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Eroneouse · 10-09-2008, 01:25 AM

..................Vista Specific and General advice.................

Back up any files before makeing changes to them so you can restore things to how they were if a fix does not work for you.
Ensure you have uptodate drivers links below to the two main driver suppliers for Nvidia and ATI and an Omega driver link too.
Nvidia Driver link > Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers
ATI Driver link > Support Home
Omega drivers Link > OmegaDrivers.net - Home of the ATI & NVIDIA Omega Drivers. Home
AA help, thanks Dragonseed > nHancer - Advanced Control Panel for nVidia Cards

Uninstall completely the creature creator demo if you have it installed, before you install Spore retail release. Manually make sure all the demo files are gone.
Ensure you have the dot net framework programs from microsoft installed at least have dot net 1.1 and 2.0 I understand dotnet1.1 is often not in vista...

1 - Ensure that your firewalls are not interfering For assistance with configuring your software firewall, please contact the manufacturer. I have listed some of the major firewall providers below for ease of use.
Zone Alarm: ZoneAlarm by Check Point - Award winning PC Protection, Antivirus, Firewall, Anti-Spyware, Identity Protection, and much more.
Norton/Symantec: AntiVirus, Anti-Spyware, Endpoint Security, Backup, Storage Solutions | Symantec Corp.
McAfee: McAfee - Antivirus Software and Intrusion Prevention Solutions
Windows Service Pack 2 Firewall: Windows XP home page

2 - Try installing Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Hotfix (KB886903) and see if it helps.
dotnet 1.1 linky >> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

dotnet 2.0 linky >> Download details: .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86)

For some reason I cannot get the SP1 links to work sorry I cant see server. However there is also a service pack 1 dotnet hotfix available from microsoft the last time before now that I looked.

If you are running with dual GFX cards set one to off/disabled.
Ensure resolution for monitor is not above 1600 on either axis.
Clean up and defrag drive before installing.
Some games work much better if the drive they are installed to has quite a bit of free space so if you can then try to make at least 40% of your drive free.
Because of the copy protection it would be wise to remove things like daemon tools as SecuROM may have a problem with them.

If you have thought of a fix feel free to pm me so I can add it to the list, only pm me if you believe you are the originator for that fix please or add your own to the thread

I thought I would go around and compile a collection of bug fixes
so far found by the community, if I forget to cut and paste any
of the originators names I apologise in advance Also these fixes work for some but not for all. I will have another scout about later and see what other fixes I can add to this list.

EAUK_Adroit
Community Representative

Before installing Spore you will need to ensure that the Creature Creator has been uninstalled, you can manually uninstall the game by removing the files and registry keys associated with it. Be sure to follow these steps exactly as they appear to prevent accidental file/program deletion on your system.
Backing up the save files:
1. Click on the Start button (Windows button for Vista).
2. Choose the My Documents folder (Documents for Vista).
3. Right-Click the My Spore Creations folder, then choose Copy.
4. Right-click on the desktop, then choose Paste.
5. Go back to the My Documents folder and right-click the My Spore Creations, then choose delete.
Note: To restore your SPORE Creature Creator progress, simply move this folder back into the My Documents folder.
Delete the game folders (in the default location):
1. Click the Start button on the Windows Taskbar.
2. Click My Computer.
3. Double-click the Local Disk (by default, it should be C
4. Double-click the Program Files folder.
5. Double-click the Electronic Arts folder.
6. Right-click on the SPORE folder and choose Delete.
The Spore Creature Creator settings also needs to be deleted in the Documents and Settings folder. Here are the steps:
1. Click the Start button on the Windows Taskbar.
2. Click My Computer.
3. Double-click the Local Disk (by default, it should be C
4. Double click the Documents and Settings folder.
5. Double click the folder with your Username.
6. Double click the Application Data folder.

If you do not see Application Data simply do the following:

1. Click on Tools from the menu at the top of the screen.
2. Choose Folder Options from the drop down menu.
3. Choose the View tab.
4. Click on the Show hidden files and folders radio button under Advanced settings.
5. Click on Apply and then OK.
6. The Application Data folder should now be visible.
7. Right click the SPORE Creature Creator folder and select Delete.
Next, delete the game registry keys:
1. Click on the Start button.
2. Click on Run.
3. Type regedit in the text field.
4. Click File and then choose Export.
5. Name the file reg_backup and make sure the Export Range is set to All.
6. Click Save you will now be returned to the Registry Editor window.
7. Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
8. Click the plus sign next to Software.
9. Click the plus sign next to Electronic Arts.
10. Right-click on the key named SPORE Creature Creator and choose Delete.
11. Right-click on the key named SPORE(TM) Creature Creator and choose Delete.
12. Click on the minus sign next to Electronic Arts, if there is one present.
13. Click the plus sign next to Microsoft.
14. Click the plus sign next to Windows.
15. Click the plus sign next to CurrentVersion.
16. Click the plus sign next to Uninstall.
17. Right-click on one of the following keys and choose Delete.

{ECEE0279-785F-4CB3-9F28-E69813234BF8} - SPORE Creature Creator Trial version

{8CC42289-E228-4A35-B8A9-015242283BB2} - SPORE Creature Creator Full version

18. Close the Windows Registry Editor.

Delete the uninstall files:

1. Click the Start button on the Windows Taskbar.
2. Click My Computer.
3. Double-click the Local Disk (by default, it should be C
4. Double-click the Program Files folder.
5. Click Tools on the Menu Bar and select Folder Options.
Note: For Windows Vista, if no Menu Bar is shown, click Organize; highlight Layout and click Menu Bar.
6. Click the View tab.
7. In the Advanced settings box, under the Files and Folders menu and under the Hidden files and folders menu, click the button next to Show hidden files and folders.
8. Double-click the Install Shield Installation Information folder.
9. Right-click on one of the following folders and select Delete.

