INSTALL   6-23-2025

Written and Edited By: MarkEAW

[ GOTO THE MAIN EAWHS PAGE ]

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

GETTING STARTED
 Is The Game Already Installed? | Create A Game Folder | Manually Adding EAW From The CD
Clean Installed Folder For v1.0

UPDATE WITH PATCH
About v1.0 | About v1.1
Clean Installed Folder For v1.1

UPDATE TO v1.2
Note Infogrames CD Patch | Patching Steps
Safe Keeping | No CD In Drive | Game Shortcut | Compatibility Mode/Tab Settings Warning
Clean Installed Folder For v1.2

FINAL STEPS
An Empty Movies.CDF
Run The Game | Can You See The Menu Screens Properly?
Configure | Controls | Display | Running And The Flight Screen

OTHER NOTES
 Do Not Move Note | See Troubleshoot Help Document
Saving Some HD Space


 

INTRODUCTION

This document was written to get the official EAW game files manually added to your system. It will guide you with "installing" from the CD (EAWv1.0MPS), and how to apply the official patches v1.1 and/or v1.2. A standard EAW patch goes over an existing install of a working game.

You should read this or skim this help document, even if you want to place a unofficial version of the game on your drive. See my 'PATCHES and MODIFICATIONS Page' linked above on the main menu bar. To learn how to place any unofficial version on your drives. Later released unofficial source modified games are standalone and require no official CD or patch.

See my 'Performance Help Document' for System Requirements and Requirements on Modern Computers.


GETTING STARTED

This section will get you started first with some good advice, then onto copying and pasting files from your EAW CD to your hard drive. It will also show a folder list of what the CD version of v1.0 looks like once placed on your drive.

 

Is The Game Already Installed?:
So if you have installed the game previously from the CD with SETUP.EXE or AutoInstall on anything but Win9x, such as on any WinNT OS, please uninstall EAW with the uninstaller, restart your computer system and come back to this document here. (This is to avoid problems on a modern Windows OS; Win2000, XP and above). You'll want to manual add the game from the CD in a special location, continue reading.

 

Create A Game Folder:
Create your folder where you want the game on your HD to be. However you do NOT want to use the location of the \Program Files sub-folder to place your Game Folder, this will cause problems on WinXP and Crashes to Desktop on modern computers, especially WinVista/Win7 and Win8/Win10.

See my 'Troubleshoot Help Document' and read the '\Program Files sub-folder' topic for more information.


It is important to put your game folder on perhaps the root of drive C:\ or better yet perhaps on a second hard drive or partition, if you have one. (The default game path and folder names are shown in the table further below.) For example: You can use a second drive in a seperate games folder.

 

Manually Adding EAW From The CD (v1.0):
Put the CD in and do NOT let the Auto Run program load up. If it does, exit it. Instead you will be copying and pasting specific files from the CD directly to your Hard Drive as a 'full installation' for best performance. Keep reading on.

Manually 'installing' or as the case really is, adding (copy and paste) EAW solves all kinds of hassles and problems for different Windows Versions and different Game CD types. You do not need to have an automated installer move the files for you, the game will operate correctly with the preferred method of copy and paste. The game does not require any installer registry entries to be present, other than those provided by the Windows OS itself, and those are created once the game is added and run on your system, more on that later.

To manually add EAW withOUT running the automated installer (AUTORUN.EXE or SETUP.EXE) from the CD follow these directions:

  • Highlight and copy over only the files listed in the table below to your new Game Folder. (The rest of the files on the CD are just for use by the automated installer.)
    (You may need to turn on by un-checking in Windows Folder Options Settings (on WinXP or later) the 'Hide extensions for Known File Types' to see the full filename, this includes the three letters after the period).

    Copy these files for a full 'installation';

    "eaw.exe"
    The "\Music" folder
    "d3d.dll"
    "SMACKW32.DLL"
    "Dsetup.dll"
    "chatline.txt"
    ALL "***.CDF" files

     
  • Once your done Copying and Pasting, make sure none of the files are marked as read-only since copying them directly from the CD usually results in this. (Some of the files need the read-only lifted from them for future updates).
     
  • Do NOT run your game yet, See instructions in the next section below this table for updating from the CD v1.0 to a newer version.

