I haven't played this game before (Comanche vs Hokum), it is a bought copy... in fact I had to buy two copies because one went missing in the mail (didn't claim back). But I can't even get it to start without coming up with this error. I tried the latest official patch then the community 1.12.0 patch. Neither had any effect. I've tried all the compatibility modes and I've looked online and it seems I'm the only one with this problem.

Could this be a codec problem? I've had problems with those codecs that come with the Windows o/s? I've reinstalled Windows Media Player before, which corrected most of my video codec problems.

If I 'run as', it comes up with a different error but it crashes at the same spot and in the same way (reverts back to Windows from the black screen with a beep and a typical error box). Something about being unable to delete pointer.rgb.

EECH doesn't use any codecs (it doesn't have any videos), so that isn't the problem.

Sounds like maybe the directory is write protected, check that it's not. If you're on Vista you could also try to run it as administrator to check if it's your user account which doesn't have access for some reason.

Thanks for the feedback. I have made sure that all the folders and subfolders were write enabled. I am using it under a Windows account that has administrative priveleges. Can't seem to get it to work on my our other XP (SP3) accounts, either. The only thread that I found that mentioned something just like this (though different error, same point in the startup and same behavior) had to do with a user accounts issue. I noticed there is a 1.12.2 version, which I'm downloading now. Doubtful it'll work, but...

If all else fails, I'll attempt reinstalling it in the next few days and playing it from the outset. By the way, it is a UK retail version.

of "Enemy Engaged- Commanche vs Hokum", or "Enemy Engaged 2"?

Comanche vs Hokum (Xplosiv budget label).

I read a FAQ the other day for EE:AH installation that involved patching to 1.41c or something. I just reinstalled it and played it from the CD-Rom. It boots. I installed 1.12 patch and experienced the crash. I uninstalled/reinstalled and updated EE:CH to the EECH_Patch.exe file, and then installed to 1.12 and it worked. I think I read that step for only Apache/Havoc before but can't be sure? I gather the GOG version is prepatched, hence why it wasn't mentioned as a vital step for Comanche/Hokum? The Xplosiv retail version (I prefer buying retail product) started at 1.0.2.

Or did I misread some simple instructions?

It was going very slow once patched to 1.12.2, but I still had Windows 98 compatibility set.It's fine now.