Reinstall problems, can anyone help?

Olsin · 08-21-11, 05:40 AM

Hi guys .. I've recently installed SH3 on a windows 7 system. I changed the default installation path and it installed and ran just fine.
8 patrols into my first campaign a ran across a convoy at the western approaches. The weather was terrible and the initial contact was quite close so after shadowing it for an hour and finding it's heading and speed i backed off and set up my own waypoints so that i could intercept it later on that night (contact was late morning).
I'd got well out of visual distance so decided to save the game and carry on the next day.
I know of the bug that'll sometimes mess up a reload after such a save but i've never had any problems with it. I've actually saved a game with a convoy right over top of me and theres been no problems reloading.
Anyway...yeps..the reload this time messed up. I tried a few more times to reload the saved game but it'd CTD within 20 seconds of the game loading everytime.
I went back to the career and deleted that saved game so that the current save game was while i was still in base and tried to load that. again it wouldn't have it. Same problem.
So i deleted that whole patrol and the saved games of the previous patrol back to being in base, Exited SH3 and rebooted my computer and restarted SH3.
The current save game still wouldn't load.."Damn" i thought..."i've broken something". So i decided to uninstall SH3 together with all saved games, rebooted the computer and tried to reinstall. As soon as i clicked on the "browse" button to change the default directory it CTD'd with the message that idriver.exe had failed (or something like that).
Then i uninstalled or deleted everything i had that was associated with SH3..commander, mods, etc etc and tried again...same CTD with the same message.

I'm assuming there must be some registry entries or maybe a win 7 related problem thats preventing reinstall of SH3.
I was running SH3 + GWX3 + Magui plus half a dozen other standard mods. I haven't installed any mods lately.
Does anyone have any ideas how i could try and fix the problem?

HW3 · 08-21-11, 07:48 AM

Get one of the several free registry cleaners available at download.com and clean your registry. You should then be able to reinstall SH3. I use TweakNow RegCleaner 2011 myself.

Pisces · 08-21-11, 09:38 AM

It is not just out of visual distance. It doesn't actually despawn unless it it farther then 33 km or so. But the reinstall is a more pressing matter that needs to be solved before the above is usefull. Sorry, I have no suggestion on how to clean the registry. Other than 3rd party tools that have already been mentioned.

Olsin · 08-21-11, 09:51 AM

Downloading a registry cleaner and cleaning the registry unfortunatly didn't solve the problem.

So a bit of searching around online tells me that the problem file (idriver.exe) is something SH3 uses as part of it's autoinstallation. I located the file in program files/common files although i saw there were 2 entries, idriver.exe and idriver(2).exe so i deleted the one with the (2) and tried again...Same problem...Keeps crashing when i click the browse button. Looking back at c:/program files/common files (actually it's program(x86)files) i see the second idriver.exe has respawned so i delete both examples (after copying the original and pasting it to a temp directory) and tried reinstalling sh3 again. Same problem!
Looking back at idriver.exe directory i see 2 more examples of idriver.exe!

I used the reg cleaner you suggested HW3 but i guess whatever is messing about with idriver.exe is either nothing to do with the registry or it's buried in there and TN RC 2011 can't find it...

Has anyone else got any ideas?

Pisces · 08-21-11, 10:36 AM

Isn't there still the normal uninstall option through Control Panel/Programs and Features? Or otherwise trying to install through the DVD but getting the chance to uninstall or repair instead?

Jimbuna · 08-21-11, 10:57 AM

Perform a thorough uninstallation (preferably using the SH3 disk) and include the SH3 folder in your MY DOCS section.

I'm unaware of how good 'TweakNow' is but I would advise using 'crapcleaner'
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner

(tis free) or even better still the one of my personal choice 'regvac'

http://www.regvac.com/fregvac.htm

This is not free but there is a free trial version available from the above link.