{ECEE0279-785F-4CB3-9F28-E69813234BF8} - SPORE Creature Creator Trial version

{8CC42289-E228-4A35-B8A9-015242283BB2} - SPORE Creature Creator Full version
10. On your desktop, right-click the Recycle Bin and choose Empty Recycle Bin.
SPORE Creature Creator will now be uninstalled from your computer. Now try installing Spore; if you are still getting an error I would suggest contacting Support.

EAUK_Omni
EAUK Staff
http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/....ine=1202745648
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: The Institute
Posts: 2,652
Blog Entries: 7
Cannot Login / Login errors / Server problems
We are aware that many of you are having login problems with Spore. This is being investigated so please bear with us.
** EA Store Customers Update **
Please note, if you purchased the game through EA Store, it’s important you login to the game using the account that you bought the game with. This was automatically registered for you when purchasing the game. So please try logging in with those details.
Thanks
Update!
For those still having login issues I would advise trying the following:
Delete this file: C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\SPORE\Preferences\login.prop
You can then re-load Spore, enter your Email address, Password and then a Persona.

.......................Cant see internet connection..........................

EAUK_Omni
EAUK Staff
EAUK_Omni's Avatar
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: The Institute
Posts: 2,633
Blog Entries: 7
Default
It would seem a firewall is the problem for many of you. A firewall can be either software installed on your PC or can be part of your hardware router. You will need to adjust the settings on these to ensure they are allowing Spore full access to the internet. You will need to refer to the instructions/manuals that came with them to find out how to change the correct settings.

To add to this I have seen a few posts of people saying that completely removing the anti virus and/or firewall has helped them get passed the cant see internet error

The following ty to US forumites...
kmhknight
For those folks who can access the game and single player content, but cannot log in within the game or access the online content of Sporepedia, here is a possible fix for you that worked for me (copied from another thread I made):

Okay guys, this is going to sound weird, but bear with me on this...

I had a problem where once I got into the game I would get the message: "Spore is unable to connect to the internet an the Spore Server. Please check your internet connection blah blah blah...". I could not interface with the Spore server and could only play offline.

I fixed this, and it was not my router or hardware, or drivers or anything else within my PC. It was the game.

So this is the part where you have to bear with me . On the main Spore menu, you have your saved planets and down on the bottom left is the register button, considering you are offline. When you click on "register" it brings up a quick log-in menu and then hits you with the message I put above about no internet connection then shuts the menu down and puts you back at the main screen. Here is the part where you have to be quick and persistant... when the log in menu appears you can see a log in button in the top right of the screen (if I remember right) and then the error message pops up and blocks it (about a 1-2 second delay for the message). If you can catch that log in button before the message pops up, it will let you log in. At least it did for me. Took me about 8-10 tries, but I finally caught it, logged in, and connected to the Spore server.

Now my problem is fixed... and everytime I start the game, I am connected. I know a lot of folks, especially Killalz, had the same problem I did. I am not guaranteeing that this will work for you, but it did for me. I hope this helps you all out... good luck.

Back to Euro forumites...

sink1337
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 4
Found a fix for vista users. Go to root directory /Sporebin and right click on SporeApp.exe and select 'run as administrator'

The following is not a fix but will allow you to play the game, albeit offline till they maybe fix your prob but still...

-DaCana-
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 7
Just press the red X in the upper right corner when it asks to logg in. but after a while, it will be alot more fun with the online part so the game is NOT unplayable, dont missunderstand

Orihuela
Rookie
WSOCK32.DLL missing error is caused by Xfire, try closing Xfire while playing Spore or follow this guide Mass Effect Community - Mass Effect and Xfire

NightOrchid
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 16
Default Problems with reading disk. Try This
Hi Folks
You can try this if your still having problems installing from
DVD, of course the easiest way is to try another internal USB DVD
drive
Create a folder called spore somewhere on your hard drive.
Open up My Computer, R/Click and Explore your DVD Drive.
Ctrl & A to Select all. R/Click.. Copy and Paste into your just
made SPORE folder.
Once all files copied, close MY COMPUTER and open up your now
full Spore folder.
D/Click the setup.exe and install it.
Once done, uncheck, Start Game and Finish installer
insert DVD and do the DVD 1st activation bit.
Delete your made SPORE folder.
There you go.
Hope that works
Cheers
Night

.....................Problems with random crashing?........................

cropper
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 11
Found a "fix" for sporeapp.exe hanging!
I seem to have stumbled across a fix for my sporeapp.exe hanging, and the game never loads. The problem seems to be that spore is having difficulties with my multiple core CPU computer.
When I force spore to only use 1 cpu to load the game, it launches everytime, without sporeapp.exe hanging.

Before I explain what I had to do to get spore running, I will tell you I am using Windows Vista, Intel Core 2 Quad CPU, and 2 NVIDIA 8800 GTS running in SLI mode.
First thing I had to do was turn off SLI mode on my 2 graphics cards. Apparently there is some kind of bug making Spore not function in SLI mode.
Secondly, I made a shortcut on the desktop to sporeapp.exe since Spore installer didn't do this for me. Another bug.

Thirdly, I went into the properties of the shortcut I had created, and in the field that says "Target:", IN FRONT of the directory listed I put the following information : "C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start /AFFINITY 1 ". This changes the shortcut to look like a command prompt, but don't worry, that's ok. Now just run the shortcut. It forces the game to run on 1 cpu only instead of all 4, and the game launches every time.

