when i download fish tycoon and try to open it i get a message that says: "This program has been damaged, possibly by a bad sector of the hard drive or a virus. Please reinstall it." i never installed a trial version from any other site.....i removed it totally from my computer and reinstalled it again but i get the same message.

Are you downloading it from our site, or from another game site?

im downloading it from this site. yes

Have you previously downloaded the trial from another site prior to downloading our version? If so, you should carefully remove all traces of the other version before installing ours. We have never seen that error with the download from our site.

i never downloaded any trial from anywhere i just bought it from here and i keep getting that message when i download it.

Have you checked your system for adware or spyware? There are a lot of reports on the web about that error message being related to various malware infections. I have found thousands of hits on that message doing a quick search, and most of them seem to point to adware or a virus.

i just ran my spyware program and then tried to reinstall it but im still getting the same message............is there somewhere else i can download it.

The link on our site is the only place that you can download the game and use the activation key that you received when you purchased the game from our site. The way that the downloadable game market works, each site manages their own sales and support for the game, and the activation keys issued by one distributor are not compatible with any other distributor's version of the game.

I can assure you that there is nothing wrong with the download - I periodically check it, and many other users are downloading and installing it without difficulty. Another possibility that could cause problems is the use of some sort of download accelerator that is damaging the file as it's downloaded.

You might want to do an Internet search on that error (or have a look at this thread, which is very enlightening: http://www.passmark.com/forum/showthread.php?t=549 ).

What spyware program are you running, our of curiosity? There is at least one report of that error actually being caused by a spyware program.

For the benefit of others who may have the same problem, I have compiled a list of known causes and solutions for this error:

• The setup file was damaged during download as a result of a network or download manager problem. Try downloading the game again using a different network connection or download manager.
• Your computer's hard drive has a damaged area. Run the Windows error-checking utility (for Windows XP users, Open My Computer, right-click on your hard drive icon, click properties, click on the Tools tab and press the button labeled Check Now...).
• Your computer is infected by a virus, spyware, or adware, which is causing that error to be reported. You may need to take steps to have the offending malware removed from your computer.
• There have been many reports of certain security software suites (and their components) interfering with the installation or operation of other software, which results in Windows issuing that message. The two suites that we are currently aware of are Computer Associates (CA) 2007 Internet Security Suite and the AOL Safety and Security Center. If you have either of those software suites or their components, such as CA Anti-Spyware 2007, installed on your computer, you should check their support site to see if they have issued updates that will correct the problem.