EB works, CD doesn't, result is CTD

Hi, I recently installed EB, followed the instructions precisely, and have managed to get it to load up to the main menu screen. My problem is that the game crashes to desktop when I try to start a new campaign after picking out all the options and settings for the campaign. I've looked all over the installation thread for possible answers and my suspicions were realised by Step 7 in the install guide and a later post in that thread about No CD file usage.

My problem is that I have an external DVD drive. When I try to run the game from that drive, it tells me that I have some sort of emulation programs installed (referring to my DVD drive) and that I should disable/uninstall them before playing. As a result, I'm forced to use a No CD file to play R:TW and all it's expansions (not like I'm stealing the game, I bought Total War: Eras fair and square).

Is there anything I can do about this issue that doesn't involve buying a fresh copy of R:TW (which would be a waste of money) but that involves me playing EB?

I think some people have got it to work with a nocd executable. But, in many of the installation problems the exe file has been changed, which I presume means they've installed the nocd patch yet they did not say that specifically, so I also think this is part of the problem. I'm afraid we can't support the use of it, however you might be able to get it to work if you follow the checklist in the installation validation sticky.

Bovi - I used that program in your installation validation and I got a huge notepad file, so I'm going to reinstall everything completely and if the problem persists, I'll be back.

Note that you should run the validation from your RTW folder, not the EB folder.