vehicles / buildings explode after 30 seconds?

[trigger187213_2]

Hi all, I'm new here. And I really hope that you guys already heard about this problem, because I don't know what to do anymore.

Here's my problem: when playing Zero Hour, in skirmish and challenge modes all my units/buildings blow up roughly after 20-30 seconds... like I was surrendering. And the script "you are defeated" appears.
In challenge mode i can play the first level with the Laser general (against the air force general), but even if i win and "you are victorious" appears on the screen, after that it says that i'm defeated... try again or exit.
In campaign mode I can play only the very first level - after finishing, the only 2 options I have: play again or exit. Continue doesn't exist.

I'm playing the game on an Acer Travelmate 8472TG laptop (Windows 7; 2.26GHz i3-350M; Nvidia GeForce GT330M 1GB; 4GB RAM).

Some info upfront - by accident, I bought Zero Hour twice because i didn't know that the Generals Deluxe Edition includes Zero Hour as well. So now i have 2 legal copies of the game. I was playing the game since the beginning of February without any problems. All this started a few days ago (around the 12th March). I tried uninstalling and re-installing the game, but the same problem occured. I installed my other copy of the game, but the same problem popped up again.

Any ideas here?

[trigger187213_2]

... and here's the DxDiag copy:

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 3/16/2011, 20:25:21
Machine name: BALAZS-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.101026-1503)
Language: German (Regional Setting: German)
System Manufacturer: Acer
System Model: TravelMate8472TG
BIOS: PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.1
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 350 @ 2.27GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.3GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3764MB RAM
Page File: 1701MB used, 5825MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.


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Display Devices
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Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GT 330M
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
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Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: HW191D
Monitor Id: HSD8991
Native Mode: 1440 x 900(p) (59.887Hz)
Output Type: HD15
Monitor Name: PnP-Monitor (Standard)
Monitor Model: unknown
Monitor Id: AUO313C
Native Mode: 1366 x 768(p) (60.098Hz)
Output Type: Internal
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Driver File Version: 8.16.0011.8986 (English)
Driver Version: 8.16.11.8986
DDI Version: 10.1
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 4/26/2010 20:16:44, 9629288 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp:
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Device ID: 0x0A29
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Revision ID: 0x00A2
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DXVA-HD: Supported
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D3D Status: Enabled
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Sound Devices
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Default Voice Playback: Yes
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Driver Version: 4.121.0000.0000 (German)
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WHQL Logo'd: Yes
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Other Files:
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Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

[zZSaRGeZz]

Do you had installed any mod's or maps to the game ?
I see that your'e playing under windows 7/64, have you tryed playing the game under compatibility mode ?
Your maximum resolution is 1366 x 768 so i advice you to change the options.ini resolution that is located on your Documents/Command & Conquer Zero Hour Data.
Also if you have an anti-virus try disable it to see if it works.

[trigger187213]

I tried playing in compatibility mode, changing the resolution and disabling the anti-virus as well, with no effect.

But as to your very first question - YES. I had 2 mods installed (Shockwave and Rise of the Reds), when this problem occured for the first time. I was actually playing Shockwave when the game first collapsed. I received an error message referring to game.dat I think, I can't remember anymore what it was. And I can't reproduce it, as I uninstalled both mods immediately afterwards. After that, I couldn't even play the "normal" Zero Hour due to the above described failure.

[Zhen]

It might be because your license key has been lost/damaged. It's unlikely that those two mods (which are compatible with each other) is the cause although it can happen.

Try this http://contra.cncguild.net/Downloads/DatGen.exe (courtesy of Revora) Run that, then re run the game.

By the way, a new version of Shockwave was released just so you know.

[zZSaRGeZz]

That may also work but check if all the files are deleted even the hiden files and then reinstall the game on another path.

[trigger187213_2]

I uninstalled Zero Hour then manually deleted all the related files / folders, then re-installed the game. Same problem occured again.

I downloaded the small exe suggested by Zhen to see if it helps - it did. I don't know what it does but now I can normally play all modes of the game - skirmish, challenge, campaign... like it was a brand new game. Thank you for the great idea, it was the most helpful so far... and definitely much faster than EA's customer support! ;-)

[zZSaRGeZz]

Allways glad to help

[jason3344]

bro...its not working for me....i hv the exe file in my zero hour file and run it ...but the game still the same....explode after 30 sec and game over....
any other solution?

[phoenixcrap]

any other details? have you updated? has it always exploded or is this a new thing? did you run any mods?