Problem:
I installed the game, I played the game until one day….at the screen appeared the message saying that there is an internal error code 8.

After a several hours trying to solve this issue I found that if I use the program “protect.exe” for uninstall/reinstall the starforce drivers…I can play again……

But the next time, the problem returns….this time I remove the serial number of the game from the registry, the program asked again for the serial key….and Thanks God I can play again….

But the next time, no matter what I did….I couldn’t play again….so I’m stuck with this problem. I tried to uninstall the game but when I reinstall it…the game didn’t ask for the serial key….so…I’m receiving the same message about this error code 8.

I wrote Ubisoft about it…they sent me to Starforce….I wrote Starforce….they respond to me…that maybe is for low memory….but the bottom line is: I can’t play my favorite game….and honestly I don’t know what else to do….Please I need your help….

My specs are:
Dell Dimension 8100
2.6GHz with Powerleap
640MB Ram
Mobo: Intel 850
Windows XP SP2
ATI AIW 9700Pro
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZF

ffcoloma@hotmail.com

Does the problem remain after using the Starforce removal tool (restarting the application will then reinstall the drivers)? Download removal tool here:

http://onlinesecurity-on.com/downloads/sfdrvrem.zip

Also, have you tried updating Starforce drivers:
http://www.star-force.com/support/sfdrvup.zip

If all this doesn't help, let's see if you have enough free memory left: on the Windows desktop press Ctrl-Alt-Delete. This will bring up Task Manager, now click the Performance tab. In the bottom right side of the window the current memory usage is displayed (current/total), what values does it show?

I tried using sfdrvrem.zip and also with sfdrvup.zip but it didn't work.

Physical Memory:
Total 654412
AvailableL 168560
System Cache 257544

Commit Charge: 450M/1564M

Please let me know if you need more information.

Thank you.

Judging from the commit charge there's not that much free physical memory left. After a fresh reboot try shutting down as many programs running in the background as possible (you can usually disable them using the icons in the lower right of your desktop) and then try to run the game again. Does that make any difference, and if not how much was the Commit Charge at that point?

After closing some programs at the bottom tray, I can get: Commit charge: 365M/1564M
Do you believe, that this is enough to install the game???

You mean the game is not installed at the moment? The idea is basically to free up memory before starting the game since low memory is known to cause this error. To free up as much memory as possible you can perform a clean boot of Windows:

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353

Follow the procedures in the "How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP" section and reboot the system. Now try to run the game, if it works now the problem was probably caused by low memory. Afterwards you can read the "How to return from a clean boot state" section to set everything back to normal.

Yes, I installed & reinstalled the game too many times...the last time I unistalled the game and tried to erase every key in the registry in reference to Ubisoft, Gearbox, or EIB to try again...because when I install the game, the installation wizard stopped to ask me again for the serial key...I think It can be a problem too. If you think that this can be a problem, please let me know.

I don't think that would be the problem. First you need to verify if you can successfully start the game after a clean boot. By the way how much free space do you have left on your primary partition?

I reinstalled the game...I started Win XP after a clean boot and you were right...the game started...Thank you for your advice...so...now I guess in order to play the game I'll need to start Win XP after a clean boot or maybe I'll need to add more RAM?

Add more RAM or try to reduce the number of programs running in the background by going to the startup tab in msconfig and disable the programs that you don't need. Also use Ad-Aware and Spybot to search for spyware that may be eating up resources.