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 09/08/08 Back to Demos Guide to Downloading
While our downloading guide is designed to help you quickly and easily download and work with the slew of files we’ve posted here, GameSpot cannot provide technical support for the contents of the files, be they demos, patches, or trailers. All of the files posted on GameSpot are tested by us to make sure they work as intended before we post them for public consumption. If you are having a problem with a downloaded file, it is possible that the file was not downloaded completely (your modem disconnected before the file finished downloading, for instance), or that the file’s contents - such as a demo - are conflicting with your system. In the latter case, please contact the game’s publisher for assistance. Unfortunately, many companies will not provide technical support for demos, but it never hurts to ask. To help you in this regard, we provide technical support contact information for every game, as well as a link to the company’s site for every demo we post. DirectX Drivers and .DLL Errors Many demos require particular drivers or extensions to work properly. The most common example is Microsoft's DirectX drivers, which are required by nearly every Windows 95 native demo. Basically, the DirectX drivers are a series of components that help games run more effectively under Windows 95. If a demo requires any extensions or drivers, we will make that clear in the description of the file. In some cases the drivers will be included, but in the interest of file size, the drivers will usually have to be downloaded separately. To do this, go to our Utilities page. From there, find the file you need. The drivers and extensions available are all self-extracting files and are easily installed, so all you have to do is download the file then double-click on the icon to set it up. Once the DirectX drivers are installed, you'll be able to run any demo requiring them. Missing DirectX drivers are the cause of errors such as "Can't find DDRAW.DLL." If you receive this or a similar .DLL error (.DLL is the file extension for drivers), chances are you need to install DirectX. To download the DirectX drivers, visit GameSpot's Utilities page. The Mysterious "-d" Flag Many demos will only work if they are installed in a predetermined series of directory folders. In ordinary English, this means that the same directory folders in which they resided when the developer created the demo must be duplicated exactly on your hard disk. Unfortunately many self-extracting files (with the .EXE extension) do not automatically recreate the correct directory folder structure. Fortunately there is a handy trick you can perform - known as the "-d" flag - which corrects this nasty oversight. Here’s how to use it:
1. Create a new folder for the self-extracting file you downloaded. Why? Good housekeeping. When you extract the contents of a self-extracting file, you sometimes get numerous folders that litter the Desktop. But if you place this file in a folder, the extracted contents will remain in the folder.
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