08-21-11, 05:40 AM	#1
Olsin Bosun Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Denmark Posts: 63 Downloads: 162 Uploads: 0	Reinstall problems, can anyone help? Hi guys .. I've recently installed SH3 on a windows 7 system. I changed the default installation path and it installed and ran just fine. 8 patrols into my first campaign a ran across a convoy at the western approaches. The weather was terrible and the initial contact was quite close so after shadowing it for an hour and finding it's heading and speed i backed off and set up my own waypoints so that i could intercept it later on that night (contact was late morning). I'd got well out of visual distance so decided to save the game and carry on the next day. I know of the bug that'll sometimes mess up a reload after such a save but i've never had any problems with it. I've actually saved a game with a convoy right over top of me and theres been no problems reloading. Anyway...yeps..the reload this time messed up. I tried a few more times to reload the saved game but it'd CTD within 20 seconds of the game loading everytime. I went back to the career and deleted that saved game so that the current save game was while i was still in base and tried to load that. again it wouldn't have it. Same problem. So i deleted that whole patrol and the saved games of the previous patrol back to being in base, Exited SH3 and rebooted my computer and restarted SH3. The current save game still wouldn't load.."Damn" i thought..."i've broken something". So i decided to uninstall SH3 together with all saved games, rebooted the computer and tried to reinstall. As soon as i clicked on the "browse" button to change the default directory it CTD'd with the message that idriver.exe had failed (or something like that). Then i uninstalled or deleted everything i had that was associated with SH3..commander, mods, etc etc and tried again...same CTD with the same message. I'm assuming there must be some registry entries or maybe a win 7 related problem thats preventing reinstall of SH3. I was running SH3 + GWX3 + Magui plus half a dozen other standard mods. I haven't installed any mods lately. Does anyone have any ideas how i could try and fix the problem? __________________ Prediction is a very hard thing to do, especially if it's about the future .. Niels Bohr.

08-21-11, 07:48 AM	#2
HW3 Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Gresham Oregon Posts: 6,574 Downloads: 458 Uploads: 0	Get one of the several free registry cleaners available at download.com and clean your registry. You should then be able to reinstall SH3. I use TweakNow RegCleaner 2011 myself. __________________ "Some ships are designed to sink...others require our assistance." Nathan Zelk

08-21-11, 09:38 AM	#3
Pisces Silent Hunter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: AN9771 Posts: 4,904 Downloads: 304 Uploads: 0	It is not just out of visual distance. It doesn't actually despawn unless it it farther then 33 km or so. But the reinstall is a more pressing matter that needs to be solved before the above is usefull. Sorry, I have no suggestion on how to clean the registry. Other than 3rd party tools that have already been mentioned. __________________ My site downloads: https://ricojansen.nl/downloads

08-21-11, 09:51 AM	#4
Olsin Bosun Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Denmark Posts: 63 Downloads: 162 Uploads: 0	Downloading a registry cleaner and cleaning the registry unfortunatly didn't solve the problem. So a bit of searching around online tells me that the problem file (idriver.exe) is something SH3 uses as part of it's autoinstallation. I located the file in program files/common files although i saw there were 2 entries, idriver.exe and idriver(2).exe so i deleted the one with the (2) and tried again...Same problem...Keeps crashing when i click the browse button. Looking back at c:/program files/common files (actually it's program(x86)files) i see the second idriver.exe has respawned so i delete both examples (after copying the original and pasting it to a temp directory) and tried reinstalling sh3 again. Same problem! Looking back at idriver.exe directory i see 2 more examples of idriver.exe! I used the reg cleaner you suggested HW3 but i guess whatever is messing about with idriver.exe is either nothing to do with the registry or it's buried in there and TN RC 2011 can't find it... Has anyone else got any ideas? __________________ Prediction is a very hard thing to do, especially if it's about the future .. Niels Bohr.

08-21-11, 10:36 AM	#5
Pisces Silent Hunter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: AN9771 Posts: 4,904 Downloads: 304 Uploads: 0	Isn't there still the normal uninstall option through Control Panel/Programs and Features? Or otherwise trying to install through the DVD but getting the chance to uninstall or repair instead? __________________ My site downloads: https://ricojansen.nl/downloads

08-21-11, 10:57 AM	#6
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,525 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	Perform a thorough uninstallation (preferably using the SH3 disk) and include the SH3 folder in your MY DOCS section. I'm unaware of how good 'TweakNow' is but I would advise using 'crapcleaner' http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner (tis free) or even better still the one of my personal choice 'regvac' http://www.regvac.com/fregvac.htm This is not free but there is a free trial version available from the above link. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!