INI Error or CAL/CIFTREE Error
If you receive one of these errors after installing your game:
• Incorrect path to .ini file
• Error – Incorrect path to .INI (CAL/CIFTREE)
• CALTREE or CIFTREE Error
This means that the game installer cannot write to the expected file location. Creating a path to a new installation location will correct this problem.
1) Disable any security software – anti-virus, spyware protection, etc. – you have running. Anti-virus software can block parts of the configuration file.
2) Log in to the Administrator Account. If there is more than User Account (log in) on this computer, please install and play the game logged in under the Administrator Account.
3) If you previously installed this game or had a failed installation, a remaining configuration file can interfere with installing correctly. Try completely deleting the game folder. This is most easily done by running a search of all files and folders. Go to Start Menu > Start Search or the Search Bar > type in the name of the game. Any files or folders that come up need to be deleted and emptied from your Recycle Bin.
4) After logging in as the Administrator and disabling your anti-virus, you’re ready to manually install.
1. Go to your Documents folder and create a new folder. Name the folder with the title of the game.
2. Insert game Disc 1 in your disc drive. Go to Start Menu > Computer.
3. Right-click your CD-Rom/DVD drive and choose Open.
4. Look for the Setup file (this file will display as Setup Application, Setup.exe, or Setup Launcher Installshield). Double-click this file to start the installation process.
5. Move through the install process until you reach Choose Destination Location. Click the Browse button or Change button.
6. Navigate to the game folder you created by double-clicking in the Directories box. Select C: drive > Users > User name > Documents > the game folder you created. When you have the correct Path, choose OK.
7. Continue forward with the installation process. When asked if you want to install DirectX, check “No, I will install myself.”
8. Upon completion, click finish and exit setup.
For game titles #1-#5, you may need to follow these three additional steps:
1. Right-click the game icon that is now on your desktop, select Properties.
2. Under Properties, click on the Compatibility tab.
3. Check the Run in Compatibility Mode box and then select Windows 98/Me from the drop-down menu.
Was this solution helpful? Did it solve your issue? If not, please contact our Technical Support team at techsupport@herinteractive.com.
This works great with all of my older Nancy Drew games with the exception of Shadow Ranch. I follow all of the steps EXACTLY and I’m still getting the INI Error message. Although the disc is old, it does run on an older computer that my grandparents a couple states away have. Any suggestions?
That’s odd, could you please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com with this question, Allie? Thanks!
I am having the same issue as well! Along with a few problems with message in a haunted mansion and ghost dogs of moon lake. I have reached out on several occasions but have yet to receive a response.
Hello Shelby! It’s possible our techsupport@herinteractive.com emails are going to your spam folder… please check to make sure our email is marked as a “safe sender.”
I have the exact same problem! It works with all of my older games except shadow ranch.
I just wanted to say thank you! While reinstalling my games onto a new computer, I have had 2 of the above 3 issues happen when reinstalling games 1-15, and your solution worked both times! I had the CIFTREE issue with Kapu Cave, and after hunting and discovering a couple configuration files in an old folder (I have created my own Program Files (x86)/Herinteractive folder for all of my games, so my old Nancy Drew folder was causing the issue), your solution worked flawlessly! Great job, and thank you again!
I have windows 8 and cannot figure out how to download “Stay Tuned for Danger”!!!!
Hi Maria! We no longer offer Stay Tuned for Danger to download since it has been discontinued. If you are trying to install the disk on your computer, it won’t work on the Windows 8 (this is why it was discontinued). If you have another computer you could use (an older one) it may work. Email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com for more details!
Is this an issue with Scarlet Hand and Ghost Dogs as well? I also have Windows 8 and I got the INT error on Scarlet Hand. (I have yet to try to install Ghost Dogs.) I assumed that it was just too old, like Stay Tuned. It worked fine when I had Windows 7 (which Stay Tuned didn’t). I just want to be sure before I try the above solution.
I meant INI, not INT. Sorry about that.
It’s quite possible. Please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and we can help further!
WAS THIS CORRECTED?
BECAUSE I BOUGHT THIS GAME LAST NIGHT AND I HAVE WINDOWS 10… I AM TRYING TO GET THE GAME TO WORK BUT IT IS NOT.
CAN I PLEASE HAVE SOME ASSISTANCE?
Hello Kayla, would you please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and let us know which games you are trying to install? Thank you!
