M:TW Eras Install Troubleshooting - Need Help!

**Specialist290** · 12-15-2006, 20:43

Recently I bought the Total War - Eras collection. Since I had most of the games anyway, I decided to give my older copies to a friend of mine, then reinstall them using the Eras discs. However, every time I go to install MTW, it says that there's a previously-installed copy on my hard drive even though I know I uninstalled it. The only thing I can think of that might be significant is that I uninstalled it using the "Add/Remove Programs" utility on my Control Panel instead of the normal uninstall option.

I've tried reinstalling from the older disc, then uninstalling again, this time using the program's uninstall feature, but no matter what I try, it still says there's an older version of the game on my hard drive. Can anyone provide any help?

**gunslinger** · 12-15-2006, 21:29

Try reading the post entitled "Technical Issue" by tehk here in the Main Hall. He found an empty MTW folder in his registry that was causing the problem. Unfortunately I can't help you with registry problems, but maybe he can. Good Luck.

**Martok** · 12-15-2006, 21:39

Greetings, Specialist; welcome (back?) to the Main Hall!

Going by both my own experience and those of other players, it's likely that you still have a remnant of MTW (such as folder) hiding on your computer somewhere. I'm afraid I'm not very tech-savvy myself to give you more specific tips than that, although we do have several members here that can give you some useful pointers. In the meantime, I would encourage you to post your problem in the Apothecary as well--LeftEyeNine and his cohorts have done a great job in assisting people with reinstall problems (including myself). Good luck!

**caravel** · 12-15-2006, 22:20

Add/remove programs in the control panel was the right way to do it. don't worry about that. Running the installer from within the MTW instalation folder on the CD should work. If not then I'm sure we can remove some of those bits with regedit.

**Specialist290** · 12-15-2006, 22:34

Thanks guys

I'll try the suggestions offered here, and if they don't work I'll ask again in the Apothecary.

**Specialist290** · 12-15-2006, 23:32

Solved the problem; again, it was a case of "empty registry folder" ~:p Fortunately, shortly after Adrian provided a link to RegCleaner in the other thread, I was able to locate and remove the offending folder. The game is installing even as I type this

Again, thanks everyone!

**caravel** · 12-15-2006, 23:39

Superb, it seems that the game leaves behind an empty registry key. Could you by any chance provide details of exactly which key it is to assist those that may have similar problems in the future? If not, don't worry.

**Specialist290** · 12-16-2006, 00:11

I don't remember the exact identity of the key, but it and a couple of other keys from my older TW installs (RTW & RTW:BI) were marked identically (though, oddly, those two didn't affect my ability to install those games). The only thing I can say for certain is that the newer installs have "The Creative Assembly" marked as their authors, if that helps.

**Eltharon** · 12-20-2006, 03:17

If you have the problem again, just open my computer, "open" the CD and run the setup.exe. It will run the installer even if it detects MTW on the PC and overwrite the leftovers.

**naut** · 12-20-2006, 13:44

Originally Posted by Eltharon

If you have the problem again, just open my computer, "open" the CD and run the setup.exe. It will run the installer even if it detects MTW on the PC and overwrite the leftovers.

Yes your right, clean forgot about that. You can use this to install multiple copies of the game and thus mods on your PC.

**Tony Furze** · 12-20-2006, 15:24

Help for installing Gold when a previous version exists:

In the registry you ll find a folder entitled "Total War".

Just delete that folder to install the Gold Edition.

If you need a more specific blow-by-blow guide , I can provide it.