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19 December 2007

Ask MeCha: WinXP gurus, I need help! I have an apparently corrupted, empty folder that is preventing me from playing, uninstalling, or reinstalling a game.[More:]

This week I've found that every time I tried to run a game called SimCity Societies, the computer would hang up and never finish loading the game. (Hard reboot required.) I started investigating, trying to repair the install, delete some stuff, etc, and traced the problem to a folder with a path that looks like this:

Program Files/Electronic Arts/SimCity Societies/Data/Graphics/Textures/Environment

Trying to uninstall caused the computer to hang just like playing it did. Trying to DELETE that folder gives an error message, "Environment could not be deleted because the directory is not empty." This despite the fact that the folder LOOKS empty, and I have "show hidden files/folders" turned on in Windows explorer.

I tried to delete it in safe mode, and I tried changing permissions (not something I understand very well) to "Full control" while logged in as Administrator. I tried deleting everything except the offending folder, but still could not reinstall (the game thinks it's installed, because of the fact it's in the registry I guess) nor uninstall. (I restored everything back from the recycle bin after trying this, so the game is still basically installed, it just won't run.)

I think the problem may have happened because the game allows you to download user-created "mods" which add buildings or textures or some such, and I'd tried downloading a few of those right before the game stopped working. I don't know where those are stored or what format they take, though, so I haven't been able to find them to try deleting just the downloaded files. And as I said, the one folder that won't delete appears to be empty, in spite of that error message.

What the heck do I do now? I don't mind just deleting everything and re-installing to another directory, (i.e. there's no data I'm trying to save) but since I can't do a proper uninstall, I don't know how to get Windows to reinstall the game.

Any help would be MOST appreciated... I've been wrestling with this for four days now, and have pretty much reached the end of my very limited knowledge.

(I have the WinXP Media Center Edition, btw.)
Run checkdisk. Open 'My Computer,' Rightclick on C: drive, choose Properties, choose Tools tab, choose Check now, select Auto-fix. Don't check Scan for... Reboot and let checkdisk do its thing. Often works.
posted by theora55 19 December | 21:47
I'll try that, theora. Thanks!
posted by BoringPostcards 19 December | 22:00
Did a quick google, and came up with the Unlocker (unlocks files in use and deletes them), Process Explorer, which allows you to see what processes are running in Windows, and allows you to stop them, and then delete them (as you can't stop something that's running). Not sure if this'd work though. Might give you an idea what to edit in the msconfig utility. (Start > Run > msconfig > edit services/startup).
I've never used these progs, so, you know, at your own risk, and YMMV, etc etc.
Using regedit or msconfig is potentially dangerous if you don't know what you're doing, as you can slay your whole system.
Before doing anything, I'd recommend going Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore and make a restore point, just in case.
Most solutions I've read about with this do say to start with a scandisk, as theora said.
posted by Zack_Replica 19 December | 22:24
It worked!! Thank you both... what a relief. Thanks so much. :)
posted by BoringPostcards 19 December | 22:47
Unless you have it turned off, try a system restore back to a point prior to things going pear-shaped.
posted by dg 19 December | 22:48
BP, what's your opinion of the game? I want to try it, but I've heard a lot of negative "It's not SimCity" type comments. Once you're up and running, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
posted by WolfDaddy 19 December | 23:06
Zack_Replica: Thanks for digging up that Unlocker! I have long needed just such a beastie.
posted by mischief 19 December | 23:28
ccleaner will do the same thing, as well as clear out unwanted registry problems..
posted by chuckdarwin 20 December | 03:33
cd, I'd seen ccleaner mentioned on the MS knowledge base, and was thinking of trying that if the bunnies couldn't help.

WolfDaddy, I've had the game since the day it came out and I like it a lot. It's more like a toy than a game- it looks great, and it's fun to tinker with. I'm not sure how so many people thought it was going to be SimCity 5- none of the pre-release advertising gave me that impression at all. It's exactly what I thought it would be, and like I said, I've been enjoying it a lot.
posted by BoringPostcards 20 December | 09:25
Miko's Musical MeCha Advent Calendar: December 19 || IRC for complete friggin' eejits.

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