not directly required by our games. It can however help to install it, should there be problems with the video playback on your system (examples are faulty colours, box-like effects or no image at all). On systems where some necessary video codecs are not installed correctly anymore, the installation of the Windows Media Player (which automatically installs these codecs) was able to help solve the problem in the past.
The installation may have a positive effect on the following Ascaron Games:
- Arena Wars
- Port Royale 2
- Sacred
- Sacred - Plus
- Sacred Underworld
- Sacred Gold
- The Great Art Race
Download: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/default.mspx
or using Windows Update (Click the "Start" Button and choose "Windows Update").
Size: Varies between 13 and 23 MB, depending on the installed operating system.
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Tagès Copy Protection Drivers
Description:
Some of our games come with the Tagès copy protection. These drivers will be installed by default when you install the game. However, sometimes the provided drivers may cause problems with MS Windows Vista or any other 64bit Windows system. Please install a current version of the copy protection drivers to solve these issues.
Necessary for the following Ascaron Game versions (Please note and match the region information):
- Tortuga Two Treasures (All regions)
- Darkstar One (England)
- Darkstar One (USA)
Download: http://www.tagesprotection.com/5.5.htm or contact us.
Size: Below 1 MB.
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ProtectDisc Copy Protection Drivers
Description:
Some of our games come with the ProtectDisc copy protection. These drivers will be installed by default when you install the game. However, sometimes the provided drivers may cause problems with MS Windows Vista or any other 64bit Windows system. Please install a current version of the copy protection drivers to solve these issues.
Necessary for the following Ascaron Game versions (Please note and match the region and publisher information):
- Sacred Gold (USA - Encore)
- Sacred Gold (France - SG Diffusion)
- Darkstar One (France - SG Diffusion)
- The Great Art Race (Belgium, England, Italy)
Note: If you have copy protection problems with the games Sacred Gold / Underworld then please update the game to the latest version. This should solve the problem.
Latest version: ProtectDisc 6.
Download: Ascaron Download Server.
Size: Below 1 MB.
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