 

Clean Installed Folder For v1.0 (for reference) 

\MicroProse Software\European Air War\
3d.cdf		4,896,269	10/17/1998 03:50
chatline.txt	438		10/8/1998 23:03
COCKPITS.CDF	20,899,837	10/16/1998 00:28
d3d.dll		130,560		10/14/1998 20:44
DATA.CDF	1,433,420	10/18/1998 18:10
Dsetup.dll	127,488		7/29/1998 18:00
eaw.exe		1,367,040	10/18/1998 19:32
FLT.CDF		39,540		10/18/1998 18:10
FONTS.CDF	960,576		10/15/1998 02:28
GRBRIEF.CDF	9,438,292	10/15/1998 02:30
Menu_eng.cdf	37,760		10/16/1998 17:57
Movies.cdf	298,809,288	10/15/1998 02:49
Music.cdf	1,452,428	10/15/1998 02:28
PIC.CDF		26,334,148	10/15/1998 02:31
readme.rtf	27,987       	10/18/1998 19:10
SMACKW32.DLL	96,256		6/9/1998 09:21
SOUND.CDF	1,203,659	10/15/1998 02:28
SOUND16.CDF	2,501,836	10/15/1998 02:33
SPEECH1.CDF	10,431,783	10/15/1998 02:51
SPEECH2.CDF	11,943,211	10/15/1998 02:33
SPEECH3.CDF	12,407,240	10/15/1998 02:29
Sprites.cdf	250,040      	10/16/1998 00:25
TERRAIN.CDF	7,942,132	10/15/1998 02:30
Text_eng.cdf	168,543		10/18/1998 05:02
UKBRIEF.CDF	10,101,180	10/15/1998 02:33
USBRIEF.CDF	11,970,136	10/15/1998 02:32
WSOUND.CDF	9,310,061	10/15/1998 02:50
Wsprites.cdf	25,140,369	10/15/1998 02:50
\Music
AmerProm.bgm	5,523,468	8/26/1998 21:59
BritProm.bgm	6,513,556	8/29/1998 15:10
Captured.bgm	9,071,660	8/31/1998 15:30
Drum1.bgm	1,459,968	9/30/1998 09:58
GermProm.bgm	6,513,796	8/31/1998 11:02
HallOFam.bgm	7,056,968	9/1/1998 16:47
MenuMus.bgm	7,836,020	8/14/1998 12:00
Rescued.bgm	5,082,520	9/30/1998 10:02
ViewObs.bgm	9,408,380	9/16/1998 14:05
YouDead.bgm	11,813,424	9/21/1998 15:45

-------------------------------------------------

 

 

UPDATE WITH PATCH

In this section there is some information about the different Official versions that you may want to keep on your hard drive (multiple, but different 'installs' are possible). Read on.

Updating the game with the official MPS patches can be done with either v1.1 or v1.2. Some players will want to keep different versions 'installed' on their hard drives in order to compare game play experience or basic comparison among the available versions. This would naturally allow you to see the changes MicroProse (or others) have made to the game, thus making the changes more prominent and notable. This is strictly an optional course of action. If you want, you can read my 'MicroProse Patches Help Document' for more specifics on those versions and their changes and fixes. However, read on below for continued help for official patching.

 

About v1.0:
If you intend to keep a copy of stock (out of the box) EAWv1.0 around, then for safe keeping so you don't need to install v1.0 again, optionally copy your game folder you "installed" (actually copied and pasted) from the CD, some place else, and rename it to a NEW folder name, or Burn it to a CD. This will be your backup full install of v1.0. Saves you hassle later on too.

 

About v1.1:
If you intend to update v1.0 to v1.1, and keep that version around, then follow the steps under the next section below titled 'UPDATE TO v1.2' and substitute where the text reads v1.2 with the v1.1 patch program, those instructions will teach you how to patch to v1.1. Then for safe keeping so you don't need to install v1.1 again, optionally copy your newly patched game folder some place else and rename it to a NEW folder name, or Burn it to a CD. This will be your backup full install of v1.1. Saves you hassle later on.

