# Another instance of Zoo Tycoon 2



## szn9rg (Feb 21, 2008)

I have been trying to load Zoo Tycoon 2 on my son's computer. It uses Windows 98 as the operating system. I first install the main disk (Zoo Tygoon 2)and it loads just fine. The game also works just fine. I than try to add a expansion pack (Marine Mania). It too goes through the load process all the way but when it trys to startup the software after the load it gives a error which says "Another instance of Zoo Tycoon 2 is already running. It only lets me exit out at this point. I've looked at the Microsoft web support and they said to make sure that target was set to .zt.exe and not startup.exe. It was already pointing at the .zt.exe file. One thing that I did notice in the Zoo Tycoon 2 folder is that there was no startup.exe file after I loaded the main disk but there was one (very small) after Marine Mania was installed. Not sure if this has anything to do with it. Any suggestions would be appreciated as my son has been very persistant in playing this game. PS Both CD's are orginal Microsoft software with ID's.


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## Redeye3323 (Sep 20, 2009)

Welcome back to TSF lol.

Have you tried clicking on the zt.exe directly?


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## Zealex (Nov 30, 2008)

In addition to Redeye3323's post

Are your disks scratched? Try uninstalling the game using revo uninstaller, and only reinstall Zoo tycoon 2 first, then see if it works or not. Then if it works, trying installing Marine Mania, and see if anything changed. I want to see if both are defective or one is. Though if Zoo tycoon is the only one defective, it will be harder to tell because maria mania relies on Zoo tycoon.

When you get that message "another instance of zoo tycoon is running" go to task manager by hitting (ctrl+alt+del) and go to the services tab and look to see if zt.exe is running. If it is, highlight it and end process. Should work, I believe win98 has it.

EDIT: I just loaded up win98 on virtual pc 07. This is a little different than newer versions of windows. There isn't any tabs, just one "box". Anyways, if you see zoo tycoon running when you get that message, just hit end task. You son has his own computer? Have you tried running it on your pc to see if there is some issue with win98

I'm going to look for my Zoo tycoon disks, and see if I get an similar error.


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## szn9rg (Feb 21, 2008)

Sorry I haven't gotten back to this post yet. I have tried clicking in zt.exe file directly and get the same result. The disks are not scratched. I loaded on a machine with Windows XP and it worked for both disks. I tried to copy revo by disk from my other computer (internet hookup) but it wouldn't execute the file on the computer in question. I've tried add/remove in control panel and the uninstall in the software itself. Neither fix the problem. From a clean install the first disk loads fine and game is able to be played. When I load the expansion pack it loads OK but when you try to execute you get a Zoo Tycoon 2 Error window which says "another instance of Zoo Tycoon is running. If I hit ctl-alt-del at this point the close program list doesn't show any entries for zoo tycoon or zt.com. If I try to start the program with the Marine Mania disk out, I get a message to insert the disk. If I do a ctl-alt-del at this point the close program list does show a entry for Zoo Tycoon 2 Marine Mania, but once I put in disk and the program tries to load I get the error message I spoke of and the program is no longer in the close program list I spoke about earlier. Maybe it just won't work with Win98 but it seems weird that it would load completely and give a error message that another instance of the program was running. In my experience if a program won't work on a given computer it won't even install or gives a message that software isn't compatable or totally dumps you out of the program. Thanks for your help


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## Redeye3323 (Sep 20, 2009)

It may be worth running it in compatability mode for Windows 98 or Windows 2000.

Try this and get back to us...


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## szn9rg (Feb 21, 2008)

I'm not sure what you mean by compability mode. How do you do this?


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

See here for instructions on how to run older games using XP's compatibility mode: *http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/appcompat.mspx*


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## szn9rg (Feb 21, 2008)

It appears that this isn't what is needed. This compability mode seems to be a way for older games to run on a XP machine. The program I have will load and execute OK on a XP machine. I have the error on the Windows 98 machine. From what I can gather it should run on a Windows 98 machine. Maybe there is a way to make a Windows 98 machine emulate a XP machine?


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## Redeye3323 (Sep 20, 2009)

Oh, I get your drift.

I think it may be a back-wards compatability issue.

Isn't your son's PC upgradeable to Windows 2000 or XP because they both would probably be able to run it.


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## szn9rg (Feb 21, 2008)

I could upgrade his computer to XP but since I don't have software for this and would have to purchase it, it wouldn't be feasible to do this as he only uses the old machine to play games and isn't hooked up to internet. What I don't understand is that the Zoo Tycoon 2 software says it should work on a Windows 98 platform as well as 2000 and XP. He has other Zoo Tycoon applications or games on the same computer and they all work fine. I may have to give up on the Marine Mania expansion pack and just use the main Zoo Tycoon 2 disk. I really don't want to let him play this game on my computer as this could become a habit. Thanks for your help


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## Redeye3323 (Sep 20, 2009)

Sorry to hear that we couldn't fix it.

There may be a patch to sort it though. Have you tried looking for a Marine Mania patch?


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## Zealex (Nov 30, 2008)

Hey, sorry for the late response.

While cruising the internet I found this.

http://zootycoon.com/Support/SystemReq.htm



> *Zoo Tycoon 2* & Endangered Species
> 
> One of the following operating systems: _*Microsoft Windows 98*_ Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows 2000, or Windows XP.


So it appears it can run on win98SE however looking at marine mania...



> *Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania* & Extinct Animals
> One of the following operating systems: _*Windows XP*_ or Windows Vista™


Sorry I don't think the game will run on win98. Zoo tycoon 2 will, but marine mania seems not to be designed for win98. Weird.


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