I have had an original copy of the above title for some time and have
had no problems running it on my laptop.I recently purchased a new
computer with a cd-rw/dvd-rw drive and although I can install it
without incident it will not let me run the game with a message
popping up which reads "UNABLE TO AUTHENTICATE ORIGINAL DISC WITHIN
TIME LIMIT" I have tried to solve this problem myself and have a
feeling that it is to do with the cd copy protection on the disc. I
have discovered products such as alcohol but do not fully understand
how to if possible produce a readable copy of the original disc purely
to play myself.
Can anybody talk me through this problem step by step?

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Clarification of Question by juggy-ga on 20 Mar 2004 13:53 PST

In response to query by Serge-ga:

It may be that I need to clarify my question. I am now using a desktop
computer (compaq Presario s5500uk) with improved performance in every
aspect( including dvd-rw/cd-rw drive) compared with the laptop I had.
I could play this game on the old laptop but not on the new desktop. I
dont need a copy of the original disc just to be able to play the
original disc I purchased.

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Clarification of Question by juggy-ga on 29 Mar 2004 13:45 PST

Apologies for my poor attempts to describe my problem. I am trying to
play the game with an original disc which I purchased legitimately, on
a new computer I bought which has a better spec than the laptop I had
before this which ran the original disc without any problems. The disc
will install but wont run. I have the original disc and not a bootleg
copied version.

Is the new computer a laptop also?
If so, I think your problem may really be related to the performance
of your CD-ROM drive rather than the copy protection being used.  Does
the drive spin up to speed when you load the program?  Some systems do
not mount and make the disc contents immediately available to the
programs that request them, if the drive has been idle.  Also, laptop
or notebook computers have much slower drive speeds to conserve
battery. Does your program work well on a desktop computer?

If you've had no problems, why are you seeking a copy of the disc?  I
would check the license, making a copy may be prohibited.  Have you
considered purchasing another copy of the game to run it on both
computers?

Did you install/try to play with the original disk or with a copy?
Does the game work with the original version of the game? Do you still
have the original Disk, or do you only have the copy. Please clarify
you question

Morl99

I had the same problem and i went on a site called www.megagames.com
and downloaded a game fix. Once you get go on system files and replace
the fix with cm 03/03 icon.