Again, for reference, my full line in the "target:" box now says : "C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start /AFFINITY 1 D:\Games\SPORE\Sporebin\SporeApp.exe"
D:\games\spore\sporebin is where I told the install to install my game. It's my personal preference, yours may look different.
Give it a shot and let me know if it works for anyone else. This may not work for XP users, I have not tried it.
Good luck All
Cropper

Originally Posted by whitewolf32 View Post
I FOUND A FIX. I think the issue is not with EA, it's with VISTA
built in security.
On a whim, I uninstalled the game completely, I reinstalled, but
specified my own location. I created a folder at the root of my
C:\ Drive called C:\Games (use whatever you want. I left the
installation path, but removed program files from the path and
specified C:\games\gamemaker\spore (whatever it had I replaced
program files with games is all.)
After the install, I created a shortcut to the
spore\bin\sporapp.exe folder and ran the sporapp.exe file. The
game ran and I've been playing with only one stupid bug that
caused me to start over because I hadn't saved... Other than
that, the game is playable for me.

..........................Problem saveing game...........................

LittleRecon
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 3
Default
Well, the problem seems to be resolved for me. As of my last
install, I made sure that I had NO other windows open, no virus
or process scanner running, and I killed any unessential
processes in the task manager. I'm fairly certain it had nothing
to do with the space available on the drive (though if you have
minimal space on your drive I wouldnt rule that out as a cause)
since I didnt make any more room prior to my last install.
If that's indeed what fixed it though, it would be the first time
I've ever had to do that to install a game in 20 years of gaming.
I don't know, maybe it was just a fluke-but I am now successfully
saving and even transferring save games between my desktop and
laptop without a problem. So try closing out everything you have
running in the background and try a reinstall. Oh, and it doesnt
seem to matter if they are running once the install is done.

Lobemonster
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 2
Default Success!
I have fixed this issue for me, this may give a clue to anyone
else stuck with it. I have a laptop networked to my main pc, so i
installed spore on that and made a save, then copied the game0
save folder onto my machine in the correct location and tried to
load it. it worked, and after that successful load i've been able
to save and load as normal. I have no idea why it worked, but it
worked.

DaveArtur
SOLUTION: Lost Saved Games
Spore was taking too long to quit, so I held the power button down on my computer. The next time I ran Spore, it said my saved games were corrupt and that it would attempt to repair. (which it couldn't)
I tried the option of copying my Game0.old to Game0 but Windows Explorer said the directory was corrupt and couldn't be accessed. (I've _never_ seen a game hold such a lock on files that this happens)
Since Spore corrupted a portion of my hard drive, I ran a ScanDisk (being C: I had to reboot and let it scan on startup) and during the scan it found several lost file fragments, all in the "Documents and Settings\Application Data\Spore\Games" folder and fixed them.
When Windows started back up, and I ran Spore, my saved games were restored and working.

........................Black screen crash at startup........................

DetailsInside
Hi, I'm New!
Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1
Possible "Blackscreen" fix
Hi,
I got spore (ea store download) a few days ago.
Got to play it the first day before it decided that it no longer wanted to load.
The screen would go black and the spore cursor would appear and then the spore cursor would appear. It would then crash back to the desktop with a "spore has stopped working" error.
After multiple correspondence with ea support i got nowhere.
Until I read that spore would run if you used a different windows account. Lo and behold it did. I then set about looking for differences in the 2 accounts as to why it would load on one and not the other, and by chance I came accross the Appdata folder. That was the answer to my prayers.

**THE (possible) FIX**
go to : "C:\Users\(your account name)\appdata\roaming"
here i found a "spore" folder and a "spore creature creator" folder.
i think that the "spore creature creator" folder was the problem, so i deleted it.
(i also deleted the spore folder as well so test out whether just deleting the "spore creature creator" folder works before you delete the spore one)
if this doesnt work, i'm sorry and make sure to restore the folders back just in case this wrecks it even more.
you also may not have a "spore creature creator" folder because you never had spore creature creator, in this case just delete the spore folder.
MAKE SURE YOU MAKE BACKUPS!!! (copy/cut the folders to somewhere else)
I hope this helps anyone. ask questions if you need to. i'll be happy to help if i can.

ChazZito
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 3
Default
hey guys, found a way to fix it, if you copy the main files from the disc in
D:\Spore\ (which includes the folders "Data" and "SporeBin")
to your hard drive instead of installing it then it works perfectly.
you can run it streight of the disc if you want but the game will run much faster if you copy it from the disc, i suppose you could even make an image from the Spore DVD to you computer and then run it from that but its just easier to copy it to a folder on your hard drive and play it that way
Hope it works for you too

Setaro2008
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 10
Default
Try finding your Spore savegame folder. I had this problem (on PC) and I found deleting the stars.db (back it up first) file in my Spore save folder fixed the blackscreen crash at startup. (the game merely creates a new working stars.db)
Black screen crash moveing to creature stage.

This one following one I posted myself cut n pasted from spores own help file and also noted by Albull
Ok, serious fix this time.
If you have your resolution set above 1600 on either axis reduce it. I've managed to avoid the crash so far.
I'll update if I get to tribal phase without it dying.

DelboyJay
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 4
OK i've played for 4 hours now and no crashes!!! so that is the problem you MUST install to same drive as windows is installed to (in my case C: ) then all is well and no need to save every 5 mins!

LordZeon Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 7 Default I can confirm that for those of us who crash on startup no matter what you change on your machine, it appears that one fix is to uninstall Spore and copy directly off the DVD the Data, SporeBin, and Support folders into the Spore Directory it will work! You will need to go into the Support folder and run SPORE(TM)_Code.exe and input your CD-key there, but it will work!

