i wanted to have more then 5 families, so i did a new user and i dont know how but i messed them up. i couldnt get a new family it just kept installing my main ones. so i just gave up and switched to my main account. now my families wont play. plz help me i think i killed them! thank goodness i did a backup but i cant save them without someones help.

Esther, what did you do to the save files? (Are they still under C://(UserName)/My Documents/LDW/Virtual Families?)

It sounds like your savegame files were moved.

no i just checked they r still there. although a couple things r around the time i was trying to get more people. ill show u what i mean. see? the rest of the times r normal except the first few!

Esther, before you do anything else, make sure to back up those savegame files, so that nothing will happen to your families while we sort this out. If you don't know how to do that, look here.

Once your games are safely backed up, then we can start working on fixing this. Could you tell me exactly what you did to try to create the extra user account and games? Is there a specific post that you used to help you?

ok i backed them up. yes i used this post. im not sure how to insert a link but i found the post and copied the address. http://www.ldwforums.com/ubbthreads/ubbt...r_na#Post195565

ok that copies the link cool

OK, this should be fairly easy to fix. First, we'll get the game going in your 'main' Windows account, then have a look at the second one.

First, click on the Windows icon at the bottom left of your screen to open the Start menu. Then click on Computer about halfway down the gray-colored column on the right side. Then double click on your C: drive icon and then double-click on Program Files. Scroll down the list to find Virtual Families and double click on that folder. Then double-click on the Virtual Families application icon (the one with the picture, but not the uninst icon, which has the same picture).

Let me know what happens when you do that.

i hit start control panel add/remove user accounts then i clicked add new user standard account then i logged off my main one went to the new one opened C drive right click VF and hit create shortcut. the shortcut didnt work so i even went to this website and clicked try me. that installed it but it was my main family. so after that i said 4get it and logged off and logged back into my main account. then i deleted my other user account cause the only reason i created it was to have more families. sorry for the lengthy post

same thing as i posted in the first post. it wont open now

Then the problem is most likely that Windows Data Execution Protection is now blocking VF from running. To read about what DEP does and how to change its settings, click Start on your Vista taskbar, then click Help and Support. In the "Search Help" field at the top of the help window, type "dep" and press the Enter key on your keyboard. You should see several entries related to DEP, which you can browse to become familiar with this Vista feature. To change DEP settings, click on "Change Data Execution Prevention settings." Depending upon how Vista is set up on your computer, you may see that DEP is turned on for all programs. If this is the case, you can choose to either set DEP only for essential Windows programs and services, or to disable DEP for the game only by follow the instructions for turning off DEP for an individual program.

Please try that, which should allow your VF game to start working again.

i had the dep thing done from the last time PT quit working. u told me to do that and i did but just to make sure i checked and it said it was still there, but i redid it just to make sure. i have to restart my computer, ill be right back and hopefully this works

unfortunately restarting my computer didnt help. i really do think i killed them.

i guess that will teach me to try new things. all im thinking of right now for over a month they have been part of my daily life. i watched them grow and everyhting

Since you created another user account and (it seems) reinstalled the game from there, the game might not have the correct privileges. What happens if you right-click on the game's application icon and select "Run as administrator?"

a box pops up saying allow or cancel. i hit allow and it says the same 2 things i took a pic of in my first post

Since you have your savegame files backed up, it might be time to completely uninstall Virtual Families (either from the Control Panel - Add and Remove Programs or from the uninst icon in the game's folder in Program Files), and then reinstall it from your primary user account. Something has gotten messed up while you were trying to set it up in the other user account, and it's very difficult to determine what is wrong unless I can actually see your computer (which I can't).

You will be able to restore your savegame files if something bad happens during the install/reinstall process, so you don't have to worry about that.

ok this is really weird. i uninstalled and reinstalled from the website. i left the run VF box checked after the install and it ran great except i had no families. i clicked options full screen off then i hit quit. i doubleclicked the icon it put on my desktop and it did the same 2 boxes. so anytime i want to play i have to run the installer?