Well I downloaded it and it’s not working so how do I get my money back
Hi Carrie, please email our tech support your problem and they can help you solve the issues. – Indy
These steps helped me install it just fine it could just be your disk
Thank you! Worked perfectly for The Final Scene.
i have tried these steps exactly with the games 3-6,8-9,11-12 and 17 and has not worked for even one of them…
This helped me out a lot!
I was a bit worried about the screen resolution settings because the requirements (640×800 or something) were too low for my monitor, but this did not end up being a problem. I haven’t been able to play this game in years because of this problem-thank you for fixing it Herinteractive!
hi, I really really want to play danger on deception island and I was wondering if anyone had tried the thing towards that specific game ( danger on deception island) and would tell me if it worked for them or not.( p.s. I have three computers to try on aged 2012, 2008, and 2004. ). thanks! 🙂
Hello tooobsessedwnd, would you please forward your questions to techsupport@herinteractive.com? Thanks!
I have used these steps with Danger on Deception Island on my Windows 7 laptop and I was able to play the game with no issues. Hope this helps! 🙂
This didn’t help for my ND games but….. I found something the did!
Just follow these steps:
1.Disable any antivirus you have on your computer.
2.Make sure you are signed in as administrator of your computer.
3.Make a new file and put the game name. Example: Message in a Haunted Mansion
4.Put in the game in then click on your computer icon.
5.Go to the CD/DVD Drive and open it.
6:Click on the setup icon and run it.
7.Click next until you get to the game destination. This is the most important part, type in this except put change the title to whatever ND you’re trying to install. Example:”C:\program files\Nancy Drew\Message in a Haunted Mansion\”. Make sure to put in “program files” as this is what stops the INI error and let’s you play.
This works with every game that I have tried that has the INI error.
Hope this helped!
-Tiffany
This worked for me! Thank you so much you saved me from a lot of hassle.
Thank you so much this worked
Thank you! The self help faq solution did work for other games, but for some reason it would not work for the Final Scene.
You are a genius. Thanks.
Wow, Tiffany! Thank you soooo much! I tried everything to get my game to work and all of it failed, until I followed your instructions and typed in “program files.” That worked like magic!
Again, thank you! I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to play the older Nancy Drew games anymore, and that would have been awful!
Have a great day, genius! Lol
OH MY GOODNESS THANK YOU SO MUCH! Previously, I’d tried the “install as document” method, and it worked great but I spent an entire day trying to get either Shadow Ranch or Blackmoor Manor to install and neither would work! The fact that I’d gotten the OG version of Secrets Can Kill (which was buggy even when it came out) and Stay Tuned for Danger to work but not these two was driving me up a wall! I made sure to install it under “program files” and so far Blackmoor works great! I’ll try it with Shadow Ranch next. Thank you!!!!
Thank you Tiffany!!! I thought I’d tried everything with the Mansion game – and then I found your advice and it worked immediately. So excited (and so thankful to you for the post)!!!
I tried this with Danger By Design so many times, What am I doing wrong?
I downloaded Danger on deception island.It worked for me as the game is able to launch after downloading.But i quit the game and played it shortly afterwards by clicking on the game icon on the desktop page but this pops out:
“ERROR-incorrect path to INI file-
C:\Users\techsupport\Documents\Danger
on deception island\Game.INI”
HELP!!! 🙁
Hi Jade! Email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and we can help!
I downloaded Danger on Deception Island from Bigfish and for some reason I am getting the ini file alert when I try and play the game. I don’t have the disks so how would I solve the problem?
Hi Jana! Email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and we can help you further. 🙂 (Support Her Interactive by ordering from our site.!)
Hello there, I downloaded Danger by Design (from the disks) there was nothing i had to fix in the set up for it to download, but whenever i go into the game to play it, i try pressing “New Game” but then some error thing comes up then takes me out of the game completely. If you have any way of helping me on this id really appreciate it!!
Hi Ayla! Would you please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com so we could help? Thanks!
Hi, I downloaded danger on deception island form gamehouse and it isn’t loading, is there anything i could do to make it work? or is my computer to new for the old software?
Hi Ashley! If these directions don’t help the situation, contact Gamehouse’s tech support, it could be an installation issue with their download of the game.
No matter what I have tried, every time I install Danger By Design on my Lenovo Windows 7 computer, Danger By Design either is glitchy and freezes right at the beginning (severe lag), or it comes up with the error INI file or the CIFTREE error. Very frustrated! Help!