Xanru
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 32
I just gauged the effects of this using the Task Manager's "Processes" and watching the Memory Usage, and Rushyo is quite right.
I resumed Spore about 30 minutes ago, and it started at 297,000 K (297 MB) RAM usage. Through simply travelling around, I noticed that go up dramatically. I'm already using 406,000 K (206 MB) RAM usage through just that.
This needs to be fixed immediately. 6 hours of light usage like this would equate to about 700-800 MB of RAM being wasted alone. Add in all the rest, and you're looking towards a wasted 1 GB of RAM after 6 hours. Many of the target fan-base can't afford this. People with 2 GB of RAM with VRAM enabled are looking towards about 10 hours of play before experiencing critical errors.
For the rest of you, until a patch is issued (which I strongly advise to put in high-priority at EA), save and restart Spore every 1-2 hours. This will keep performance optimum and reduce crash rates significantly.

Not so much a fix, but for those experiencing the black-flickering-screen-crash problem while on a creator screen, avoid it almost entirely by limiting your use of Control +Z/Y from your keyboard. You can still use the in-game undo/redo controls however.

DragonRR

THE POSSIBLE and probably temporary FIX:
After reading a few posts about people fixing some CTDs by removing the graphics cache in C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\SPORE I thought I'd fiddle with the in game graphics cache size. So tonight I dropped the cache from 4096mb which is the amount I originally set it to, to 1024mb, exited out of Spore and then ran it again. I should also point out that I chose the graphics default setting and the reset my screen res and put my other graphics settings back to where they were when I ran Spore again. This might be important.

For the first time since I started the Space Stage I managed 2hrs before I saw a crash. At the moment I'm more inclined to think that changing the graphics cache size REMOVED all the existing graphics cache (which might have been corrupt in some way)... which gave me the longer period. This is because when I loaded my game the planets were initially un textured. Of course it's possible that it's just the reduction that caused the longer play period.

Zorbho
Space zoom out crash fix ! Space crash fix-solution!!!
The bug is quite simple,cant beleive EA havent fixed in the patch .... Each colonie have decorative thing that you have put before or that been created automaticly by the game , but the problem is that there is under each city hall like 100 of them , if you multiple by 7 , its a lot and your computer canot manage all that, to remove them it's simple, all you have to do is sell the one around the city hall , then do alt+enter to go in windows mode, and it will take some of the item under the city hall and fill out the spot you just sold.Sell them again and do alt+enter to go in full window mode and it will do the same thing, it will take if some remain , the decorative object under the city hall and put them in the available spot so you can sell them until not a single one remain under the city hall, do that for the 7 colony and your good to go !!! you can zoom and dance and do all you want cause your computer has like 100 less decorativ thing to manage ! i found the solution somewhere else bulalalah i just want to help so i reformulated it ! :-) IT REALLY WORK!

...............Registerd with a different email address ?.....................

Vicissitude
So, final update, problem fixed:
After many (some not very happy) messages to EA tech support, I did end up "talking" to a human being. After being asked for my account info and license key, I was told the problem was that my game was registered to another email address.
Indeed, when I first installed the game, I tried to register a Spore account using one address, but the registration was denied, as the username was already taken.
Thus I made a new address to register another name (I'm obsessive like that... I like to have a matching address to go with whatever I use it for).
Turns out, despite the initial registration being denied, it still registered my game to that address.
Tech support was helpful, once I actually did get in touch with a human being. Though I did notice that after I sent my "not so happy" message (basically complaining about all the problems plaguing the spore launch, the uselessness of SecuROM, and how EA is turning once-loyal customers into pirates), the replies I was receiving changed from being from "Customer Support" to "Player Relations".

Might be nothing, but I did notice it. Maybe sometimes it pays to speak your mind and not just lie down and accept your fate...?

To anybody else who has the "The registration key used to install this game cannot be validated" problem, I would urge you to look into whatever other email addresses that might be somehow linked to your game, even if you don't think it is.
Something related to Creature Creator, perhaps, or Spore itself. Even if you don't think an email is linked to it, if there's a -possibility-, check it out.
I'd dropped my first address, since the name it was created for was already in use. And I just noticed now (hadn't logged into it since) that I got a Spore registration confirmation a day after creating the account.
Bit late... but if I had bothered to check that account again, I could have saved myself a big headache.
If your email isn't the issue... keep at it with tech support. They -will- help you/reply, but it takes a while. My first few messages took two days before getting a reply, and my last one took a whole -five days-. Just keep in mind they must be getting a -lot- of messages. And it's EA's fault for messing up/not hiring enough personnel. Don't take it out on the tech people.
But don't give up hope, hang in there. And good luck.

EAUK_Adroit
Community Representative

You may be getting this error message if you already registered your Spore serial code with another account. If you have already registered Spore to one email address you will not be able to add the same serial number to a second email address.

If you are unsure what account you used to register Spore please use the*Contact Us* link in the Support Centre and submit an incident to our support team, they will be able to check the account that was used.

When submitting your incident, please include the following information to verify the account (the more information you include the easier it will be to verify the account):

· The error message you are getting
· Your email address
· Your serial key you used to install the game with
· Your Spore persona
· Your Date of Birth you used to create the account

................................Cannot start Spore.............................

Pierpaf

Hi, I have installed spore 2 times now and everytime succesfull at the install. Now i try too run the games from program files -- electronics art -- sporebin -- sporeapp because the install doesnt create anything on my start menu and autorun doesnt work either. Then i get this message:
-----------------------------------------------
Could not find the default preferences.
The data directory is missing or corrupt. [1004]
-----------------------------------------------
I click ok then i get :
-----------------------------------------------
Could not find a needed package.
The data directory is missing or corrupt. [1004]
-----------------------------------------------
Everytime a install the game this happen please im i the only one with this problem? Im running this with window vista on a hp dv6000 laptop, dual core, geforce dedicated 8400m 2 gig ram
please someone help

I have created a shortcut to "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\SPORE\Sporebin\SporeApp.exe". And now the game is working. Thats weird but work.

