Hi, Everyone.

I just installed the above game. But when I tried to play it, it crashed right away with the Windows error message about checking for an online solution (never works!) and/or close the program. I never even got to see the opening cutscene. I am running the game on Win 7, and the game is for Win 7, Vista, and XP SP2. Can someone help, and ASAP, please? Thanks.

Is this a download from somewhere or the original disk?

If it's this game
https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/jekyll-hyde_
The problem is likely to be the DRM if the game on DVD, and you'll probably need a NoCD.
If it's a download it shouldn't have that problem, but I'm not seeing the game on Steam.

If it's this game
https://www.mobygames.com/game/mysterious-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/release-info
https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/5887/the-mysterious-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/
It should work if it's from Big Fish.

No, Draclvr. It's the original disk. It took me practically forever to finally trust even Big Fish enough to start downloading their games. And I think it was only early this year that I finally started downloading games from Steam - and only because, as hard as it is to find adventure games these days, the ones I can find seem to come with only the Steam installer.

Thanks for the links, Jenny, but as I just mentioned, the game is not a download but on the original disk. And I don't think it's from mobygames either. As I mentioned in my original message, I couldn't even see the opening credits, cutscene, anything. But I don't see the name "mobygames" anywhere on the game's case. On the front, it just says Adventure Games. On the back, there is a clutter of credits in the lower-right corner: Adventure Company, PhysX NVidia, Bink Video, EMOTIONFX, and Pixelcage. When I searched for the game's files in Computer, it gives me a folder BitComposer. Does any of that help you determine anything...?

I should also tell you that the problem details included in the Windows Error message I get identify "Hyde.exe" both as the Application Name and as the Fault Module Name. I kind of thought it might be the .exe file that is causing the problem, so the Error Message seems to confirm that. Is there any way to fix that?

Last, but not least, Jenny, didn't you once tell me that it's not a good idea to use NoCD, because it can have viruses or might be pirated, or something like that?

Finally, thanks a lot, both you guys. I really appreciate your trying to help. And do, please, "stay" with me and help me get this problem resolved. As you well know, there are just SO few Adventure games left, and I am now down to the last few I have left...

Then I suspect that the problem is that Windows 7 is blocking the DRM as Jenny said. And yes, the NoCDs can be infected... but there are also reputable sources for them out there.

Thanks. Could you please give me a link to one or more of these reputable sources?

I don't use them, so I don't have any links. Hopefully, Jenny will have some suggestions for you.

Hey, Jenny. Hope you read my above reply? I just checked your first link: https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/jekyll-hyde_ Yes, that 's my game all right! The link shows a a pretty similar cover. In my game, the "PC DVD" don't appear in a box as it does in the one in the link. Also, mine has "Teen" instead of the other stuff that shows in the lower-left corner of the link's cover. But the link does mention the same publisher BitComposer and developer Pixelcage. But there is no tab or link to any support on that page. Do you know how to contact those folks for tech help?

I guess you figured out by now that Mobygames is a game encyclopedia, not a download website. It's useful for identifying games. And yes, that's the game that might have a problem with the disc-based DRM.

I kind of doubt the game is still being supported. BitComposer has a website here
http://www.bit-composer.com/www_en/
but there is no mention of the Jekyll & Hyde game.


The NoCD itself wouldn't be pirated. In the past, pirates may have used NoCD's along with illegal downloads. However people who bought the games also used NoCD's when the DRM failed to allow their legally bought games to run, or was adding several minutes to the time it took the game to start.

The problem with NoCD's is mostly one of reputation -- do you trust the people who made the NoCD not to put a virus in it? I think most of them are fine, but just in case, you should probably scan the NoCD with an antivirus before using it.

I haven't used many NoCD's and I'm certainly not an expert.

As for direct links to NoCD's, I can't give one because of how the websites that host the NoCD for this particular game are set up.

If you want to try a NoCD, you can do a Google search for

Jekyll and Hyde NoCD

The NoCD at megagames (made by Vitality) scans as clean.

You can download the NoCD, and before you use it, upload it to antivirus scanners such as
https://www.virustotal.com
and
https://virusscan.jotti.org/

to make sure it is clean.
Since the NoCD is from 2010, if it had a virus in it the antivirus scanners would probably know about it by now.

The NoCD at Megagames seems to be a replacement Hyde.exe file, so to use it:

1. unzip the NoCD
2. Back up or rename your original Hyde.exe file (to Hyde.old or Hyde.bak or some other thing) if you don't want to overwrite it.
3. Move the Hyde.exe from the zip file to the game folder

One problem with NoCD's is that they may not work with all versions of the game.
Also they aren't patches, and won't help if there are other technical problems.

Thanks, Jenny. Will see what I can do, but... it's probably not worth the hassle (risk?)... I'll just put this game along with some others that wouldn't run.

But, thanks again, Draclvr and Jenny, for all your help.

Sorry we couldn't help.
I see no one has a Let's Play of this game on YouTube, so you may not be the only one who can't get it working on a modern computer. Considering Steam doesn't offer it (and they offer most anything) it may have technical issues beyond the DRM.

