I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this.. I was looking at my backup of my old computer and saw the game Hope Springs Eternal... I downloaded it to my new one... I have most everything.. the area, config, dlls, frames, data, Icons, inventory, schemes..... but cannot find the .exe to start this.... this means this game is in the never going to get it started category right.

Mikael Nyqvist continues to support his Carol Reed games, even back to the first one from 2004. The original versions of the oldest Carol Reed games have issues on Windows 7/8/10, so Mikael will provide download links for the updated versions if you contact him.

There is a "contact us" link on the game's webpage
http://www.mdna-games.com/Hope/

Also Mikael Nyqvist is a member of Gameboomers, so you can PM him. He posted a few days ago in this thread
http://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubbthre...ament_from_Cyan

As for what happened to your game .exe
maybe Windows or your antivirus deleted it or removed the .exe extension because it was an .exe file Windows wasn't familiar with (so Windows or the antivirus assumed it was a virus). If there's a file in the game folder that has no extension, could that have been the game exe?

I don't know how old your "backup" was, but the original versions of the early Carol Reed games are only for Windows 98/2000/XP and you'd be better off getting the updated version of the game anyway. When you do, be sure to back up the installer and not the game folder.

good idea thanks Jenny

Winfrey, do you have the option 'show hidden files' turned on?
As far as I remember, the EXE could be hidden there.
And - I think that all Adventure Maker games could be run with the same EXE. So if you have other early Carol Reed game, try its EXE!

Thanks for the suggestion Iurii.. I do have other early games I will give it a try.. and yes I do have show hidden files turned on. thanks for the hint. EDIT Iurii tried it, but I must be missing more than I thought it tells me files are missing in order to run the game... thanks tho... will just buy it again when I want to play it.

You won't need to buy it again, Winfrey - Mikael's upgrades are free if you have already purchased the game.

Thanks Marian, he took care of me.