 

Clean Installed Folder For v1.1 (for reference)

\MicroProse Software\European Air War\
3D.CDF 		4,895,593 	12/15/1998 14:27
chatline.txt	438		10/8/1998 23:03
COCKPITS.CDF	20,899,837	10/16/1998 00:28
d3d.dll 	130,560 	12/17/1998 14:30
DATA.CDF 	1,433,420 	12/21/1998 11:29
Dsetup.dll	127,488		7/29/1998 18:00
eaw.exe 	1,411,072 	1/11/1999 18:43
FLT.CDF 	39,540 		12/31/1998 15:59
FONTS.CDF 	1,067,664 	12/16/1998 13:01
grb_031.snd 	105,644 	12/15/1998 11:36
GRBRIEF.CDF	9,438,292	10/15/1998 02:30
Menu_eng.cdf 	37,876 		12/22/1998 19:55
Movies.cdf	298,809,288	10/15/1998 02:49
Music.cdf	1,452,428	10/15/1998 02:28
PIC.CDF		26,334,148	10/15/1998 02:31
readme.rtf 	35,003 		1/8/1999 00:18
SMACKW32.DLL	96,256		6/9/1998 09:21
SOUND.CDF	1,203,659	10/15/1998 02:28
SOUND16.CDF	2,501,836	10/15/1998 02:33
SPEECH1.CDF	10,431,783	10/15/1998 02:51
SPEECH2.CDF	11,943,211	10/15/1998 02:33
SPEECH3.CDF	12,407,240	10/15/1998 02:29
Sprites.cdf	250,040      	10/16/1998 00:25
TERRAIN.CDF	7,942,132	10/15/1998 02:30
TEXT_ENG.CDF 	168,738 	1/11/1999 09:58
UKBRIEF.CDF	10,101,180	10/15/1998 02:33
USBRIEF.CDF	11,970,136	10/15/1998 02:32
V1.1 Details.rtf 16,801 	1/10/1999 21:35
WSOUND.CDF	9,310,061	10/15/1998 02:50
Wsprites.cdf	25,140,369	10/15/1998 02:50
\Music
AmerProm.bgm	5,523,468	8/26/1998 21:59
BritProm.bgm	6,513,556	8/29/1998 15:10
Captured.bgm	9,071,660	8/31/1998 15:30
Drum1.bgm	1,459,968	9/30/1998 09:58
GermProm.bgm	6,513,796	8/31/1998 11:02
HallOFam.bgm	7,056,968	9/1/1998 16:47
MenuMus.bgm	7,836,020	8/14/1998 12:00
Rescued.bgm	5,082,520	9/30/1998 10:02
ViewObs.bgm	9,408,380	9/16/1998 14:05
YouDead.bgm	11,813,424	9/21/1998 15:45

-------------------------------------------------

 

 

UPDATE TO v1.2

Now that you have V1.0 manually added to your hard drive, you may proceed to update to v1.1 or v1.2 with the official MPS patcher. This is an upgrade to the out-of-the-box game which you should install since v1.2 includes the most recent official multiplayer fixes (and previous v1.1 fixes) and is generally an overall good idea to use that version. (However at this point you may want to update only to v1.1 for your own reasons, such as testing or examining the older versions game play. Just substitute the v1.2 text as shown below with v1.1, both patches run and install the same way, just what they patch is different).
(Remember its always nice to have multiple version of EAW running on the same machine, for game play comparison!)

 

Note Infogrames CD Patch:
If you have the 2001 re-release CD by Infogrames (their logo is on the CD), the official v1.2 patch is located on your CD in the \Patch folder, other players without this particular CD will have to download it. (The Infogrames v1.2 patch is identical to the MicroProse patch and includes everything that the older v1.1 has. If you want the older v1.1 patcher program, (it is not on the Infogrames CD nor the MPS CD), you will have to download it).

 

Patching Steps:
The official v1.1 and the v1.2 updaters just need the eaw.exe to be present for the patch installers to extract their files, read on.

  • Copy the official MPS v1.2 patch (English eawv1-2.exe) into your EAW game folder and run it. On WinVista/Win7/Win8/Win10 You may need to run the patch program as an Administrator to get it to work correctly. Windows seems to apply an automatic compatibility fix to the file upon its first run. (Note: There is a long delay after running it so wait about 10 to 20 secs for the patch updater program to show that something is happening.)
     
  • The patch will look for the closest eaw.exe file and it should find your v1.0 (or v1.1) too patch (After the delay, this will almost instantly happen once it appears to be working, this is because you ran it in the game's main folder directly.)
     
  • Once patched, delete the patcher exe file from your game folder. (You no longer need it and its just in the way.)

 

Safe Keeping!:
For safe keeping so you don't need to install v1.1 or v1.2 again, optionally copy your \European Air War\ game folder some place else and rename it to a NEW folder name or Burn it to a CD. This will be your backup full install.