SAME problem as well as Creature of Kapu cave for me too.
i am having a really hard time installing treasure in a royal tower i did everything this said and it still hasn’t worked
Hi again nancy drew! If you haven’t already, please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and we can help. 🙂
This worked perfectly for Treasure in the Royal Tower! Thanks so much!:)
I cant get creature at kapu cave to work. something with Cal (E:)
Hi Audrey! Please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and we can help!
I get the message check the path to .ini file and it terminates running the game. It is installed. I cannot use this help as I have no discs because I downloaded it from the Big Fish site. I bought it also from her interactive but it would not let me doeenload it.
Hi Linda! Please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com so we can help! Thanks!
When installing The Haunted Carousel on windows 8 using these steps, I don’t get a “Choose Destination” option.
Hi Mae! Please contact us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and we can help!
Thanks so much! Worked perfectly for Message in a Haunted Mansion.
This worked perfectly for me in Secret of Shadow Ranch on Windows 10! Thanks!
I am trying to install The Haunted Carousel , The Install goes ok and then when I try to open This message pops up, Incorrect path to .ini file Help please. I have tried the suggestions on this page but it is not working…
Help
Hi Mary! Please contact us at techsupport@herinteractive.com so we can help further. Thanks!
Oh Thank You so much!!! It worked! I just couldn’t be excited. The Final Scene I kept getting that INI Message but thanks to your steps it is working now. Thank you so much:D
OMG! So helpful! Thank you!!!!!
If you’re like me and you’ve tried this ten million times and it didn’t work, DON’T GIVE UP HOPE!
what tripped me up was this:
A: you NEED to disable your antivirus, or the install won’t work. something about the coding trips alarms for some reason, especially on newer machines
B: if you have tried and failed to install your game – which since you got this error in particular i’m guessing you have – you NEED to search both the phrase “Nancy Drew” AND AND AND the title of your game to delete all the non-functional files. Your game WILL NOT INSTALL if ANY of those files are still there. This goes double if you’ve already tried making your own file for it!
Hope this helps! 🙂
Installed Danger On Deception Island and keep getting the following message when trying to open the game to play it………
Nancy Drew engine has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Please assist in getting this program to work.’ I am using the CD version to install.
Hi Richard! This sounds like another error…would you please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com with this issue? Thanks!
I downloaded Creature of Kapu Cave off Steam and I’m having the same problem. I uninstalled it, turned off my anti-virus, and reinstalled it but I have the same message appear. I can’t manually install it because my disc copy is too old for my computer which is why I downloaded it online.
Hi Rebecca, if you had ordered it from our web site, we may have been able to fix it for you. 🙁 We suggest emailing Steam’s customer support for help if it’s a tech or bug issue with their game build, but you may be able to get installing instructions on our message board, or by emailing us at techsupport@herinteractive.com.
Hi i have th nancy drew game secret of the of the Scarlet hand. I have played this before but the game if i try to install it on my new computer says i have the wrong windows. I have windows vista and have 3 Other nancy drew games on the computer. Why does this game do this? and how do I fix it?
Hi Adrianay, would you please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com so we can help you further? Thanks!
Thank you, it worked!!!! Which games will I need to do this for?
OMG! This totally worked!! Thank you so much! I have been working on this for hours, but I’m finally able to play it! Thank you so much!!!
Lovely instructions, unfortunately I don’t see how they would work for digital downloads as I have no disk to install! 🙁 Bought the reissue of stay tuned for danger 3 hours ago and have spent all this time trying to get it to work! Not a great way to reissue it with ‘problems’ apparently sorted 🙁
Tried following instructions and it seemed to begin working as I clicked on the icon, only a different message appeared:
Nancy drew is unable to play sound for you! We have changed the way we play sounds and are shutting down…
This is not helpful! Please help, I feel thoroughly let down and have quite frankly wasted 3 hours of what was meant to be a relaxing evening! Not to mention that I did not receive my 20% discount from my purchase even after I fulfilled all criteria twice over!
Hi, Anna! I’m sorry that you’ve been having problems with the game and with the discount. If you’ve checked out the Stay Tuned for Danger Installation FAQ post here and you’re still encountering problems, please email us (for game and discount help) at techsupport@herinteractive.com. Thanks!
Hi Anna! I’m sorry you’re having more troubles. Did you check out our Installation FAQ post here? If you need additional assistance, please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com. Thanks!