10-09-2008, 01:25 AM	#1 (permalink)
Eroneouse Forum Regular Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: UK Gender: Male Posts: 809	..................Vista Specific and General advice................. Back up any files before makeing changes to them so you can restore things to how they were if a fix does not work for you. Ensure you have uptodate drivers links below to the two main driver suppliers for Nvidia and ATI and an Omega driver link too. Nvidia Driver link > Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers ATI Driver link > Support Home Omega drivers Link > OmegaDrivers.net - Home of the ATI & NVIDIA Omega Drivers. Home AA help, thanks Dragonseed > nHancer - Advanced Control Panel for nVidia Cards Uninstall completely the creature creator demo if you have it installed, before you install Spore retail release. Manually make sure all the demo files are gone. Ensure you have the dot net framework programs from microsoft installed at least have dot net 1.1 and 2.0 I understand dotnet1.1 is often not in vista... 1 - Ensure that your firewalls are not interfering For assistance with configuring your software firewall, please contact the manufacturer. I have listed some of the major firewall providers below for ease of use. Zone Alarm: ZoneAlarm by Check Point - Award winning PC Protection, Antivirus, Firewall, Anti-Spyware, Identity Protection, and much more. Norton/Symantec: AntiVirus, Anti-Spyware, Endpoint Security, Backup, Storage Solutions \| Symantec Corp. McAfee: McAfee - Antivirus Software and Intrusion Prevention Solutions Windows Service Pack 2 Firewall: Windows XP home page 2 - Try installing Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Hotfix (KB886903) and see if it helps. dotnet 1.1 linky >> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en dotnet 2.0 linky >> Download details: .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86) For some reason I cannot get the SP1 links to work sorry I cant see server. However there is also a service pack 1 dotnet hotfix available from microsoft the last time before now that I looked. If you are running with dual GFX cards set one to off/disabled. Ensure resolution for monitor is not above 1600 on either axis. Clean up and defrag drive before installing. Some games work much better if the drive they are installed to has quite a bit of free space so if you can then try to make at least 40% of your drive free. Because of the copy protection it would be wise to remove things like daemon tools as SecuROM may have a problem with them. If you have thought of a fix feel free to pm me so I can add it to the list, only pm me if you believe you are the originator for that fix please or add your own to the thread I thought I would go around and compile a collection of bug fixes so far found by the community, if I forget to cut and paste any of the originators names I apologise in advance Also these fixes work for some but not for all. I will have another scout about later and see what other fixes I can add to this list. EAUK_Adroit Community Representative Before installing Spore you will need to ensure that the Creature Creator has been uninstalled, you can manually uninstall the game by removing the files and registry keys associated with it. Be sure to follow these steps exactly as they appear to prevent accidental file/program deletion on your system. Backing up the save files: 1. Click on the Start button (Windows button for Vista). 2. Choose the My Documents folder (Documents for Vista). 3. Right-Click the My Spore Creations folder, then choose Copy. 4. Right-click on the desktop, then choose Paste. 5. Go back to the My Documents folder and right-click the My Spore Creations, then choose delete. Note: To restore your SPORE Creature Creator progress, simply move this folder back into the My Documents folder. Delete the game folders (in the default location): 1. Click the Start button on the Windows Taskbar. 2. Click My Computer. 3. Double-click the Local Disk (by default, it should be C 4. Double-click the Program Files folder. 5. Double-click the Electronic Arts folder. 6. Right-click on the SPORE folder and choose Delete. The Spore Creature Creator settings also needs to be deleted in the Documents and Settings folder. Here are the steps: 1. Click the Start button on the Windows Taskbar. 2. Click My Computer. 3. Double-click the Local Disk (by default, it should be C 4. Double click the Documents and Settings folder. 5. Double click the folder with your Username. 6. Double click the Application Data folder. If you do not see Application Data simply do the following: 1. Click on Tools from the menu at the top of the screen. 2. Choose Folder Options from the drop down menu. 3. Choose the View tab. 4. Click on the Show hidden files and folders radio button under Advanced settings. 5. Click on Apply and then OK. 6. The Application Data folder should now be visible. 7. Right click the SPORE Creature Creator folder and select Delete. Next, delete the game registry keys: 1. Click on the Start button. 2. Click on Run. 3. Type regedit in the text field. 4. Click File and then choose Export. 5. Name the file reg_backup and make sure the Export Range is set to All. 6. Click Save you will now be returned to the Registry Editor window. 7. Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. 8. Click the plus sign next to Software. 9. Click the plus sign next to Electronic Arts. 10. Right-click on the key named SPORE Creature Creator and choose Delete. 11. Right-click on the key named SPORE(TM) Creature Creator and choose Delete. 12. Click on the minus sign next to Electronic Arts, if there is one present. 13. Click the plus sign next to Microsoft. 14. Click the plus sign next to Windows. 15. Click the plus sign next to CurrentVersion. 16. Click the plus sign next to Uninstall. 17. Right-click on one of the following keys and choose Delete. {ECEE0279-785F-4CB3-9F28-E69813234BF8} - SPORE Creature Creator Trial version {8CC42289-E228-4A35-B8A9-015242283BB2} - SPORE Creature Creator Full version 18. Close the Windows Registry Editor. Delete the uninstall files: 1. Click the Start button on the Windows Taskbar. 2. Click My Computer. 3. Double-click the Local Disk (by default, it should be C 4. Double-click the Program Files folder. 5. Click Tools on the Menu Bar and select Folder Options. Note: For Windows Vista, if no Menu Bar is shown, click Organize; highlight Layout and click Menu Bar. 6. Click the View tab. 7. In the Advanced settings box, under the Files and Folders menu and under the Hidden files and folders menu, click the button next to Show hidden files and folders. 8. Double-click the Install Shield Installation Information folder. 