Big Fat Problem

So I got halo 2 vista and I popped the disk in and chose the "play now" option. I played the single player okay, but when I quit playing for a while, there were no other windows open to indicate installation, and I could not find any directory with files other than my profile folder.

I can still play single player fine from the disk, but whenever I play the game, the installation does not resume. when I try to custom-install it, it tells me that I cannot install once installation has already begun. I can't uninstall the game since it hasn't installed in the first place.

I called tech support about my problems, and was asked for the product key, then the product ID (on the bottom of the CD itself). Both are apparently invalid/ not registered as one of microsoft's games. I don't THINK that amazon would sell me a crack copy of the game but anything's possible.

Sometimes I wish technology would just "work," no questions asked.

Am i fucked or what? :confused: any ideas/solutions to this problem? ANYthing would be godsend. really, whatever you have to contribute is worth a try. I will try just about anything. Thanks for at least reading this!

p.s. I am absolutely sure that my pc is capable of running the game. that is definitely not an issue. just to rule that out.

Try popping your disk in, turning on Halo 2, and letting it sit there. That's what I did to get it to work. If not, you can always manually clean out everything Halo 2 related, and resintall. Make sure you get the registry or you're going to be even more messed up then when you started.

see the problem with that is that there isn't anything there. the game hasn't been installed. other than a small save file (which i'm sure wouldn't help if i deleted it) there are no files on the game. it runs entirely from the disk.

Idk man... if tech support says there is a problem with your cd key then maybe you should contact amazon.

I don't THINK that would affect the installation issue, however you might run into multiplayer problems in the future if ur cd key is screwed up.

Can you try multiplayer now, or can you not because of the install problem?

no I can't because h2v can't connect to the internet in any way (getting updates and registering live accounts). when I can't get updates, it takes me back to square 1 for some reason.

check your C:\program files\microsoft games\halo 2 folder and delete everything in there.

Then pop the disk in and hit custom install and see if that works.

There is a progress percent on the main menu in the bottom right indicating the install percentage. If you don't see it, then it's completely installed. Press the Home key to bring up the Live blade and you can activate.

okay I fixed it. (the game is installed properly) however, my game still won't connect to live, and the cd key is "funny". yeh. thanks for the help, though I still might need some more.