Thank you so much! I upgraded my laptop from Windows 8 to 10, and this info was invaluable after getting the INI error message.
We were having problems with the downloaded version of Stay tune for danger. Followed the instructions on the video but wouldn’t work at first with sound and then gave us this error. So we re-downloaded it following this and it worked perfectly on windows 10. We found that moving the files for older games can also lead to problems because it upsets the path.
Worked like a charm. Thank you so much!
placing under
C:/Program Files/Nancy Drew/The Haunted Carousel
worked for us, too. Thanks!
hello
i have a proplem with this game nancy drew treasure in the royal
after finish installing it i cant find the pic to enter the game!! all the files are there but not the icon of nancy that it helps open the game… how can i play ?
Hi Anna, look for the executable file (ends with .exe) to get the game started. If you still have trouble, please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com. Good luck!
i found one ends with exe” then what
cant open either
Hi again Anna, would you please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com, or give us call? then we can walk you through it. 🙂
Worked for Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake!
Tried it again since we didn’t get to finish in September and now I get ‘Nancy Drew engine has stopped working’ error 🙁
Hello Glen, would you please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com with this issue? Thanks!
Thank you! This was very helpful!!!
Firstly, thank you so much for having such excellent customer service. From this point forward when I purchase any Nancy Drew games, I will definitely purchase them from you!
However, I actually purchased and downloaded your game, Nancy Drew – The Silent Spy, from Bigfish and received the INI error message when I tried to play the game immediately after download. Luckily, I found your website here (because Big Fish had no idea how to help,) and followed your instructions; deleting all files for the game in my system first, signed into the Admin account (I’m the only person on the PC so it was not really an issue), temporarily disabled my security program, and created a file in my Program Folder just for “Nancy Drew – The Silent Spy” before I again re-downloaded the game and clicked on “Play” once again.
It worked!…for a bit… I was able to pull up the game and played for about 90 minutes, then suddenly the game closed. No warning, it just closed. I went back into the Big Fish game app and clicked on “Play”, and once again received the same error message I was receiving before!
(ERROR-incorrect path to INI file-
C:\Program Files\Nancy Drew Silent Spy\Nancy Drew – The Silent Spy\Spy.INI
)
URRRGGGHHH!!! So strange…Now the game won’t play again. What shall I do?
Hello Adena! I’m sorry that problem is persisting! Would you please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and let us know what your operating system is as well? Thank you!
Hello. I have been having trouble downloading danger on deception island. I did what was recommended for an INI error, but when I went to download it, it said that it couldn’t find installation software. I am not sure what to do.
Hi Jessica – Please reach out to our Tech Support team at techsupport@herinteractive.com. Thanks!
Yay, thank you, I get to play the final scene again. this worked perfectly. I may try it on the others too.
I have been trying to open Ghost Dogs but it was bugging, so I uninstalled it and tried again and got the unable to find CAL/CIF error and your method isn’t working. It continues to bug out and not work.
Hi Kayleigh, would you please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and let us know what operating system you re trying to install this on? Thank you!
I keep getting a CIF command and its not working on the emulator thats been recommended. Trying to play Stay Tuned for Danger.
Hi Jazz! Have you tried installing the game according to the video instructions found on the game web page instead? That might help it to work.
I was having so many problems with the first 5 games and was upset I couldn’t play them anymore. This worked perfect. I had to create a new oath and change compatibility! Thank you!!!
I tried playing but it won’t boot up…I have tried everything that everyone suggest but still no luck
Hello Carlina! If you are still having trouble, please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and let us know the game you are trying to install and what operating system you are using.
Hi, This fix finally worked for Scarlet Hand…. however. the game appears as a small window inside the black background?? not full screen. I can play it but would prefer the full screen… is it just a display config issue? (even tho its game 6 I also changed the compatibility to windows 98 ME
Hi Anne! There are a few other ways to try getting this game to work. Would you please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com and let us know your operating system so we can help you troubleshoot? Thanks!
I recently installed Stay Tuned for Danger but can not get it to install/run properly. I have tried all the tips above, am I doing something wrong?
Hi Lauren! Please email us at techsupport@herinteractive.com with your computer specs so we can help you figure this out. Thanks!
I’ve tried everything and I can’t install any of my Nancy Drew games.
Has anyone successfully downloaded The Secret of Shadow Ranch and if so how?
im having this problem but i got the degital copy off the website