Here is the problems section I usually post with each game. I've added any new suggestions at the bottom of the section, a line divides the new suggestions for ease of searching:
Problems installing, activating and running today’s game:
If you have difficulty downloading or activating the game you can try again later or do one of the following - for example once downloaded when you click on the dual activation and set up file you may get the message “Failed to connect. Please try again later” Check to see if your internet explorer isn't offline (thanks to Mr Snoozles/Mike and GMMan for that fix). If the previous suggestion doesn't work go check out previous comments from the last several weeks and look for comments from GMMan and Mike. They have also posted their possible fixes for this problem.
Mike suggests that you check to see if Internet Explorer is offline (even if you use firefox). If it is make sure that it's online then try again. I've always tried re-booting my modem and/or router with some success, though Mike has said that doing that does nothing. Still, it’s worth a try if all else fails.
If you are getting the black screen problem right click on the games executable and select properties then click on the compatibility mode and select the disable visual themes. This should fix the problem, if not try disabling the display scaling on higher dpi settings and disabling the desktop composition. You can also try compatibility modes for XP, especially if the game is quite old.
Other fixes include changing your screen resolution, installing the latest direct X (remember that XP uses DX 9 or earlier only, Vista uses DX 10 or before and Win 7 DX11 or before). Also try updating your graphics drivers. The main two chip manufacturers are NVIDIA and ATI (now AMD) both of which offer driver downloads for free. Just go to the respective manufactures home page and you'll find a link to the driver download page. To find out which graphic card or graphics chip your computer uses type in Dxdiag in the search field (Vista or Win 7) or the run command (XP); this opens up the DirectX diagnostics panel. click on the display tab and look to the left panel. You should easily see what graphics card or chip you are using. (This is required information when selecting the correct download from the developers site).
If you are asked to turn off your Data Execution Prevention for this game to run. You can create an exception so that the game will run without having to turn DEP off. Please bear in mind it's rare that anyone even mentioned getting a DEP warning. If you are not sure how to create an exception read THIS article, which tells you how to do it.
If you are having problems unzipping the game giveaways zip file, for example getting a message saying the file is invalid try using a different file archiver such as 7-Zip, J-Zip, CAM UnZip, Hamster Free Zip Archiver, GZip, B Zip2, peazip, ZipUnzip, FreeRAR Extract Frog, RAR File Open Knife, ALZip, The Extractor, RarZilla Free Unrar
Okay, that should be enough. There are actually many more free versions available. also there are other commercial titles such as the well-known WinRAR, Stuffit, WinAce, NXPowerlite and Corel Winzip Pro, but IMO 7-Zip is probably one of the better freebies. I did purchase a copy of Stuffit when it was on sale a few years ago and recently repurchased a more up to date version when it was o offer via BitsDuJour, but didn't like the interface for some reason, so hardly ever use it.
In response to the following problem“the file is in use of another process” –
I suggested that you try rebooting your computer. If that doesn't work, check what programs are running in the background and turn off those that you know are not needed as there may be a conflict with something (Game Booster is a useful free program that will automatically turn off all unnecessary windows programs and you can add others to the mix via a configuration screen. Once done you can then switch everything back on via a single button.
you can download Game Booster from IOBit:
http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html
Also try clearing out your internet cache and refresh the page (F5).
W.r.t. Netbooks and problems with resolution, Markus posted a possible fix via registry editing. He said the following:
"If you install the latest Intel GFX driver and
1) Run regedit2) Search and modify all values “Display1_DownScalingSupported” from “0″ to “1″3) Restart the system
New resolution 1024×768 will be available then.#"
If you've installed the game but it won’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at another time. Unfortunately if your problem is actually installing it then once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done until the game is given away again (though that isn't guaranteed). It’s always worth checking out the free games sites as sometimes the games we get here are also available for free from them as well.
Being used by another application:
If you get a message like “the process cannot access the file because it is being used” quitting out of the other active applications (for example synctoy and chrome) may solve the problem. (Already posted this previously)
Mouse Cursor Problem:
If you cannot see the game cursor try carefully moving the mouse, You will see the Start button or other buttons flash when the invisible cursor passes over them. When you can find one of these 'flashing' buttons try carefully maneuvering the invisible cursor until you see the Options flash. When you do, click. Then you will see the options screen. Again maneuver the mouse until you see the “Custom Cursor” words brighten and then click. This will check the custom cursor box and the game should work normally.
