I have the EA Classics CD-ROM version of the game included in Racing Mania rather than the original CD-ROM. The game installs and runs properly in my Win7 32-bit system with a GeForce 210 card, although Windows does report that it is changing to a basic color scheme during the intro videos.

The installer is a 16-bit InstallShield installer, so it will not work with a 64-bit system.

The IP.exe program gives red crosses for both my CPU and CD-ROM drive for my system, even though the game works properly. It appears the program has no clue what a dual core processor is.

The game does require registry entries for proper operation, so you need to make sure you export those entries from your 32-bit installation and import them to your 64-bit version of Windows. You need everything in HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Milestone. Right-click on this registry folder in your 32-bit installation and select 'Export.' Save it with a name you like and the default extension. Boot into your 64-bit installation and double-click the exported registry file you created to import the registry information. You then need to modify the drive and path in all registry entries that have them to point to the appropriate locations for your CD-ROM and the hard drive installation directory.

Using this approach, I was able to manually install the game on a 64-bit Windows 7 laptop with an Intel Graphics chipset. There are issues with the intro videos, but the game seems to work fine when actually playing. I haven't done extensive testing to see what effect different compatibility modes and settings have.

I don't own any modern machines with ATI graphics cards or chipsets, so I can't help with the "Creating Z-buffer Surface failed!" error, but if you do some searching, you will find that others who get this error with ATI cards are sometimes able to resolve the issue for other games by using atiumdag.dll from older drivers in the game directory or simply reverting to older drivers altogether:

http://www.gog.com/forum/incoming_incoming_fo … _problem/post10

you need to set your desktop to 16bit colour

thx so much for the reply - actually it runs with the old driver version on my vm xp 😀

A description of my manual installation process is given below. I am attaching a .ZIP archive with two files. The first is a directory listing of the manually created directory structure for an English installation. The second file is a .REG registry file to create the necessary registry entries for the game.

***IMPORTANT NOTES***
1. This installation process is for the EA Classics version of Superbike World Championship, not the original version, so there may be some differences between the two versions.
2. While this process will create the necessary registry entries for the program, I have no idea whether or not the values for those registry entries are acceptable for a given hardware system, so use of this process is at your own risk.
3. Some users may find it convenient to reverse Steps 6 and 7 in the process. In other words, it may be easier to use a text editor to adjust the paths in the registry entries in sbk_install.reg PRIOR to adding those entries to the registry.
4. More recent versions of Windows don't automatically provide support for .hlp Help files, so you may have to manually install that support if you want to use the eahelp.hlp file in the installation directory. This file does contain some potentially useful information for troubleshooting and gameplay.
5. I have made zero effort to streamline the process, so it is likely that some of the registry entries and files are not actually necessary. For example, the registry entries that relate to InstallShield uninstallation are probably superfluous.

A manual installation consists of the following steps:

1. Create an installation folder.
2. Copy the following folders in their entirety from the CD-ROM to the installation folder:
A. Data
B. Gfx
C. Menu
D. Sfx
3. Create a folder named “Replay” in the installation folder
4. Copy any files from the CD-ROM LangDep folder for your language to the corresponding folder in the hard drive installation folder and overwrite if necessary. In an English installation for example, additional files need to be copied to the Data, Gfx and Menu folders.
5. Copy the following files from the CD-ROM to the installation folder:
A. eahelp.hlp
B. ip.cfg
C. Ip.exe
D. menu.scp
E. SuperBike.exe
6. Execute the sbk_install.reg file to add the necessary entries to the registry
7. Modify the registry entries in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Milestone\Superbike to point to the proper CD-ROM or installation folder path. The following may require adjustment:
A. CDTrack (This should point to the installation folder for a full install)
B. CDMusic (This should point to the installation folder for a full install)
C. StartPath (This should point to the installation folder for a full install)
D. InstallPath (The drive letter in this path should match your CD-ROM drive letter)
8. Copy the eDocs folder from the CD-ROM to the installation folder (EA Classics version only)

Good luck!