I know that Windows Vista behaves differently from Windows 98 and XP. It's possible that the display settings have somehow gotten messed up for the game. Try to force the game back to full-screen mode using the procedure in this post to see if it will run again. If it will, put your savegame files back in the proper folder in My Documents, and your games should be there again. You can run it in full-screen mode until we can figure out a better solution.

I'm going to have to quit work for the night now, since I get up before 5:30 AM every day. If that procedure doesn't fix the problem, we'll have another look tomorrow.

ok well, i tried that and it wouldnt let me save it like that. i understand about u having to get up early. now that i know i can play, even if i have to run the installer everytime lol im feeling a little bit better. thanks for all ur help tonight and ill talk to u tomorrow!

It sounds like you are not using an Administrator account on your computer. Much of what you need to do to correct this kind of problem can only be done if you have administrator privileges, especially in Windows Vista, which has a lot of security features.

Could you check to see if your user account has administrator privileges?

i checked the control panel. im the administrator and im the only user account. i deleted the other one. its frustrating, BUT i can play but i have to run the installer everytime.

In that case, you are probably being prevented from editing that file by one of Vista's security features. Vista does things very differently from XP when it comes to what's installed in Program Files and how it is handled. There are situations where even being an Admin isn't enough to let you change files that are in Program Files.

There are a couple of things we can try. The first is looking for a 'shadow' copy of that file and deleting it. Vista, in certain circumstances, puts a backup copy of changed files in a special directory called VirtualStore. You'll find that directory here: C:\Users\<your user name>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\ (you'll need to select your user account where it says <your user name> when navigating to that location). If you find anything in there related to Virtual Families, you should delete it, and again try editing the file I mentioned earlier.

If that doesn't work, you should completely uninstall Virtual Families again, reinstall the game, only this time do not let the game run immediately after installing it. Uncheck both of those check boxes, and close the installer. Then run the game and see if it will launch properly (in full screen). Leave it in full screen, quit the game and try to launch it again to see if it still works.

And, please, let me know what happens.

i cant find my virtual store! i hit my user name and it says well, its easier to take a screen shot! i dont have an app data.

It's a hidden folder. The only way to get to it is by using the navigation I provided above. Double click your C: drive, then Users, then Esther, then AppData, then Local, then VirtualStore.

i think something must be wrong with my computer i still have no app data file!

There's probably nothing wrong with your computer, Esther. You need to make sure that you display hidden folders.


To do that, you need to click on Tools=>Folder Options. Then, on the View tab, select View hidden files and folders.

ok i FINALLY found it! i checked through all the files in the virtual store and there was nothing in there about VF.

i called my brother-in-law down and he helped. he said as long as i can play it he doesnt see why im worried. i told him its not normal to have to run the installer just to be able to play the game. i messed it up somehow and i cant fix it. i even told him i had Barbara helping who is a computer genius.

OK, then the next thing to do is part 2 of my earlier post, which should fix the uneditable file situation:

ok i uninstalled reinstalled unchecked the boxes double clicked the icon and it did the same thing. i even ran the installer again just so i could put it on full screen mode then quit. i just tried the icon again same thing.

is there a phone number i could call and talk to someone? i checked the contact us page but its only addresses. i would love to be able to talk to u, or anyone directly!

I'm sorry, Esther, but we only do support on the Internet. And we have reached a point where you're probably going to need to get help from someone who can actually sit down and look at your computer. We really do try to help people with game problems, but without knowing exactly what was done to cause this problem, it's going to be very difficult and time consuming to try to continue working on it this way. There really isn't much else I can do to help without actually having your computer in my possession. I'd love to be able to keep trying, but I have some very urgent work on the iPhone version that I must get back to. Is there any family member or friend that can sit down with you and help out?

yes i can ask my brother-in-law to ask his brother. thank u so much for ur time and trying to help. like my brother-in-law said, at least i can play it. its just not normally. so again THANK U!

You're welcome, Esther. I'm sorry that we weren't able to fix it completely for you.

its not ur fault its mine. i will NEVER try to make another user again or ANYTHING that could potentially mess up my games!