 

No CD In Drive!!: (Optional)
Even though you do a full install, the game will still require the EAW CD in its drive. See my 'Hexedited Patches Help Document' to download the NoCD replacement exe. Also that document in the last section has instructions on how to use a NoCD patch properly. A 'Full install' and using the NoCD patch together will provide better performance since their will be no sound, music and other delay loading issues. (You will still require a powered CD-ROM device present in your computer system, as EAW, even with a CD check that has been removed from the eaw.exe, another type of check is still in it for detecting a CD-ROM device.

 

Game Shortcut:
Go back to your original 'install' (the one you will be playing from for now) and you can create a desktop shortcut to eaw.exe by right-clicking the mouse on the eaw.exe file and choosing Create Shortcut. Put this on your desktop.

 

Compatibility Mode / Tab Settings Warning:
Do NOT run the game using a Compatibility Mode that is found In the Games Shortcut Tab settings for any reason. Read my 'Troubleshoot Help Document' and see the section titled 'OTHER PROBLEMS RUNNING THE GAME' under that title find and read 'Conflicts With The Compatibility Tab' area for further troubleshooting information about Tab settings and why they should not be used. (other than in Win2000).

 

 

Clean Installed Folder For v1.2 (for reference) 

\MicroProse Software\European Air War\
3D.CDF		4,895,593	12/15/1998 14:27
chatline.txt	438		10/8/1998 19:03
COCKPITS.CDF	20,899,837	10/15/1998 20:28
d3d.dll		130,560		12/17/1998 14:30
DATA.CDF	1,433,420	12/21/1998 11:29
Dsetup.dll	127,488		7/29/1998 14:00
eaw.exe		1,430,016	7/29/1999 15:24
EXTRA.SPT	3,924		4/13/1999 17:54
FLT.CDF		39,540		12/31/1998 15:59
FONTS.CDF	1,067,664	12/16/1998 13:01
grb_031.snd	105,644		12/15/1998 11:36
GRBRIEF.CDF	9,438,292	10/14/1998 22:30
Menu_eng.cdf	37,876		12/22/1998 19:55
Movies.cdf	298,809,288	10/14/1998 22:49
Music.cdf	1,452,428	10/14/1998 22:28
PIC.CDF		26,334,148	10/14/1998 22:31
readme.rtf	44,954		7/26/1999 10:38
SMACKW32.DLL	96,256		6/9/1998 05:21
SOUND.CDF	1,203,659	10/14/1998 22:28
SOUND16.CDF	2,501,836	10/14/1998 22:33
SPEECH1.CDF	10,431,783	10/14/1998 22:51
SPEECH2.CDF	11,943,211	10/14/1998 22:33
SPEECH3.CDF	12,407,240	10/14/1998 22:29
Sprites.cdf	250,040		10/15/1998 20:25
TERRAIN.CDF	7,942,132	10/14/1998 22:30
TEXT_ENG.CDF	168,743		1/8/1999 11:13
UKBRIEF.CDF	10,101,180	10/14/1998 22:33
USBRIEF.CDF	11,970,136	10/14/1998 22:32
V1.1 Details.rtf16,801		1/10/1999 21:35
WSOUND.CDF	9,310,061	10/14/1998 22:50
Wsprites.cdf	25,140,369	10/14/1998 22:50
\Music\
AmerProm.bgm	5,523,468	8/26/1998 17:59
BritProm.bgm	6,513,556	8/29/1998 11:10
Captured.bgm	9,071,660	8/31/1998 11:30
Drum1.bgm	1,459,968	9/30/1998 05:58
GermProm.bgm	6,513,796	8/31/1998 07:02
HallOFam.bgm	7,056,968	9/1/1998 12:47
MenuMus.bgm	7,836,020	8/14/1998 08:00
Rescued.bgm	5,082,520	9/30/1998 06:02
ViewObs.bgm	9,408,380	9/16/1998 10:05
YouDead.bgm	11,813,424	9/21/1998 11:45

------------------------------------------------

 

 

FINAL STEPS

There is a final step to take BEFORE running the game natively (without a wrapper) and then there are other Help Documents you'll want to read and the order in which to do so to be sure the game runs correctly.

 

An Empty Movies.CDF:
If running on any Windows version other than Win9x, most likely the game videos will not play correctly or at all on WinNT OS and will most likely cause problems for you. The game may CTD before it even loads up, or you'll get a blank black screen. This is because there is a MicroProse Logo Globe .smk video (and an INTRO video follows) when you first run and load up EAW. Some modern WindowsOS will try to play it, but most of the time it will CTD / Black Screen. Use the ESC key to bypass the videos so the game goes into to the menu screens, from there you can exit the game normally.

