Hi guys, I really need help with something.

Every time I uninstall, reinstall and attempt to start up my Disney's Dinosaur Action Game and it's just about to go to the main menu, the game automatically goes out of it and straight back to the Desktop. I've gone to the Add and Remove programs list and removed it, but each time I insert the disk, it says its installed when in fact its not.

I just don't understand what's wrong with it. Can you please help me?

 

I know nothing about the game, but how about some specifics on your PC.

Memory
Speed
Operating System, etc.

Is the game compatible with your version of Windows?

 

It may be a compatibility issue. For example, if a game says compatible with Windows ME, that does not mean it will be compatible with Vista. It may or may not be, it's just a matter of luck. I remember I installed a Roller Coaster Tycoon game compatible with Windows XP on a Vista laptop and I had the same issue you have now.

 

Nice avatar, I wonder now where have I seen it before........

Agreed. Check the Operating system needed to run it. You could also just have a defective game.

 

Believe me, I wish it were that kind of a problem. It's done this once before, but I managed to fix it and play it without any problems. The thing is, I can't remember what I did to make it work.

The game is kind of old, over a decade now (nearly 11 years old). It was out long before Vista came walking into the picture. I've played the game on my laptop and it worked perfectly fine when I first installed Vista onto it. Now this year it's just playing up and being a fraggin' asshole.

From what I've learned, it maybe a corrupted file or faulty installation problem. But, the problem is, I can't seem to find a problem with it other than that it just refuses to startup or go to the main menu. And when I uninstall it and I insert the disk, it says it's installed.

 

Well, if you're sure you'd tried running in XP compatibility mode and that didn't fix it, you could always try a different uninstaller, like the Microsoft Windows Installer Clean Up Utility. MS discontinued it, but it's still floating around the net if you google it. Will remove about anything.

 

i hate Vista so much.
My brother in law has 2 computers in his home office. he has one running XP (and virtually any game/program from 2008 and earlier) and just got a Windows 7 machine running the modern stuff.

he refuses to touch my Laptop with Vista on it. and i don't blame him.
i bought old games from GOG.com when i had a XP desktop and now with this Vista machine, it spits out all kinds of errors and headaches.

 

A Virtual Machine environment might be required. It's built into Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate. There's also 3rd party software that will work in the same way.

If the compatibility settings thing won't help, your only real option is the emulation provided by a VM.