[nonax]

The wonderful game Runaway: A Road Adventure is available in The Adventure Shop for just €6.99 ($9.99). When I tried to install it on Windows 7 (in my case x64) I got an error stating that there an incompatible driver tried to install but failed.

The problem was due to the Star-Force protection system that comes with Runaway. The version in the download is 3.0 and the required version is 5.7 or higher for Windows 7 (4.00.013 or higher for Vista).

You can download an update from the Star-Force website. Go to "Support" - "For End Users"
Then select "Update/Remove driver". Go to section "2. Versions before 5.5" and download and run the SFUPDATE utility.
You can also download the SFREMOVE utility here to uninstall the Star-Force driver when you're done with the game.

In some occasions you will also have to run the Video Card Configuration utility before starting the game. It can be found in the Windows (start) menu under "All Programs" - "Pendulo Studios" - Runaway - "Video Card Configuration"

[Phod]

Good lord, the Adventure Shop version includes Star Force? Yuk!

You should just get it from www.gog.com. I got it from there ($9.99) and it installed and ran flawlessly on Vista.

And no DRM.

[nonax]

That is indeed a much better solution!

To late for me though

[Little Writer]

Starforce update and removal thingy doesn't work here.

[joxer]

This is a shame...

But for older or somehow "incopatible" games I can only suggest XP virtual machine on win7, it's available for free at microsoft site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/vir.../download.aspx

Sorry, but can't suggest anything Vista users though.

[nonax]

Originally Posted by Little Writer

Starforce update and removal thingy doesn't work here.

Do you get an error message?

BTW, is your picture by any chance L.A. taken from the mountain road to Big Bear City?

[Little Writer]

It's L.A., don't know about the road, it's a webcam on top of some observatory. I encountered it when playing an ARG two years ago. Liked it, so I kept it

Yes, I got an error message. First that it needs Windows 95/98/XP/2003 etc. So I changed compatibility. Then I got the "error code is 3" with the starforce protection. Did the update, said there weren't any files. So I removed everything, re-installed the game, did the update again, which finally worked, but when starting the game it still errors at starforce. I can't even get far enough to enter the protection code.

[Crunchy in milk]

\Necro thread/

Fell for this too, buying Runaway 1 & 2 on the Adventure Shop and finding it won't run on Windows 7. Have to try on a virtual machine I guess. Curiously windows 7 wouldn't even let Starforce install. I checked the hidden devices in the device manager, and there was no starforce device driver.

It wasn't until I ran the REMOVAL tool in an effort to clean up any stray files, that it managed to install the device driver... yes the removal tool successfully installed the starforce device driver... I had to manually uninstall it.

[Little Writer]

Cool that it worked for you. Removal tool couldn't find any files with me.

[crabapple]

I think the removal tool is made for the current version of StarForce, not the ancient version they put in Runaway. I don't know which version The Adventure Shop is using.

The current version of StarForce should work with Windows 7. The driver it uses isn't as invasive as the old version that originally came with Runaway. There's a 2009 Gamasutra article on StarForce that mentions some of the differences between the new version of StarForce and the old one. For one thing, the current StarForce no longer requires direct hardware access (which is what Vista and Windows 7 blocked).
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=24035

[maladroid]

Necromantic revival of thread #2

I got the original CD-Rom version of the game and trying to run it on Windows 7 64bit. As far as I can tell, Starforce isn't even able to install and every time I try to launch the game, Starforce pops up asking for a reboot that doesn't seem to make any difference. The Removal/Update tool can't find any installed files either.

So, what am I supposed to do then, fetch the new version of Starforce myself? If so, where can I get it, their site doesn't seem to have a download section unless I am missing something.

[aliceh]

I am having the same problem as maladroid with my husbands pc trying to run the original cd it simply won't install. I can't run virtual pc in xp mode as he only has windows 7 home edition and it needs to be professional to use that option. any suggestions?

[Little Writer]

I gave up on trying to get to run this. I've been thinking of buying it again; it's €10 on Steam but perhaps it'll drop in price in a while ...

[iuri]

It runs fine on Oracle VirtuaBox with video memory set to 128mb.