I purchased this game recently from GamersGate (the Collector’s Edition – I could have gone with Impulse too but GG is easier to find the install files so you don’t need a separate client like Impulse or Steam to run the game – more on this later). First thing I had to do was find the setup files which GG always hides when you don’t run the installer through them. The setup files are usually decompressed to your download folder, but this time they were not there. Time to hunt for wabbits!
I found the install files in a folder called Dragon Age Temp or something similar under my user folders. The three files are GameuxInstallHelper.dll, Installer.exe, unrar.dll. I copied these to my DA install folder and ran the installer myself.
Everything appeared to run smoothly, but when I went to start the game I received an error “The game cannot launch because of a misconfiguration. Please reinstall your game and try again.” I found some information on this on Impulse’s forums here. Sombody recommended installing EA’s Download Manager, which I did, but I still had problems. I also was receiving an error referencing PhysX. Nvidia’s PhysX software is on the Dragon Age DVD, but someone on the Impulse forum gave a link to an updated version on Nvidia’s website. I had problems with both because of the MSI error I mentioned receiving when trying to install Corel Paint Sho Pro. Time for more hunting.
So I finally found the solution to my original problem with PSP and with installing PhysX from MSI installers. There’s a nice troubleshooting writeup by Install Shield here. The relevant part for me was concerning changes I made to the Registry under the keys:
HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Shell Folders & User Shell Folders and
HKL/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Shell Folders & User Shell Folders
Under these keys I change the locations of My Documents (the “Personal” key) and Favorites so I can share these folder on the network and use them from multiple computers. After I changed the “X” drive back to “C”, the installer worked fine. Kind of stupid that my changing a totally unrelated value bonks an installer.
That finally fixed my Dragon Age run problem. I can now get into the game, but I have not tried playing yet. Hopefully the worst is over.