The Battlefield 2 'Blink' Error

Hello, everyone. I'm new here, my name's Cameron. I've read the newbie topic, as well as looked through EA's tech support FAQ, and asked for information on several other forums (including PlanetBattlefield tech forum). I have encountered naught but dead ends, and so you guys are pretty much my final hope.

Up until very recently, my DVD copy of Battlefield 2 was working magnificently. A wonderful game in every sense of the word, and a worthy successor to the original, which I played with it's mods for around two years. One night I logged off a 3-hour session very satisfied, and went to bed.

The next day I went to join a server. The game updated the server list, and I clicked 'join' on what looked like a good one. After a second or two of the 'joining game' dialogue, the game BLINKED. There's no other word for it. Everything kind of stuttered for a split milisecond, then I was returned to the 'updating server list' screen. Confused, I tried again. Same problem. I tried over two dozen different severs of all types, to the same result. I tried again over the course of the next few days, same result.

Finally, I decided an uninstall-reinstall was in order. I went to Add or Remove programs, clicked Battlefield 2, and clicked Remove. The computer began the installation dialogue...and then it BLINKED. Just like in-game. The uninstallation dialogue disappeared and it was as if I hadn't done anything. I autoran the DVD in my drive, and tried to install the game over the existing copy. Again, it BLINKED, and the install dialogue closed. I tried several more times to uninstall, even watching the processes in Task Manager. There was no explanation. The processes simply stopped and disappeared.

I downloaded the patch, even though I already had it, and attempted to install. The patch then said that it couldn't find the Battlefield 2 installation directory, despite the fact that I installed the game to the default directory when I installed it and I can actually START THE GAME UP and LOG IN.

It is not a spyware issue or an adware issue. I have 4 major anti-spyware and anti-adware programs that I update every two days, including Spybot: Search and Destroy, and Ad-Aware Personal SE.

It's also not an internet or monitor issue. Counter Strike: Source, Day of Defeat, and Unreal Tournament 2004 all work great still, online and off.

I thought it might be a hard drive issue, so I scanned for bad sectors, defragged, cleaned up, and compressed. No change, no fix.

I'm in a bind, people. I've been able to solve almost every single computer problem I've ever had, but this one has me totally befuddled.

Help me, MajorGeeks, you're my only hope.

Edit: Almost forgot my compy specs

Motherboard: Intel D845PESV
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 @ 2.8Ghz, 533Mhz
System RAM: 1024MB of PC2100 DDR
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 6600 GT 128MB
Hard Drive: Maxtor 60GB @ 7200 RPM (an additional 7200RPM Maxtor drive with 120GB is being shipped to me, for a total of 180GB)
Optical Drive: Sony DVD+RW Drive
Secondary Optical Drive: Hewlett-Packard 8x CD-RW Drive
Power Supply: Thermaltake Silent Purepower at 480W with a maximum output of 550W

 

Don’t no much about the blink problem, however have had the same problem trying to uninstall the game. I had to manually remove all files etc.. I found the files by using the search facility in windows, traced files that way and removed. Then defragged system removed drivers used a driver cleaner, reinstalled drivers from bf2 disc and reinstalled Bf2 and latest patch. All was fine. Hope this was some help.