9. Right-click on one of the following folders and select Delete. {ECEE0279-785F-4CB3-9F28-E69813234BF8} - SPORE Creature Creator Trial version {8CC42289-E228-4A35-B8A9-015242283BB2} - SPORE Creature Creator Full version 10. On your desktop, right-click the Recycle Bin and choose Empty Recycle Bin. SPORE Creature Creator will now be uninstalled from your computer. Now try installing Spore; if you are still getting an error I would suggest contacting Support. EAUK_Omni EAUK Staff http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/....ine=1202745648 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: The Institute Posts: 2,652 Blog Entries: 7 Cannot Login / Login errors / Server problems We are aware that many of you are having login problems with Spore. This is being investigated so please bear with us. EA Store Customers Update Please note, if you purchased the game through EA Store, it’s important you login to the game using the account that you bought the game with. This was automatically registered for you when purchasing the game. So please try logging in with those details. Thanks Update! For those still having login issues I would advise trying the following: Delete this file: C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\SPORE\Preferences\login.prop You can then re-load Spore, enter your Email address, Password and then a Persona. .......................Cant see internet connection.......................... EAUK_Omni EAUK Staff EAUK_Omni's Avatar Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: The Institute Posts: 2,633 Blog Entries: 7 Default It would seem a firewall is the problem for many of you. A firewall can be either software installed on your PC or can be part of your hardware router. You will need to adjust the settings on these to ensure they are allowing Spore full access to the internet. You will need to refer to the instructions/manuals that came with them to find out how to change the correct settings. To add to this I have seen a few posts of people saying that completely removing the anti virus and/or firewall has helped them get passed the cant see internet error The following ty to US forumites... kmhknight For those folks who can access the game and single player content, but cannot log in within the game or access the online content of Sporepedia, here is a possible fix for you that worked for me (copied from another thread I made): Okay guys, this is going to sound weird, but bear with me on this... I had a problem where once I got into the game I would get the message: "Spore is unable to connect to the internet an the Spore Server. Please check your internet connection blah blah blah...". I could not interface with the Spore server and could only play offline. I fixed this, and it was not my router or hardware, or drivers or anything else within my PC. It was the game. So this is the part where you have to bear with me . On the main Spore menu, you have your saved planets and down on the bottom left is the register button, considering you are offline. When you click on "register" it brings up a quick log-in menu and then hits you with the message I put above about no internet connection then shuts the menu down and puts you back at the main screen. Here is the part where you have to be quick and persistant... when the log in menu appears you can see a log in button in the top right of the screen (if I remember right) and then the error message pops up and blocks it (about a 1-2 second delay for the message). If you can catch that log in button before the message pops up, it will let you log in. At least it did for me. Took me about 8-10 tries, but I finally caught it, logged in, and connected to the Spore server. Now my problem is fixed... and everytime I start the game, I am connected. I know a lot of folks, especially Killalz, had the same problem I did. I am not guaranteeing that this will work for you, but it did for me. I hope this helps you all out... good luck. Back to Euro forumites... sink1337 Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 4 Found a fix for vista users. Go to root directory /Sporebin and right click on SporeApp.exe and select 'run as administrator' The following is not a fix but will allow you to play the game, albeit offline till they maybe fix your prob but still... -DaCana- Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 7 Just press the red X in the upper right corner when it asks to logg in. but after a while, it will be alot more fun with the online part so the game is NOT unplayable, dont missunderstand Orihuela Rookie WSOCK32.DLL missing error is caused by Xfire, try closing Xfire while playing Spore or follow this guide Mass Effect Community - Mass Effect and Xfire NightOrchid Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 16 Default Problems with reading disk. Try This Hi Folks You can try this if your still having problems installing from DVD, of course the easiest way is to try another internal USB DVD drive Create a folder called spore somewhere on your hard drive. Open up My Computer, R/Click and Explore your DVD Drive. Ctrl & A to Select all. R/Click.. Copy and Paste into your just made SPORE folder. Once all files copied, close MY COMPUTER and open up your now full Spore folder. D/Click the setup.exe and install it. Once done, uncheck, Start Game and Finish installer insert DVD and do the DVD 1st activation bit. Delete your made SPORE folder. There you go. Hope that works Cheers Night .....................Problems with random crashing?........................ cropper Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 11 Found a "fix" for sporeapp.exe hanging! I seem to have stumbled across a fix for my sporeapp.exe hanging, and the game never loads. The problem seems to be that spore is having difficulties with my multiple core CPU computer. When I force spore to only use 1 cpu to load the game, it launches everytime, without sporeapp.exe hanging. Before I explain what I had to do to get spore running, I will tell you I am using Windows Vista, Intel Core 2 Quad CPU, and 2 NVIDIA 8800 GTS running in SLI mode. First thing I had to do was turn off SLI mode on my 2 graphics cards. Apparently there is some kind of bug making Spore not function in SLI mode. Secondly, I made a shortcut on the desktop to sporeapp.exe since Spore installer didn't do this for me. Another bug. Thirdly, I went into the properties of the shortcut I had created, and in the field that says "Target:", IN FRONT of the directory listed I put the following information : "C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start /AFFINITY 1 ". This changes the shortcut to look like a command prompt, but don't worry, that's ok. Now just run the shortcut. It forces the game to run on 1 cpu only instead of all 4, and the game launches every time. Again, for reference, my full line in the "target:" box now says : "C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start /AFFINITY 1 D:\Games\SPORE\Sporebin\SporeApp.exe" D:\games\spore\sporebin is where I told the install to install my game. It's my personal preference, yours may look different. Give it a shot and let me know if it works for anyone else. This may not work for XP users, I have not tried it. Good luck All Cropper Originally Posted by whitewolf32 View Post I FOUND A FIX. I think the issue is not with EA, it's with VISTA built in security. On a whim, I uninstalled the game completely, I reinstalled, but specified my own location. I created a folder at the root of my C:\ Drive called C:\Games (use