Even though the movies (including in game movies) are nice to have, they are not necessary for you to play the game. I suggest you download what is called an 'empty' 1kb MOVIES.CDF file that replaces the in game movies to get around these kind of crashes to desktop problems, it also saves 284mb of space on your hard drive. The empty .CDF file goes in the games main folder, over write the file that's in there already.

You may want to read my 'Troubleshoot Help Document' to know more about the crashing of the game since all known CTD problems are listed on that help document.

  • Note: Disable Movie Playback if you opted out of using an empty movies.cdf file.
    Since you ran the game once and the eaw.ini file was created in the main game folder. To help get passed the unplayable movies mentioned above, you can set in the eaw.ini file (this file opens with Notepad) under the section labeled [EAW] set PlayIntro=1 to zero. Also under the [Media] section, set Video Playback=1 to zero. These will keep all movies/film from playing, either at load time or in campaigns.

 

Run The Game:
(you may need the EAW CD in its drive, if you opted out of the No CD optional step).
Now that you followed and read ALL the above instructions, RUN the game for the first time by running (double-clicking) eaw.exe or use your shortcut. Loading it up, it should enter to the Main Menu (do NOT enter the Flight Screen, it may CTD). This will now have created a new file called eaw.ini in your Games main folder. This new file contains most of the games configuration settings and is covered in another Help Document. Exit the game now and read on in this current help document. ESC Key followed by a 'Y' will also exit EAW.

 

  • Can You See The Menu Screens Properly?:
    Now if your game is running and you can get to the Menu Screens without problems, follow the steps below.

    If your getting menu screens with problems, such as garbled/tearing or color issues, exit the game (Its possible to use the ESC Key and Y key to exit the game). Or if the game won't run to even get you to the Menus, then read my 'Troubleshoot Help Document', section titled 'PROBLEMS RUNNING THE GAME', this all depends on which Windows OS version your using. You most likely, for the easiest solution, may have to use what is called a Wrapper Program to solve problems with the game running correctly. Come back here and read on once you get perfect menu screens.

 

  • Configuring:
    You will want to read my 'Configuration Help Document'. There are a few things with the settings in-game you should do the proper way before playing (BEFORE seeing the Flight screen), I'll go over most of the harder settings to understand, in that help document.

 

  • Controls:
    Next, you will want to read my 'Joystick and Controls Help Document'.

 

  • Display:
    Then, you will want to read my 'Display Help Document'.

 

Running and the Flight Screen:
Now that everything seems to be working from the point of the Menu Screens and your done Configuring the game properly having read ALL the Help Documents that where mentioned above, your ready to start flying and you can enter the Flight Screen by clicking in game on the Instant Mission menu selection! Or if that doesn't work, try the Single Player Mission menu and launch from there.

 

OTHER NOTES

Other helpful notes appear here.

 

Do Not Move Note:
Now since you have run the game at least once, you will NOT want to move your game folder, for compatibility reasons with the Windows OS and it's Registry. This is important, and more details about this can be read in my 'Troubleshoot Registry Help Document' and read the 'About Registry Entries Produced by Windows' topic if you wish to learn more, and then come back here to continue reading on. It's not mandatory, just very informative, so you can skip reading that topic if you understand not to move the game folder.

 

See Troubleshoot Help Document:
If you are getting errors or the game won't load properly or even crashes. See my 'Troubleshoot Help Document' to learn more. That document will teach you primarily how to get the EAW game working properly on your computer. Its a catch all for problems you may run into. It includes issue examples that may arise with modern NT based Windows OS computer use. There are further details with getting your game in-place and running in that help document.

 

Saving Some HD Space: (Optional)

  • To save some hard drive space and remove clutter you can move or delete the files: readme.rtf , V1.1 Details.rtf
  • Once you configure your game for 16 bit sound, you can remove the SOUND.CDF file. This file contains  8-bit sounds designed for slow computers, you won't need them on modern computers as you should be using the 16 bit sounds setting in game. EAW won't miss it.
  • And finally there is the newer and smaller Dsetup.dll (from DX9.0c) file that can be replaced to save a bit of pre game memory. (not at all necessary for modern computers). Information is here for those still using Win9x machines.

 

 

 

[END]