Situation Comedy won't start up

[tommyk]

When I try to start Situation Comedy, nothing happens. The process is active, but the launcher never comes up. I had no problems with Culture Shock, so this seems strange. I've tries to redownload--no change. Any help would be appreciated.

[Emily]

Could you give us your system specs, and also tell us what virus protection you're using?

[tommyk]

Specs:
Core 2 Duo e6700
ASUS P5W DH
2 GB G. Skill RAM
ATI x1950XTX
X-Fi Platinum
AVG Free anti-virus
Spyware Doctor


I've tried disabling both the AV and spyware programs. Still no go. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Emily]

When you run the game and nothing happens, can you do ctrl-alt-del and see if a Sam & Max executable is running in the processes?

[tommyk]

Yes, at least one--sometimes two, without my trying to start the game a second time. When I kill one of the processes manually, they both stop, if two are present.

[tommyk]

Bump. Further help would really be appreciated.

[Emily]

We think this is a problem with the activation software. I'm following up with the company that makes that software to see if they have a fix for this.

[tommyk]

Same problem with episode 3. Very frustrating. Please help.

[tommyk]

Please help. The lack of further response is very frustrating.

[Emily]

Yeah, for me too, since I have been trying to get help from the people who make the software and they don't have an answer. ;)

Could you please try running the game, then bring up the task manager and send me a list (or a screenshot) of all the tasks that are running? You can post it here or send it to me in a PM. I'll send it to them and see if it makes any lightbulbs go off.

[tommyk]

Here is the screenshot of the task manager. Hope it helps. Thanks.

[Emily]

Thanks, I'll send it to them and see if anything rings any bells.

I see Situation Comedy on there twice. Did you try running it twice before you took that?

[tommyk]

No, it shows up twice every time despite the fact that I've only started it once. Usually the second process shows up 10 seconds or so after the first.

[Emily]

Okay, thanks. I'll let them know.

[tommyk]

Any word? Really would like to play.

[Emily]

I'm afraid not. :(

Did you try episode 4? It uses a different version of the activation system, so it's possible the problem you were experiencing has gone away. Please give it a try and let me know.

[tommyk]

No luck--same thing. Culture Shock still loads and plays normally. The other three have the same problem described above.

[tanuki]

I just started having the exact same problem, actually. Ep. 4 (and all the other episodes, for that matter) were working back when Ep. 4 was a fresh new download. Now none of them do, and they oftentimes have more than one process each running. I see a window pop up for each, but they are completely blank.

System specs for my machine:
Intel Core Duo @ 2.16 GHz.
2 GB of RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 w/ 256 MB. of VRAM
Windows XP Pro w/ SP2

...and I have ClamAV installed as my anti-virus, but it hasn't given me trouble before and is never running when I run S&M.

I've also tried uninstalling and reinstalling Ep. 4, but with no luck.

[Emily]

Tanuki - so they were working fine before, and now they're not working at all?

What's changed on your machine in the meantime? Any Windows updates? New software installed? Can you run a virus scan and an adware/spyware check on the machine? Also try defragging the hard drive.

-Emily

[tommyk]

Sounds similar, although with episodes 2-4 I don't even see a blank window.

[Emily]

Tommyk, I'd be happy to refund your money since we can't get this figured out. You've been very patient and I'm sorry we haven't been able to find a solution. :(

[tanuki]

What kinds of things does the authentication system look for? (does it look for certain pieces of hardware? Windows XP product key?) Is it altogether possible for us to simply receive a new authentication key if we supply our order numbers to you? I know this isn't the first time I've had issues with the authentication system...as a Season one customer, I had an issue with the first episode starting up, which resulted in me emailing Telltale my order number.

[tanuki]

Changes in my system between the time in which it did work and didn't work include a different install of XP with a different product key, any mandatory updates from Microsoft, and a non-mandatory update from Microsoft allowing for more efficient dual core processing. Since I'm in OS X now (I'm using a MacBook Pro), I will boot into XP, defrag my hard drive, and update this post to see if that changes anything.

[tanuki]

Problem solved. It must've been an issue with a change in Windows XP product keys.

Tommyk, did the other episodes used to work for you? If so, what kind of changes have been made in your system between when they worked and when they didn't? Maybe your issue is similar to mine in this respect.

[Emily]

Problem solved. It must've been an issue with a change in Windows XP product keys.

How did you solve it? Just from the defrag?

[tanuki]

Nope, no defrag was necessary. I reverted to an older XP install, and the program began to work again.