Another good idea, Starcom!

Agreed. I think you're on to something Starcom...when I double click or right click open, nothing happens. Nothing opens up. I'm guessing I should see something?

Well, well! I'm wondering if Mikael can send you a text file to insert in that file. Of course, you need to be able to open the file to insert the text.

I don't suppose the problem could be anything as simple as a corrupted download ?? Or has that possibility already been discounted ??

Already vetted Mad.

Just clutching at straws

I think we all are, Mad! Sounds like Starcom might have hit on that settings.exe file though.

I agree with Draclvr that something is amiss as Sherlock Holmes would say, just to be clear, you doubled clicked on the ... settings.exe file and still nothing?
I also agree with Draclvr and some of the other Moderators in this forum plus the Moderators in the TechSupportGuy forum in which I participate that the Built in Microsoft Defender (+ your Malewarebytes) is MORE than good enough protection, Windows 10 is very fussy with 3rd party Antivirus software.
So this is my personal opinion and I would Completely remove Avira, I know it is not easy to do, I am a Big Kaspersky fan, one The Best Security software out there but I gave it up about a year ago and I have had Zero baddies invade my computer, I also have Malewarebytes pro to accompany W10 secutity, which mentioned before could be a problem with this game.

Could Avira have removed this settings.exe file? I also have gone strictly to Defender and Malwarebytes Pro. Have had zero issues ever... many years. Does Avira keep a list of files and programs it has blocked or quarantined?

I've given up since I'm starting to research/build a new PC. Thanks again everyone.

Yeah, I'd say you've exhausted everything on this one!

I hope you'll be able to play the game in the future!

Keep us posted on your research/build of a new PC and good luck with your search.

I suggest a computer with 12 year old parts (or older), where the motherboard has been used to crunch numbers for the Human Genome Project or SETI in countless overnight sessions. That's the computer I played "Geospots," "Fall of April," and several other Carol Reed games on and they ran perfectly.

I also suggest a monitor with 1920x1200 (aka 16:10) resolution.

Update...I was finally able to find a way to get Quarantine Diary to run. I copied these dlls: D3D8, DDraw and D3DImm into the setup and no more blanks. It works!

I guess I was having a draw or directx issue.

BTW...still haven't built my in PC yet.

Well that is good to hear revco! Enjoy the game!