Are the updates for GCA 4 required?

[ECV13Tsunami]

I ask if the updates for GCA 4 are required because I have had no end of problems reinstalling my copy of GCA 4 onto my Windows 10 laptop after replacing my hard drive.

I have run through all iterations of the installation/update options and have been able to find only ONE pathway that doesn't cause GCA 4 to automatically crash and be unrepairable:
1) Install GCA 4 from the CD;
2) Install gca4update.exe

If I install "gca4patch_232_to_423_cumulative.exe", GCA 4 crashes and cannot be recovered.

I have followed the recommendations in previous threads to replace the gca.ini, and I have also followed the steps to run the GCAClearAppData executable.

In either case, the app still crashes and is unrecoverable.

Does anyone have any suggestions other than purchasing V5 from Warehouse23?

[ericbsmith]

I apologize for the late reply. I haven't been around here lately and missed this.

The updates are not absolutely necessary, but they do fix a lot of bugs and you won't be able to use the newer features found in the data files with the older version of the program, so it is highly recommended to get the update. Otherwise some features on the data files won't work properly or may cause issues.

I'm not sure of the best way to fix the crashing issue for you, as it sounds like you've tried all the normal advice, I'd give regarding using the clearappdata and manually deleting the ini file. This should normally fix issues with crashing on launch, as most of those crashes are caused by incorrect pointers to folders that don't exist.

The only thing I don't see you mention is whether you made sure to right-click on the installers or clearappdata to run them them as Administrator. The other thing you may need to do is make sure to disable your antivirus temporarily when installing the updates. Usually, Windows and Antivirus programs are pretty good about asking you to do these things when you're running an installer, but sometimes they aren't or don't work properly.

Another thing you can try is to run the Registry Fix batch file. Sometimes some of the dependency files are installed but not properly registered with the OS and this will fix it. Right-click on this link and select Save-As. If you don't know what a Batch File is, it is a text file which executes commands on your computer. You can edit this file in a standard text editor to see what its contents are and what it's doing.
reg_fix_win.bat



The last thing I can think of is that can try is to bootstrap yourself up using older update patches. I've kept some of the older patches around, just in case, for this very reason. I just uploaded them to my website; I scanned these with Windows Defender, but you should run your own AV scan as well, just to practice safe computing.

I'd apply each of these updates, in turn, remembering to right-click and run as Administrator. I would install it, reboot, try running the program and see if it works. If it does work then proceed to the next update, following the same procedure. Normally this shouldn't be necessary, but with computers what should work and what does work are sometimes two different things.


gca4patch_232_to_371_cumulative.exe


gca4patch_232_to_383_cumulative.exe

gca4dataupdate383.exe


gca4patch_232_to_408_cumulative.exe

gca4dataupdate408.exe


gca4patch_232_to_419_cumulative.exe


gca4patch_232_to_423_cumulative.exe

gca4dataupdate423.exe

[ECV13Tsunami]

I will definitely try this all!

I have downloaded the incremental updates you posted and will let you know how it goes!

Thank you!