Computer Not Good Enough???

First off i want to let you guys know that i have no IDEA what im doing with computers on the level you guys know, so bare with me and elaborate on instructions/directions please. After a couple frustrating hours i finally wrote what happened when i installed my game and i got alot of key computer specs for you guys. I hope i gave you guys enough information so that you can give me really good advice! AND this is a laptop we're dealing with here.


Well i installed the game Red Alert 2 completely fine..
then when i clicked the icon the screen came up then minimized on the toolbar then disappeared then it said "WARNING MILITARY SOFTWARE DETECTED TOPSECRET CLEARENCE REQUIRED" as always. But their was no screen, i waited a couple minutes because the computer froze then i turned it off ejected the disk and started it back up. I tried again this time a tiny screen on the desktop came up and it said Red Alert 2 but their was nothing on the toolbar i clicked the icon again and my disk drive made a chug a chug a chug kind of sound (you get the point, lol) then it said "WARNING MILITARY SOFTWARE DETECTED TOPSECRET CLEARENCE REQUIRED" and it froze it installed fine and it seems like my computer is just a little too slow!?


Three things about the last paragraph that i want to let you guys know before any advice are,
1. The noise made from the disk drive made it sound like it was working very hard NOT like it was broken. Could the problem be that my disk drive isnt good or fast enough to deal with this game, and if this is the case can this be upgraded without messing up the laptop??

2. "WARNING MILITARY SOFTWARE DETECTED TOPSECRET CLEARENCE REQUIRED" is said every time the game is started........just to let you know

3. The disk is NOT messed up because ive used it on my other computer for the whole family.

OK, here's all the spec's for you guys......
from the computer summary
tell me if i need to post anymore important ones

Computer Summary
Computer-
Operating System- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack- Service Pack 2
DirectX- 4.09.00.0904
Computer Name- KEVIN

Motherboard-
CPU Type- Mobile Intel Pentium M 735, 600 MHz (6 x 100)
Motherboard Name- Dell Inspiron 2200
Motherboard Chipset- Intel Alviso-Gi910GML
System Memory- 502 MD (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type- Phoenix (06/21/05)

Display-
Video Adapter- Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS,910GML Express Chipset Family (128 MB)
Video Adapter- Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS,910GML Express Chipset Family (128 MB)
3D Accelerator- Intel GMA 900
Monitor- Plug and Play Monitor [NoDM]
Monitor- Plug and Play Monitor [NoDM]
Monitor- Plug and Play Monitor [NoDM]

Multimedia-
Audio Adapter- Intel 82801FBM ICH6-M – AC’97 Audio Controller [B-1]

Storage-
IDE Controller- Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers – 266F
Disk Drive- Hitachi HTS541060G9AT00 (60 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optical Drive- PHILIPS CDRW/DVD SCB5265
SMART Hard Disks Status- OK

Partitions-
C: (NTFS) 53725 MB (40237 MB free)

Input-
Keyboard- Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse- Synaptics S/2 Port Pointing Device

Network-
Network Adapter- Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN Mini-PCI Card (192.168.0.12)
Network Adapter- Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection
Modem- Conexant D110 MDC V.9x Modem

Peripherals-
Printer- Dell AIO Printer A920
Printer- Fax
Printer- Intuit Internal Printer
Printer- Microsoft Office Document Image Writer
USB1 Controller- Intel 82801FBM ICH6-M - USB Universal Host Controller [B-1]
USB1 Controller- Intel 82801FBM ICH6-M - USB Universal Host Controller [B-1]
USB1 Controller- Intel 82801FBM ICH6-M - USB Universal Host Controller [B-1]
USB1 Controller- Intel 82801FBM ICH6-M - USB Universal Host Controller [B-1]
USB2 Controller- Intel 82801FBM ICH6-M - Enhanced USB2 Controller [B-1]
Battery- Microsoft AC adapter
Battery- Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery


I really hope that you guys can give me some help with what i may be doing wrong or what needs to be better for my computer to run it.

 

As far as what your sys needs to run it I need to see the games systems requirements from the box/website/google.

Okay this is the important info you need to look at or in the future:

CPU, RAM and Video Card will determine whether you can play a game or not. DirectX can be important also (but can be upgraded as software to a certain extent). You need to read the games system requirements on the back of the box and ensure that you meet at least the "Minimum Requirements" otherwise the game will not run! Here is a link which will help you determine your system specs but also clearly explain what system requirements you need for varying levels of games (excellent read!):

http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=303

 

thanks alot

 

System Requirements
Minimum:
Pentium II 266 MHz, 64 MB RAM, Windows 95/98/ME/2000/NT6, DirectX 7.0a, 2 MB DirectX-compliant video card, DirectX-compliant sound card, and 200 MB hard-disk space

Recommended:
Pentium 450 MHz, 128 MB RAM, and DirectX-compliant 3D accelerator

 

I'm feeling for you at least you can understand what has occured and I hope you understand why. Basically your CPU and memory (RAM) cannot process the amount of information and at the required speed for the game to run efficiently, at best you would get a slow motion strobbing effect but it would more than likely stall/hang and crash.

Hate to be the bearer of bads news.

An analogy: it would like getting a 3-tonne flat bed truck towing a semi trailer, just not going anywhere.

 

What are you talking about? He's got a Pentium M notebook with 512Mb of RAM.

More likely it is a compatibility issue with Red Alert 2 and Windows XP. Since it is a pretty old game, it was made before Windows XP came out. One thing you can try is to run it in Windows 2000 or Windows 98 compatibility mode.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/apcompatmode.mspx

Here is a link describing how to do this.

Also, make sure you have the latest updates from the manufacturer's website.

 

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/commandconquerredalert2/downloads.html

Here is a list of downloads for Red Alert 2 including patches. You may need to sign up with gamespot.

 

The older C&C games could not run on XP without a patch, I thought red alert 2 was not one of them, but that sounds like it may be the problem. This is pretty common and you could probably find the fix via google.

This link was taken from another forum where this problem was solved:

http://www.gamehelp.com/talk/pc/command_conquer_red_alert/52672178.htm

However, I cant see the link b/c of my filter at work, so look it over carefully and make sure that is your problem.

 

There is no real need to post the same problem in multiple forums, someone should close this thread as the one you started in the game discussion forum is more appropriately placed.

 

i wasnt sure which one it would fit in i saw the games section after i put it in this one....
thanks for the links im going to try them out now.

 

ive played red alert 2 on xp pro and home with no problems what-so-ever......

 

Is their another list of patches that i wont have to pay to download......

 

here are some patches. make sure you install them in order

http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?tg=dl-20&tag=srch&qt=red alert 2 patch

 

Sorry I got confused and was reading the current specs but not his previously stated specs my mistake.

 

On the Game Requirements i posted afterwards it said under
Recommended-
3D accelerator

Would that automatically be on my computer or would i need to download some sort of 3D accelerator


I did the system compatibility stuff but it still didnt work
I reinstalled and did it twice again still nothing seems to be working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

you have onboard video on your laptop which counts as a 3d accelerator

 

dang it i guess it just wont fricking work for my computer thanks anyways guys......................