whatever you want. I left the installation path, but removed program files from the path and specified C:\games\gamemaker\spore (whatever it had I replaced program files with games is all.) After the install, I created a shortcut to the spore\bin\sporapp.exe folder and ran the sporapp.exe file. The game ran and I've been playing with only one stupid bug that caused me to start over because I hadn't saved... Other than that, the game is playable for me. ..........................Problem saveing game........................... LittleRecon Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3 Default Well, the problem seems to be resolved for me. As of my last install, I made sure that I had NO other windows open, no virus or process scanner running, and I killed any unessential processes in the task manager. I'm fairly certain it had nothing to do with the space available on the drive (though if you have minimal space on your drive I wouldnt rule that out as a cause) since I didnt make any more room prior to my last install. If that's indeed what fixed it though, it would be the first time I've ever had to do that to install a game in 20 years of gaming. I don't know, maybe it was just a fluke-but I am now successfully saving and even transferring save games between my desktop and laptop without a problem. So try closing out everything you have running in the background and try a reinstall. Oh, and it doesnt seem to matter if they are running once the install is done. Lobemonster Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 2 Default Success! I have fixed this issue for me, this may give a clue to anyone else stuck with it. I have a laptop networked to my main pc, so i installed spore on that and made a save, then copied the game0 save folder onto my machine in the correct location and tried to load it. it worked, and after that successful load i've been able to save and load as normal. I have no idea why it worked, but it worked. DaveArtur SOLUTION: Lost Saved Games Spore was taking too long to quit, so I held the power button down on my computer. The next time I ran Spore, it said my saved games were corrupt and that it would attempt to repair. (which it couldn't) I tried the option of copying my Game0.old to Game0 but Windows Explorer said the directory was corrupt and couldn't be accessed. (I've _never_ seen a game hold such a lock on files that this happens) Since Spore corrupted a portion of my hard drive, I ran a ScanDisk (being C: I had to reboot and let it scan on startup) and during the scan it found several lost file fragments, all in the "Documents and Settings\Application Data\Spore\Games" folder and fixed them. When Windows started back up, and I ran Spore, my saved games were restored and working. ........................Black screen crash at startup........................ DetailsInside Hi, I'm New! Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1 Possible "Blackscreen" fix Hi, I got spore (ea store download) a few days ago. Got to play it the first day before it decided that it no longer wanted to load. The screen would go black and the spore cursor would appear and then the spore cursor would appear. It would then crash back to the desktop with a "spore has stopped working" error. After multiple correspondence with ea support i got nowhere. Until I read that spore would run if you used a different windows account. Lo and behold it did. I then set about looking for differences in the 2 accounts as to why it would load on one and not the other, and by chance I came accross the Appdata folder. That was the answer to my prayers. THE (possible) FIX go to : "C:\Users\(your account name)\appdata\roaming" here i found a "spore" folder and a "spore creature creator" folder. i think that the "spore creature creator" folder was the problem, so i deleted it. (i also deleted the spore folder as well so test out whether just deleting the "spore creature creator" folder works before you delete the spore one) if this doesnt work, i'm sorry and make sure to restore the folders back just in case this wrecks it even more. you also may not have a "spore creature creator" folder because you never had spore creature creator, in this case just delete the spore folder. MAKE SURE YOU MAKE BACKUPS!!! (copy/cut the folders to somewhere else) I hope this helps anyone. ask questions if you need to. i'll be happy to help if i can. ChazZito Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3 Default hey guys, found a way to fix it, if you copy the main files from the disc in D:\Spore\ (which includes the folders "Data" and "SporeBin") to your hard drive instead of installing it then it works perfectly. you can run it streight of the disc if you want but the game will run much faster if you copy it from the disc, i suppose you could even make an image from the Spore DVD to you computer and then run it from that but its just easier to copy it to a folder on your hard drive and play it that way Hope it works for you too Setaro2008 Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 10 Default Try finding your Spore savegame folder. I had this problem (on PC) and I found deleting the stars.db (back it up first) file in my Spore save folder fixed the blackscreen crash at startup. (the game merely creates a new working stars.db) Black screen crash moveing to creature stage. This one following one I posted myself cut n pasted from spores own help file and also noted by Albull Ok, serious fix this time. If you have your resolution set above 1600 on either axis reduce it. I've managed to avoid the crash so far. I'll update if I get to tribal phase without it dying. DelboyJay Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 4 OK i've played for 4 hours now and no crashes!!! so that is the problem you MUST install to same drive as windows is installed to (in my case C: ) then all is well and no need to save every 5 mins! LordZeon Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 7 Default I can confirm that for those of us who crash on startup no matter what you change on your machine, it appears that one fix is to uninstall Spore and copy directly off the DVD the Data, SporeBin, and Support folders into the Spore Directory it will work! You will need to go into the Support folder and run SPORE(TM)_Code.exe and input your CD-key there, but it will work! Xanru Rookie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 32 I just gauged the effects of this using the Task Manager's "Processes" and watching the Memory Usage, and Rushyo is quite right. I resumed Spore about 30 minutes ago, and it started at 297,000 K (297 MB) RAM usage. Through simply travelling around, I noticed that go up dramatically. I'm already using 406,000 K (206 MB) RAM usage through just that. This needs to be fixed immediately. 