After installing a game, the 'Play Nancy Drew Games' icon (Nancy Drew Central) does not update to show the game. Or you receive the following error message:

Object reference not set to an instance of an Object.

CAUSE:

A problem during installation has not allowed the Nancy Drew Central (NDC) feature to update properly. This feature is only included in the recent games (starting with title #16 The White Wolf of Icicle Creek). NDC will only update to show games installed from a CD, it will not include games purchased as a digital download on-line. Digital download games will create an individual game icon on your Desktop.

RESOLUTION:

You can simply go to Start/Programs/Nancy Drew/ and find the icon or folder that has the title of your game, then click on the corresponding icon and the game should start as usual. You can also create a shortcut from this location to place directly on your desktop. All previous games will have a listing in NDC, but please keep in mind that if you have uninstalled a game, or have not yet installed it, you will not be able to open it from NDC.

To fix NDC will involve uninstalling and reinstalling the game. First, delete the NDC folder in this location:

C:\Program Files\Nancy Drew\Nancy Drew Central

Then uninstall the game that is not showing in NDC or is causing the error message to occur. After uninstalling, check the following locations for any remaining file folders for that specific game and delete them if necessary:

C:\Program Files\Nancy Drew\
In the Documents folder for XP: C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\
In the Documents folder for Vista: C:\Users\Username\Documents\

Once all remaining game files are deleted, reinstall the game. This should update NDC and restore normal functionality.

The following error messages appears when starting the game:

Application failed because of missing component d3dx9_33dll

CAUSE:

DirectX 9 files required to play the game did not install properly during the download process or an older version of DirectX is currently installed.

RESOLUTION:

Click on the following link to download and install the latest version of DirectX from Microsoft: DirectX update. 

If that does not work, please try downloading the following version of DirectX. This link will download many files for the update, so before downloading create a DirectX folder in your Documents folder. Then click on the following link and follow the instructions to download the files: DirectX files. Be sure to save the download files to the folder you made. Once the download is complete, open the folder you created and double-click on the dxsetup file. This will bring up an install wizard that will walk you through installing the updates. Once the wizard has finished you should be able to open and start the game.

For additional information about Activation Codes for digital download games, please visit the Locate Activation Code page.

During installation, you receive a DLA error and are unable to remove Disc 1 from the drive.

CAUSE:

A program currently on your computer, Sonic DLA, is not allowing the game installer to function properly.

RESOLUTION:

Disabling or removing the DLA program before installing the game may be necessary. The first thing to try is disabling the program by taking the following steps:

1. Go to 'Start' - 'My Computer' and right-click on the icon for your disc drive then select 'Properties'.

2. Click on the tab at the top that says 'DLA'.

3. Uncheck the box for 'Enable DLA on your drives', then click 'Apply' and then 'OK' to finish.

Then reinstall the game. If the DLA error continues to occur, you'll need to remove the program by going to your Control Panel and uninstalling it from there. Look for a program called DLA from Sonic or Roxio and uninstall. Then try reinstalling the game again. After the game has successfully installed you can look for the Roxio/Sonic program again via download on the internet.

Error 2753 occurs and installation does not complete.

CAUSE:

Installer sees duplicate files in a Temp folder on the computer for previous files that have the same name as files included with the game and cannot successfully install the game.

RESOLUTION:

Create a new folder inside the Temp folder and moving all temp files into the new folder. To do this, please take the following steps:

1. From the Start menu, go to the Control Panel. If you're in Vista, select "classic view" from the left-hand panel.

2. Select "Folder Options", and go to the "View" tab.

3. Under "Hidden Files and Folders", select "Show Hidden Files and Folders", and press the Apply button.

4. From the Start menu, select "My Computer" (XP) or "Computer" (Vista), and go to your C:\ drive.

5. Go to the following location (for "username" substitute the username under which you are logged in):
XP: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Temp
Vista: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp

6. Create a new folder inside of the temp folder. Copy all the files in the Temp folder and move them into your new folder. If any specific file will not move or delete, just choose ‘Skip’ or ‘OK’ to skip that file.

7. Start the install process as usual.

Saved games don't show saved game progress, won't load or were accidentally overwritten.

CAUSE:

A failed installation or corrupted file may be causing saved games not to work.

RESOLUTION:

Uninstalling and reinstalling the game should fix corrupted files. Before uninstalling, copy your saved game and paste it to another folder to keep from losing your game progress. Next delete the saved game folder which will be in one of the following locations (depending on how old the game is and what version of Windows you have):

C:\Nancy Drew (older games)
C:\Program Files\Nancy Drew (newer games)
My Documents folder for XP (C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Documents)
Documents folder for Vista (C:\Users\Username\Documents)

After copying your saved game to another location, be sure to delete any remaining game folders and then uninstall and reinstall the game.

Start a new game, play for a minute or two and then save your game. Reload this game to verify the Save feature is working. If it is, then move your old saved game(s) you had copied to another location back to your new saved game folder and try to load that original saved game again. If it still doesn’t work, then that saved game file may be corrupted and no longer able to load or play.

Unfortunately if a saved game is accidentally overwritten, the previous saved game cannot be recovered. We recommend saving multiple games early and often.