I am trying to run Syberia 2 on my Windows 7 laptop, but do not understand the message I receive.
I loaded Syberia 2 OK - L think - but when I click on 'Play' I get the message to 'Log on as Administrator and try again'.
Not sure what that means.
I found an instruction with a little Shield on which said 'Run as administrator' but that did not do anything for me - the same message about 'logging on as administrator' came up.

Can someone please help?

Thank you

petert

If this is the disc version, try installing somewhere
other than C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86).

You may also need to set compatibility to XP.

Since Syberia 2 used SafeDisc, you may have to use a NoCD with the disc version to get it working. Syberia 2 is from 2004 and that may be around the time SafeDisc started using the driver that Microsoft has started blocking in Windows 7 and 8.

If you have a download version, the problem is somewhere else.

Windows Vista and later made some Directories protected, meaning a program needs elevated privileges to write to them. Programs and games that were written before Vista could write to these places without problems as this restriction didn't apply when they were written. Try to run them on Vista and later now and they run into the problem you are having. As Jenny says try installing to a different location (like Documents) as this folder doesn't need any privileges.

If none of the above suggestions work, then you are probably running into Microsoft blocking the DRM. Supposedly you can re-enable the secdrv service on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. If you want to give this a try, it might help. But try Jennys and mj2c's suggestions first.

http://www.howtogeek.com/230773/how-to-p...-8-7-and-vista/

I have A NoCD for Syberia 2, if anybody wants it.

I will try out the suggestion regarding putting the game into My Documents before I try the Geek solution. (Cowardly, I know!) The irritating point is that, when I first bought the laptop about 3 years ago, both Syberia games and Lost Horizon started perfectly,and I saved my progress, but now all 3 have gone awry. I get a silly message in Lost Horizon about screen resolution which says I need 911 X 800 which I can't get - and I can't see any game wanting 911, anyway. Sounds like a Twin Tower virus.

So Windows must have sent a "fix" which I unknowingly downloaded and that caused the problem.

petert

If the DRM blocking is indeed the case, they you are correct that Microsoft "fixed" things. Cowardly? Hardly! My mantra is to ALWAYS take the easiest path first!

Tried the My Documents route, but no luck. Same message about logging on as administrator.

Tried loading into XP Oracle Virtual Box but just the same message repeated. I had hoped that that could get round the problem but no success.

petert

If right-click and "Run As Administrator" doesn't work, then it's the DRM problem. Either use a NoCD for the game or follow the How Stuff Works link that Draclvr posted. The reason why Microsoft blocked the DRM drivers is that they've been used by hackers to compromise computers. So if you decide to re-enable installation of the DRM driver, be sure to disable it after playing the game.

Tried the Draclvr wheeze, but the computer, he say,'The service cannot be started either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled device associated with it'.
It has a number 1058 associated with it - Error Message?

petert

I hope Jenny has a clue, because I sure don't! That error is just associated with a service that has been stopped.

Error 1058 seems to be associated with a service not starting -- in this case probably the DRM service. If you followed the directions at ***How Stuff Works*** for reenabling the SafeDisc service, it sounds like something didn't go well. Note that you have to open the command prompt "as administrator" -- don't just use a regular command prompt.

It looks like you may have to restart the secdrv service every time you reboot. Microsoft has instructions for a more permanent solution here
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3086255

If that doesn't help, you may want to consider buying a DRM-free version of the game from a download website (assuming your bandwidth isn't restricted). Currently Syberia 2 is €8.99
at Fireflower.
http://fireflowergames.com/shop/syberia-2/

Progress of a sort.
I managed to get the command prompt to operate in administrator mode, and set up an account. I gave the new account a name and could access the account OK by clicking on it.
I then tried to access Syberia2 as an administrator, but could not access it because it asked for a password which is apparently not the name that I had called the account. And I do not see how I can get a password.

petert

If the account you usually use has administrative privilege, you can use the password for that account.

If you never made a password for your account, you'll probably have to put a password on your account.

If you're using an account with administrative privilege, but forgot your password, you can probably create a new local account with administrative privilege and use that. You might have to reboot in between.

If you are using a local account without admin privilege, you won't be able to create an \account with administrative privilege from there. You have to log into an account with admin privilege to create an account with admin privilege.

If you are using an online "Microsoft account", you'll have to create a local account.

Some success.
I now have an account called Administrator and I have a password.
I loaded Syberia 2 into Documents. right-clicked on Play as Administrator - and nothing happens. The little blue circle goes around a few times, then stops.

Strange.

Anyway, thanks for all the help to get this far.

petert

It sounds like you haven't enabled the DRM driver yet.
You need to right-click the cmd file and run that as administrator. Then enable the secdrv.sys driver as described in the How Stuff Works link that Draclvr posted. You cannot enable that driver if you're not using a command window with Administrative rights.

I have had partial success in that Lost Horizon now runs correctly, but I cannot yet get Syberia 2 to run - but I will continue to try. I think I will then also try Syberia 1, and see what happens with that game. If the problem continues I will then probably give up and go to Steam.

By the way, I did repeat the right clicking of the Command Prompt and try the 'sc start secdrv' but it still gives the error message 1058.

petert

Try this procedure
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/241584

If you have the disc version of Syberia 1, make sure you patch it. The patch is old, but allows the game to work with multi-core processors.

Ah, yes... the old "slow-walking Kate!" That seems like such a long time ago...

No success yet with Microsoft suggestion.
I found the correct Routing and Remote Access Properties screen and clicked to get Automatic, applied and OK'd it, but no change.
I can get up the initial screen, showing Play, Install, Read Me and when I click Read Me and get the data, but when I click Play, nothing happens. The little blue circle goes round for a few seconds then just stops.

I have loaded in Syberia 1 - which is the best site from which to get the recommended game Patch?

Problem can't be associated with my antivirus Avast, can it? Avast does not seem to show in my Administrator screen.

petert

Yes the problem certainly could be associated with Avast. You might try adding the game exe to your antivirus' exclusion list.
https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB168

Patches-Scrolls is as good a place to get the Syberia patch as any. They call it the "Syberia Service Pack 3" patch (not to be confused with any other Service Pack)
http://patches-scrolls.de/patch/4110/7/32463

Or you can check one of the other Patch sites GB has links for
http://www.gameboomers.com/patches.html

I don't think Syberia 2 had an official patch.

If you decide to re-purchase Syberia from somewhere, be sure to get it from a DRM-free site. Also you may find the games sold together for less than if you bought them separately.

Decided to download both Syberia games as a package from Gog - DRM-free site, and both are now installed.

Thanks for all the help.

In terms of value for money, it would probably have been a lot cheaper to go down that road to start with rather than setting up the Administrator account. But that certainly saved time and money insofar as Lost Horizon was concerned. Win-Win?

petert