Diablo II Doesn't start

[XTERMIN8OR1]

Ok, so I installed Diablo II. The installation process succeeded, but when I tried to start the game it only showed a black screen for several minutes. I then minimalised it, allowing me to see an error message that said something about an unhandled expression. I clicked OK, and it showed another error. I pressed OK again. I tried several more times to start the game, but without result. I rebooted my computer and tried to start the game once more, but it kept failing to load. Then I dowloaded the patch from the Blizzard website. The update program said the patch process succeeded. Hoping the problem would be solved, I tried to start the game again, but with absolutely no result whatsoever. It didn't even show a black screen or an error message this time. So, I rebooted my computer again. I tried to start the game once again, but again with no result. I did notice when I opened the task manager that the processes 'Game.EXE' and 'Diablo II.EXE' were still running. I rebooted my computer a few more times, but the game kept refusing to start. The two processes I named kept running after I tried to start the game, even though it wouldn't.
I have never installed this game before.

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition, Service Pack 2. All necessary updates are installed.
DirectX version: 9.0
System RAM: 512 MB
Processor: 2.66 GHZ
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce FX 5600 with 128 MB.
Version Video Card driver: 66.93

Help is greatly appreciated.

[Neo]

It would really help to know what the errors were, its kind of hard to just guess.

-Neo

[XTERMIN8OR1]

It would really help to know what the errors were, its kind of hard to just guess.

-Neo
I do not remember the messages. I will now attempt to reinstall Diablo II. If it still refuses to work after I did, I will give more information.

[XTERMIN8OR1]

I have completed installing Diablo II again. The installation process has also this time completed succesfully, but again the game won't start and gives me the same error messages it gave me earlier. The video test has suggested me to use Direct 3D, just as it suggested the first time I tried to install the game.



This is the first error message.

http://www.warboards.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2388



The second is in Dutch, so I translated it.

Diablo II: Game.exe - Application Error


The instruction on 0x00362c43 refers to memory on 0x00000004. The read or write instruction
("written") on the memory has failed.

Click OK to end the program.



I will now reboot and try to patch the game again. I hope that will solve it, but I doubt it.

Please help me solving my problem.



***UPDATE***

I tried to change the video mode used by Diablo II from Direct 3D (which the Video Test suggested me to use) to DirectDraw. That solved it; my PC was suddenly able to launch the game. Then I installed the latest patch I downloaded from the Blizzard website (I didn't connect to Battle.net because it took too long) and rebooted my PC. This is where things got very strange; again the game wouldn't launch. I had to reinstall and afterwards set the video mode to DirectDraw again. I got a question about these video modes. Is there a big difference in quality between DirectDraw and Direct 3D? If there is; is it even noticeable at all?

[Neo]

Yeah... forgot about that, the video test is complete bull -- never use it or follow what it says, lol.

-Neo

[bluemicrobyte]

In Diablo II, you won't notice much difference between direct draw and direct 3D. The only difference is that in D3D you can enable perspective mode which basically just warps the picture a little to make it look 3d (but it's not worth the trouble, I actually prefer normal mode).

[XTERMIN8OR1]

Yeah... forgot about that, the video test is complete bull -- never use it or follow what it says, lol.

-Neo

In Diablo II, you won't notice much difference between direct draw and direct 3D. The only difference is that in D3D you can enable perspective mode which basically just warps the picture a little to make it look 3d (but it's not worth the trouble, I actually prefer normal mode).

Thanks, those replies answerred my questions about Direct 3D.

As for my other problem; I said I tried to patch Diablo II from version 1.00 to the latest update. After I had patched the game and restarted my computer, the game refused to launch. Then, I again reinstalled it. I can currently play the game, but without the latest patch installed. Is this a common problem? Does Blizzard know about it? Do they offer a solution to it?

Thanks again.

[XTERMIN8OR1]

Anyone? Please? I'll give you a cookie... Or maybe more, if you want... Well, that is if you're between 17 and 20... And female... If you're interested, send me a mail including a picture... O_o

Joking. I would however really appreciate it if someone helped me with my question :) .

[rubberd91]

Did you get the expansion patch or the regular patch? There's a big difference...

[XTERMIN8OR1]

Did you get the expansion patch or the regular patch? There's a big difference...
When I had only the original Diablo II installed, I tried the latest patch for that one. Later on, I also installed the expansion pack and tried to upgrade it with the latest expansion patch. Both to no avail. For a more detailed description of my problems with the expansion patch, read this thread: http://www.warboards.org/showthread.php?t=13518.

P.S.: If anyone would be interested; I still haven't been able to play LoD! I payed for it and can't use it, that sucks :( .