6 hours of light usage like this would equate to about 700-800 MB of RAM being wasted alone. Add in all the rest, and you're looking towards a wasted 1 GB of RAM after 6 hours. Many of the target fan-base can't afford this. People with 2 GB of RAM with VRAM enabled are looking towards about 10 hours of play before experiencing critical errors. For the rest of you, until a patch is issued (which I strongly advise to put in high-priority at EA), save and restart Spore every 1-2 hours. This will keep performance optimum and reduce crash rates significantly. Not so much a fix, but for those experiencing the black-flickering-screen-crash problem while on a creator screen, avoid it almost entirely by limiting your use of Control +Z/Y from your keyboard. You can still use the in-game undo/redo controls however. DragonRR THE POSSIBLE and probably temporary FIX: After reading a few posts about people fixing some CTDs by removing the graphics cache in C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\SPORE I thought I'd fiddle with the in game graphics cache size. So tonight I dropped the cache from 4096mb which is the amount I originally set it to, to 1024mb, exited out of Spore and then ran it again. I should also point out that I chose the graphics default setting and the reset my screen res and put my other graphics settings back to where they were when I ran Spore again. This might be important. For the first time since I started the Space Stage I managed 2hrs before I saw a crash. At the moment I'm more inclined to think that changing the graphics cache size REMOVED all the existing graphics cache (which might have been corrupt in some way)... which gave me the longer period. This is because when I loaded my game the planets were initially un textured. Of course it's possible that it's just the reduction that caused the longer play period. Zorbho Space zoom out crash fix ! Space crash fix-solution!!! The bug is quite simple,cant beleive EA havent fixed in the patch .... Each colonie have decorative thing that you have put before or that been created automaticly by the game , but the problem is that there is under each city hall like 100 of them , if you multiple by 7 , its a lot and your computer canot manage all that, to remove them it's simple, all you have to do is sell the one around the city hall , then do alt+enter to go in windows mode, and it will take some of the item under the city hall and fill out the spot you just sold.Sell them again and do alt+enter to go in full window mode and it will do the same thing, it will take if some remain , the decorative object under the city hall and put them in the available spot so you can sell them until not a single one remain under the city hall, do that for the 7 colony and your good to go !!! you can zoom and dance and do all you want cause your computer has like 100 less decorativ thing to manage ! i found the solution somewhere else bulalalah i just want to help so i reformulated it ! :-) IT REALLY WORK! ...............Registerd with a different email address ?..................... Vicissitude So, final update, problem fixed: After many (some not very happy) messages to EA tech support, I did end up "talking" to a human being. After being asked for my account info and license key, I was told the problem was that my game was registered to another email address. Indeed, when I first installed the game, I tried to register a Spore account using one address, but the registration was denied, as the username was already taken. Thus I made a new address to register another name (I'm obsessive like that... I like to have a matching address to go with whatever I use it for). Turns out, despite the initial registration being denied, it still registered my game to that address. Tech support was helpful, once I actually did get in touch with a human being. Though I did notice that after I sent my "not so happy" message (basically complaining about all the problems plaguing the spore launch, the uselessness of SecuROM, and how EA is turning once-loyal customers into pirates), the replies I was receiving changed from being from "Customer Support" to "Player Relations". Might be nothing, but I did notice it. Maybe sometimes it pays to speak your mind and not just lie down and accept your fate...? To anybody else who has the "The registration key used to install this game cannot be validated" problem, I would urge you to look into whatever other email addresses that might be somehow linked to your game, even if you don't think it is. Something related to Creature Creator, perhaps, or Spore itself. Even if you don't think an email is linked to it, if there's a -possibility-, check it out. I'd dropped my first address, since the name it was created for was already in use. And I just noticed now (hadn't logged into it since) that I got a Spore registration confirmation a day after creating the account. Bit late... but if I had bothered to check that account again, I could have saved myself a big headache. If your email isn't the issue... keep at it with tech support. They -will- help you/reply, but it takes a while. My first few messages took two days before getting a reply, and my last one took a whole -five days-. Just keep in mind they must be getting a -lot- of messages. And it's EA's fault for messing up/not hiring enough personnel. Don't take it out on the tech people. But don't give up hope, hang in there. And good luck. EAUK_Adroit Community Representative You may be getting this error message if you already registered your Spore serial code with another account. If you have already registered Spore to one email address you will not be able to add the same serial number to a second email address. If you are unsure what account you used to register Spore please use theContact Us link in the Support Centre and submit an incident to our support team, they will be able to check the account that was used. When submitting your incident, please include the following information to verify the account (the more information you include the easier it will be to verify the account): · The error message you are getting · Your email address · Your serial key you used to install the game with · Your Spore persona · Your Date of Birth you used to create the account ................................Cannot start Spore............................. Pierpaf Hi, I have installed spore 2 times now and everytime succesfull at the install. Now i try too run the games from program files -- electronics art -- sporebin -- sporeapp because the install doesnt create anything on my start menu and autorun doesnt work either. Then i get this message: ----------------------------------------------- Could not find the default preferences. The data directory is missing or corrupt. [1004] ----------------------------------------------- I click ok then i get : ----------------------------------------------- Could not find a needed package. The data directory is missing or corrupt. [1004] ----------------------------------------------- Everytime a install the game this happen please im i the only one with this problem? Im running this with window vista on a hp dv6000 laptop, dual core, geforce dedicated 8400m 2 gig ram please someone help I have created a shortcut to "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\SPORE\Sporebin\SporeApp.exe". And now the game is working. Thats weird but work. Last edited by Eroneouse; 23-09-2008 at 08:37 PM..