No, please don't be sorry. I really appreciated both of you trying to help. But I guess it's one of those games. I remember I used to have an older Jekyll & Hyde game, came in a jewel case - you know, the ones that sell for $9.99. That was designed for XP, but I couldn't get my XP to run it. So I guess these J & H games are just not designed that well... or something...

At any rate, could you please drop me a line if perchance you do see something to help me with my problem. I'm putting the game away, but I never sell them or give them away, you know. Except for the few I did give to my brother, who is not even a gamer! Just keeps them for me, so to speak, as my shelves/cupboard has runneth over, over the years.

Once again, thanks so much!

Guess what, guys? I installed the game on my old XP, and it is running just fine! I had observed something during the installation on my Win 7, which might help explain why the game didn't run on Win 7 even though the package had included Win 7 and Vista as capable of running the game. But I'd like to hear your thoughts before talking about it. So, please, let me know! Thanks

I have been following this thread too and I would think that you would not have this problem on Windows XP, because it would not be blocking the DRM the way that Windows 7 would be.

But then why (Marian) won't A Vampyre Tale play in XP?

I'm curious what Zureen observed during the install on Win 7. I guess I'm going to have to try the game myself and see what happens.

I am not sure, oldbroad. Is it a copy protection problem with Vampyre? I don't remember. And of course I could be wrong about my supposition, too!

Actually, Marian, based on what my observation seems to confirm, the problem had nothing to do with the DRM. And keep in mind, the back of the case clearly stated that the game could be run on, and in exactly this order, Win 7, Vista, and XP-SP2. Any other ideas?

I don't know. I thought that is what was decided upon .

I'll tell you soon enough, oldbroad. You don't have to play the game just for that reason (although it did turn out to be a rather interesting game, so I wouldn't discourage you from playing it). But I just want to hear some more theories, that's all.

I have to finish putting my old XP computer back together again and see if A Vampyre Story will play there. I'm doubting it will, but only because of the on-board graphics in that computer.

Hey, this thread was about Jekyll & Hyde. So why has everyone started talking about A Vampyre Story all of a sudden ...?

I don't think Drac saw all of the earlier posts from today or else she would have responded to your question. I am waiting to hear more theories about Jekyll & Hyde.

Sorry, I sure didn't! I have lots of visitors from Colorado right now and am flying in and out of the threads! I didn't even realize I was in this thread... read oldbroad's post and just responded. Sorry, Zurreen!

I'm sorry Zureen. I did NOT intend for that happen!!! Please forgive me. I am also interested in hearing about Jekyll & Hyde!

Vista and Windows 7 did not block DRM-related drivers at the time of the game's release in 2010.
It wasn't until 2015 that a Microsoft security update blocked installation of the DRM-related drivers because Microsoft found they caused system instability and opened security holes.
From ***HowToGeek***

The game was released in 2010.
2010 is before 2015.
So DRM that was allowed by Windows 7 in 2010 may have been blocked in 2015.

Be aware that SafeDisc and SecuROM aren't the only ones that were blocked.
They're just the best known. Any DRM that tries to install drivers Microsoft thinks are unsafe is blocked.

Often the drivers try to install themselves the first time you try to run the game, and not at the time of installation. So if you see an error message the first time you try to run the game, the DRM is one of the possible suspects.

About the only way to prove the DRM is causing the game not to play is to try it both with and without the NoCD. If the game only works when you install the NoCD, there's your answer.
If you don't want to use the NoCD, and the game works on an older computer with an earlier version of Windows, there are several reasons a game may not work on the newer computer, both hardware-related and software-related.

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It should as long as your video card and its drivers are compatible.
Be sure to install the patch.
Among other things, the patch is supposed to remove the SecuROM DRM.

There's more than one reason DRM might prevent a game from playing.

1. One reason is that Windows itself is blocking the installation of DRM-related drivers.

2. Another reason is that the CD/DVD drive is not able to get past the DRM.
A computer that played a game without any apparent problem in the past may not be able to get past the DRM's disc check a few years later because the CD/DVD drive is aging, and the motor and read speed aren't quite as consistent. A drive may still be able to read and write normal files, but the ability to get past disc-based DRM and allow a game to play is the first thing to go.

Of course there are brand new drives that also can't get past the DRM.
I know because I bought them. And the DRM manufacturers will never tell you which model drive to buy that is compatible with their DRM, and will swear up and down that it will work with any drive, despite that this is an obvious lie -- proven to be a lie when the game works perfectly with a NoCD. Only a few publishers will release a patch that removes the DRM. A Vampyre Story has such a patch. Ubisoft also had similar patches for some of the games they published -- Myst IV (I think it was Myst IV) and some of their Darkside games.

Also the DRM manufacturers blacklisted some legitimate programs because they might conceivably be used to crack the DRM -- programs like the sysinternals utilities and Nero. Never mind that the tools DRM crackers actually use are easier to use for that purpose and are not blocked. DRM has always been a bad joke that only harmed people who paid money the game, while those who downloaded the warez versions were not affected.

3. And then there are non-DRM related reasons the game may not work, such as lack of compatibility with certain video driver versions or features being dropped from newer video cards. The latest drivers aren't always the best. The best are usually the ones the game would have been tested with, which would pre-date the game's release.