Computer specs?

AMD Duron 850MHz
256MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8X

DirectX 9c
I tried Directx 6,7,8 but no luck.

Westwood used their own format with in-built proprietary Windows-independent codec for C&C and other games of the era:

https://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php/VQA

You're much better off listing your PC specs and the game package details (which version: the original one, the First Decade one or the free one from EA, and whether you patched it after installation) for any chance of troubleshooting.

I'd suggest the following: in the game folder of the original Win95 version, there is a "setup.exe" (or similarly named) video settings configuration file - run it and try switching the options there ("Back buffer in Video memory" and "Allow hardware filled blits").

I've also experienced problems with C&C95's videos under Windows 2000: even with app compatibility mode set to Windows 95 I've had to hit "space" or "enter" key when any video starts playing to skip some error message. The known "official XP patch" from Westwood in the form of the "THIPX32.DLL" file is supposed to fix that, but it didn't work for me.

Still, what is the exact size and date of your thipx32.dll file (located in the game folder)? There are several different versions of it on the web.

One more thing. On the original 1997 version installation CDs there were a couple of "sneak peaks" (trailers) .VQA files with their own player, so that you could watch the trailers outside of the game. Try running them and see if they play without freezing.

>>AMD Duron 850MHz

Good, but which motherboard (or at least which chipset it uses)? And what soundcard do you use?

Any OS quirks we should know about (KernelEX installed and enabled, for example, an unofficial service pack, or if it is a rare language edition such as Japanese 😀)?

@Revolter - Thx for reply.

MOBO is: ECS K7VTA3, specs here:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/927/8

Also im using sound card: KOB C884E, Windows lists it as: CMI8738/CDX PCI Audio device

Instalation is from original CD, released around 96/97 in big box. Unpatched, straight from the CD.

thipx32.dll, size is 26KB and timestamp 1996-01-30
In attachmend is screen of all installed files.

Windows doesnt have any quirks, as far as i know. Its stadard english version. 4.10.2222 A
No service packs. How can i determine if KernelEX is installed?

EDIT: I tried SneakPeak videos directly from CD. Video freeze, but when i hit spacebar it returns me to desktop.
When videos freeze in game, then i must restart PC.

P8j6, thanks for the extensive info - now we know at least there's no obvious problems, so we must go even deeper 😀 The issue doesn't seem to be a known one, unfortunately.

Right now my guess is: either it's some problem with the sound, or with your mobo chipset. With VIA-made chipsets, all sorts of problems may occur if one doesn't install the VIA 4-in-1 drivers: at all, the right version, or in the right order:

VIA 4-in-1 driver experiences

"For KT333, KT400, KT600, KT880 and newer use 4.56 under Windows 98 - you should manually install all devices (CPU to AGP bridge, CPU to PCI bridge, etc) - sometimes they don't install correctly."

Which 4-in-1 version do you have? Also, did you have any issues in other Win9x games on this system?

To quickly check if it's a problem with sound<=>chipset combination, try temporarily disabling your soundcard in in the device manager and run the game/sneak peek again. If it doesn't freeze - this will at least point us in the right direction, and if it does - my best guess will be the chipset drivers.

P.S. KernelEx is an unofficial compatibility layer for NT programs, enabling you to run them in your Win9x environment. It's known to break certain native Win9x things if enabled for all programs (its default installation option), but it has to be deliberately installed first, so if you don't use it - it is safe to assume it's not the culprit.

Ok, we are on right track, looks like it's sound-card problem.

I've disabled sound card in hardware profiles (see attachment).
Then when i've started game it spawned warning "Unable to create Direct Sound Object" and game starts and play videos. Everything OK, but without sound, of course.

About chipset, i'm using this driver: VIA Hyperion 4in1 Driver 4.56v WHQL
So it should be ok.

As for other win9x games, i have installed Warzone 2100 and it runs fine.

Cool, that was faster than I expected 😀

Try decreasing the hardware acceleration levels until you hit the one without C&C freezing:

If this doesn't work - try this "PCI latency patch" for VIA chipsets:

http://www.georgebreese.com/net/software/

Allright! It works!

I decreased acceleration to level 2 "Basic acceleration" and videos stopped freezing. Perfect!

Thank you Revolter! Without your help i would be still hunting for video codecs.
You are PRO!

Thanks, I just hate to see this great game being unable to run 😁

FWIW at least the westwood intro video is intentionally stuck on one frame to avoid the Virgin references (at least on the 98 EA published version)