MechWarrior 2: Resource Forum

Hey all. Back again. Something new this time. I've been trying to reinstall vanilla mercs 95 using the same method that worked for me before from MMPD's video, but now the installation freezes and dies during the instalsheild stage. After it does so my only recourse is to restart the computer, because somewhere in the background the installation program stays running, consuming 100% of the CPU and making everything ungodly slow, even though the disk doesn't spin and nothing appears to be happening. I recently installed one of the brand new ATI 4800 series video cards and increased my RAM to three gigabytes, so I think it may have something to do with one or both of those I guess. But I uninstalled it AFTER I put the video card in. It still worked then, just the missions took a long time to load, just as they always did (and which I assumed was because I was operating in 3d mode). I uninstalled the game because I wanted to patch it to it's normal graphics in the hope the missions wouldn't take two whole minutes to load. Mechwarrior2 is still running fine by the way, but I'm expecting GBL in the mail soon and I REALLY hope I can get it to work.

I would point to using MechVM, but I've messed something up with the Mercs-Win installer.
Can you use this method in the meantime?

I really don't wanna'. I don't like DOS.

Please don't tell me a big Clan MechWarrior, carrying a Jade Falcon bloodname and identifying with a brave and important figure in BT history, will shy away from DOS

Anyway, I'll see what I can do about the Mercs-win installer, when I find the time.

I was raised on windows. DOS is dead.

Sorry, can't help you. Can't get the Win95 version to work myself on either Win XP SP3 nor Vista SP1.

I have to echo what skyfaller said.. use the DOS version.. The 95 versions are unstable.
95 versions will install and work for a while but mysteriously stop seemingly randomly.
The only solution for mercs versions that work one minute then stop the next is a format which may or may not work... bottom line it is not worth the trouble.

As for seemingly running background installs.. no idea how to fix that other than grabbing every necessary file off the disc and running it without the installer.
If you must have a 95 version I can provide a file list which you can use to get all the necessary files off the disc without the installer.

That sounds like... a different kind of installer.

I tried it on DOS before but I still had it installed through windows that time. The quality was really terrible.

IIRC, MechVM's Mercs installer creates a hybrid DOS/Win install. It lacks the patches necessary to run the Win version, but perhaps you can get it to work with Köntzä's patch or the hook. My problem is that I really can't get the Win version to work, even when patching an install from the official installer.

One more thing: the DOS version should be quite unaware of any Windows installs. I'd bet you have to run another installer, I think it's located in the DOS directory.