Spore FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Having problems with Spore? Don’t panic! Have a read through the following issues and see if they help. If you can’t find the answer your looking for then you’ll need to try the
Support Centre and then contact the Support team if you can’t find your answer.
Please be aware that you follow any instructions below at your own risk. If you are unsure about anything then please contact the
Support Team for further assistance.(You can find a contact phone number in the back of your Spore manual) If they are unable to assist you then you will need to contact your PC manufacturer or a qualified I.T. Technician for further assistance.
The Spore disc won’t read in my DVD Drive
- Are you using a DVD Drive?
The game Spore is provided on a DVD-Rom. You must ensure you are using a DVD-Rom/DVD-RW drive to read the disc.
- Try copying to a folder on your Hard Drive•
Check to see if there are any scratches, fingerprints, or marks of any kind on the disk surface. Something even as small as a piece of hair or a very light scratch can cause this error. If you find any fingerprints or debris try cleaning the CD or DVD with a soft cotton cloth.
• If you do not find any scratches, fingerprints, or marks of any kind on your CD, try renaming the InstallShield folder:
1. Double-click the My Computer icon.
2. Double-click the C: drive.
3. Double-click the Program Files folder.
4. Double-click the Common Filesfolder.
5. Right-click the InstallShield folder and select Rename.
6. Rename the folder as InstallShieldOld.
7. Start the installation again to reinstall the InstallShield components with the newest version.
• If the above does not work, try these
CD/DVD troubleshooting steps to prevent read errors.
• Also, if you have any virus protection programs like Norton or McAfee, temporarily disable them by right clicking on the icon in your system tray in the lower right corner of the desktop and selecting "Disable" or "Exit". Also be sure to
end all background programs before attempting installation.
• If you have Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 2000, try running the installation for the game using the
Program Compatibility Wizard.
• If the previous steps did not work, and you have 6 GB of harddrive space available, you can try copying the disk files to your hard drive and installing without the CDs. Make sure to follow the steps below exactly as they read, or else the installation may not work.
For the DVD version:
1. Insert the DVD into the DVD-ROM drive. Exit the startup menu when it comes up.
2. Double-click the My Computer icon.
3. Right-click the DVD-ROM drive icon (with the game DVD) in it and select Explore.
4. Hold down the CTRL key and press A key. (This should select all the folders and files.)
5. Then hold CTRL key and press the C key. (This will not look like it does much, but it's preparing to copy the files.)
6. Close that folder and go to your Desktop.
7. Right-click anywhere on the Desktop (EXCEPT on an icon) and select New, then Folder.
8. Name the folder Spore DVD.
9. Double-click the Spore DVD folder.
10. Hold down the CTRL key and press the V key. (This will begin copying the files from the DVD.)
11. Once the files are copied, remove the DVD from the drive.
12. Double-click the Setup icon in the folder. (You may delete the Spore DVD folder once the installation is complete.)
For more assistance with DVD-Rom reading issues, try
this site
I can’t connect to the Spore server
- Server issues
Sometimes the servers are down for maintenance or are experiencing problems. If you find that you suddenly cannot connect when you could before it may just be a matter of waiting for the servers to come back online. In these situations you can continue to play the game offline until they are back. If after some time you still cannot connect then try the following suggestions:
When troubleshooting online connections, you should keep in mind that you are not only dealing with your home network, but also your Internet Service Provider's series of networks. Also be aware that there can be a number of routers that your connection will pass through in order to reach the game server.
Information transferred on the Internet is handled by shuttling bits of information, known as packets. For example, when you visited this web page, all the parts of the page were passed from the webpage server, through your Internet Service Provider's network, into your home network, and finally to your computer, all in packets. Downloading information from the internet is simply a matter of passing packets back and forth between your computer and a server through a series of networks. If these packets fail to reach their destination, you receive errors concerning your connection. Many high-speed modems have no minimum specified packet size for outbound packets. When given a smaller packet, a correctly configured router will pad the packet to an acceptable size, and then will pass the information along. In the case of the older Internet router code, these packets may not be padded and can be discarded or corrupted before continuing along to the game server. The information passed through your modem to our servers may be corrupted or discarded - resulting in lost information, disconnects, lag, and other problems. Here is a short list of some of the things that can stop you from connecting.
•
Firewalls
Software firewalls on systems and hardware firewalls on routers will prevent your computer from connecting to our server.
•
Routers
Some routers have certain settings that can interfere with the transfer of packets.
•
Server outages
Occasionally servers will experience an outage. Typically an outage can last from 24 to 48 hours.
•
Internet security software
Internet security software will block or filter information that may be vital for the software to run.
Typically connection issues are caused by one or more ports being blocked by a firewall, router, or even your Internet Service Provider to help maintain security. These ports are the doorways used to send and receive information between your computer and the server. You must configure your router/firewall to have the game's ports open in order to connect to the servers properly. You may also need to contact your Internet Service Provider to ensure that these ports are opened as well. TCP ports:
I’ve installed Spore but it won’t play on my PC
- Does your machine meet the minimum requirements?
To find out if your computer can play Spore you will need to run the “Will it run?” tool which can be found
here!
- Do you have the latest drivers installed for your PC?
Drivers is a term used to describe the software that controls each of the seperate parts of your PC. The most common drivers control your video card, your sound card, and your motherboard.
Today's games require that your drivers are compatible with the version of DirectX that the game uses. It is therefore necessary to update the drivers on your PC from time to time, in order to keep your PC upto date.
Updating drivers is a simple process, normally involving downloading the updates from your manufacturer's website.
If you know what video card and sound card you PC contains, a list of current drivers for the most popular components is available
Click Here. Please note that this list is provided for your convenience only - if you cannot find any information relevant to your system, please contact your PC manufactuer for assistance.
If you do not know what video card and sound card your PC contains, please
Click Here for further advice.
My serial number doesn’t work or is misprinted
- Contact support
If your serial number doesn’t work or is misprinted you will need to contact the support team for a replacement. You can do this online though the
Support Centre or over the phone (contact details can be found in the back of the Spore manual).
How do I launch Spore?
If you are using Windows Vista then you can launch Spore by double clicking the
Spore icon in the Games Explorer (
Start > All Programs > Games > Games Explorer). Alternatively, you can start Spore by double clicking the
SporeApp.exe that can be found in the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\SPORE\Sporebin.