You've left out the all important step, and then added many unnecessary ones. The important missing step is

0) Buy a graphics card with reasonable OpenGL support.

If your old graphics card is sitting in an old mother board then there is some risk that you need another step

-1) Buy a new computer.

The OTHER important missing step is #0.5, which says "Don't use Microsoft's drivers from Windows Update, they have OpenGL disabled."

Good point

So you're saying that perhaps my problems are due to spotty OpenGL support by my Intel815 graphics chipset. That sounds reasonable, BUT you really didn't answer my question: what is the right way to do a clean install of the software? Otherwise, how can I tell that it's my graphics chipset?

Now, if you'd like, I can just start describing my problems and we can work through them, but I thought I'd avoid wasting people's time if it was just an install problem.

Oh, by the way, I did PAY for Glidos already. And oh, by the way, it is working well enough that I've gotten up to Level 12 (Sanctuary of the Scion) in TR1. I'd just like some help with some annoyances. I actually suspect that it's a CDROM driver issue, but I thought I'd check w/ the experts before I go messing around.

I will go ahead and ask some folks I know about OpenGL support with the Intel815 Graphics chipset, per your advice.

Thanks,

-Jeff

Yes, your list seems correct, except you don't mention installing VDMSound, which should probably be done first. Also disabling VESASupport is debateable. VESASupport should help stability, but it can make audio crack up (and sometimes make FMVs crash) on slower machines.

Could be a CDROM problem, in which case using a virtual CD might help.

Well, I did a clean re-install, and updated to the VDMSound 2.1.0 beta.

I noticed a few things:

1) Tombraider1 (especially the setup.exe) does not run consistently on my system (WinXP). It works most of the time, but occasionally hangs. This is clearly NOT a Glidos problem, because I'm talking about the original tomb.exe and setup.exe from the CD, BEFORE I installed Glidos.

2) Getting VDMSound installed "correctly" was a royal pain because I tried following the directions in the VDMSound forum (right click on the .exe). It was much easier to open a CMD window and type DOSDRV. Perhaps somewhere it says that TR is an exception to the instructions, but I never got that far.

3) TR runs fine with a CMD window (doesn't need to be fullscreen) on my WinXP Pro system.

4) I got frustrated because I didn't get any of the background music, only the sound effects. Then I installed Glidos and everything was fine! Perhaps Glidos does a better job (than XP) of streaming the music from the CD?

5) I'm still having some intermittent crashes, but I'll describe those in another thread.

Regards,

-Jeff

1) Might be a problem with the CD or the CD drive. Alternatively could be a problem with VESA support, in which case "VESASupport: Yes" in glidos.ini may help.

2) I must put something about that on my website. With Glidos, its best to install just the main part of VDMSound, and not the thing (forgot what its called) that kicks it off automatically.

3) Works fgr some not for others. Video drivers seem tobe improving in this regard.

4) That's down to my sweat and tears: Glidos has a simple virtual redbook CD driver built in.

Have you tried Bokkie's TR1 XP Advanced Installer:

http://www.tombraiderchronicles.com/headlines1440.html