Can't activate or register the game? See here first!

kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

Can't activate or register the game? See here first!

If you are unable to activate or register the game (via SDC, or after installing the latest patch), you're likely encountering one of a few common problems.

1) Your game came with NO serials at all.
There have been some reports of legitimate retail copies of the game not coming with a serial key at all. If you are sure your copy is legitimate and it did not come with ANY serials, contact support@stardock.com.

2) You're using the wrong serial.
This is a simple but common mistake. The Collector's/Limited Editions of the game normally include two serial keys (one for the game, one to unlock the special extra content). Be sure you're not trying to register with the CE serial (the one that begins with GC2). Use the other one which consist of 28 letters/numbers (A-F and 0-9 ONLY) with no dashes.

3) You bought a used copy of the game.
If you (intentionally or not) bought a used copy of the game, you may receive a message when attempting to register/activate to the effect of the serial already being in use, or your email address not matching the one the game was originally registered with. Stardock will not remove an activated serial from the original owner's account and give it to you.

You have a few options in this case. You can:

Keep the game and stick with the 1.0 version on the disc.
Return the game to the place of purchase. Some retailers still accept returns, especially if they resold to you a returned copy that the original owner has effectively pirated (resale is prohibited by the EULA).
Contact stardock support (support@stardock.com) and ask about pruchasing a new serial code at reduced cost.

4) You bought the European Limited Edition.
Some copies of the Limited Edition of the game distributed in Europe were shipped with only the code to unlock the special Ltd. content, (beginning with GC2) and not an actual game serial. You can request a game serial by providing your Limited/Collector's Edition serial and email address on this form: http://galciv2.com/paradox/index.aspx

5) You bought the US Collector's or Standard Edition in June or later.
There have been several production runs that shipped to retail in the US without the correct keys. Some Collector's Editions shipped to WalMart and Fred Meyers included two CE keys (beginning with GC2-), but no game serial. Some Standard Editions have shipped to Best Buy and other retailers with a single CE key and nothing else.

In either case, please first try inputting your serial and email address on the European serial exchange page, which has been updated to include most of the serials from these production runs: http://galciv2.com/paradox/index.aspx. If that does not work, please contact support@stardock.com with your problem and they will provide you a game serial to use.

Please keep in mind they can only answer during business hours, so if you contact them on a weekend you will not receive a [human] reply until Monday at the soonest. You should receive an automated reply immediately upon receipt of your email, though (check that it is not filtered by any spam protection you have in place). If you do not receive an automated reply, your own message was likely stopped by Stardock's spam filters, so you will obviously never get a reply to that particular message! If all else fails, try getting on Stardock Central's Chat and speaking with an employee directly during business hours (IRC users: irc.stardock.com, channel #Stardock or #GalCiv).

6) You bought a pirate/bootleg copy of the game.
Despite our best efforts, sellers on eBay and elsewhere continue to sell bootleg copies of GC2. There are usually many tell-tale signs that these copies are not legitimate which become obvious once you receive them: poorly printed disc art, cheap-looking packaging, missing documentation, etc. Most of these copies claim to be used "Import Version" games, and the sellers claim that documentation is excluded because it is not in English. If these copies contain a serial key at all, they are generally already registered or just random gibberish.

In any case, there is no support for users of pirate/bootleg copies. If you purchased them through eBay, you may be able to file a claim and get your money back, but there are no guarantees. If you wish to own the game with updates and support, you must purchase a legitimate copy, which will entitle you to your own serial key and all the associated benefits.

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kate112

@kyro

Oh thanks for the confirmation. I thought there's something wrong with my retail copy/key. Thanks again.

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Hiya,

I have Gal Civ 2: Endless Universe and when im prompted to register it on impulse its not on the list! Apart from that everythings fine (well apart from those pesky Terrans...).

What do i do?

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

GC2EU isn't yet supported for registration and updates in Impulse. It should be around the same time as the TA 2.0 patch (there are currently no non-beta updates available above the EU retail version).

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k, thanks

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I have bought the complete bundle GC2 + DA + TA via Stardock site.

I have download all 3 games from Impulse in office (very fast connexion).

I have copied all the downloaded files to my laptop computer, that don't have any internet connexion.

I have used the activate by mail option from my laptop and sent an email to activate@stardock.com last tuesday.

I don't have received any activation sig.bin file yet. What's wrong ?

BTW, how can I download only the patch files for my games to my laptop (without any internet connexion on it)

Thanks for your answer (and sorry for my english, i'm french!)

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

I don't have received any activation sig.bin file yet. What's wrong ?

If you're not getting anything back from the email activation, contact support@stardock.com and they can check the queue to see what went wrong.

BTW, how can I download only the patch files for my games to my laptop (without any internet connexion on it)

That is not presently possible as such. Impulse can only do an incremental update when it has the installation on the same machine to examine, but if you want to update an offline machine, you'd still have to copy everything over to be sure.

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If you are having troubles and not getting a responce from activate@stardock.com then please send the same information to support@stardock.com and we can manually process it. We won't be able to access the information you sent to activate@stardock.com so it saves you a step to let us know all the information up front.

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I have seen in that post https://forums.galciv2.com/317776/page/1/#1796421 to use SDC to download instead of Impulse, and to choose "archive" .sdc file... to export them to my laptop.

Is it a good idea?

Actually, i have copied all files (program files\stardock\galciv2\) after downloading from Impluse to my Laptop.

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Any statement on when us Endless Universe buyers will be able to register on Impulse? Would be handy with GC2 V2 out now and all that.

Alternatively, is a work around available?

Thanks.

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SDC will not have the 2.0 update for GalCiv2. You can download and archive through Impulse if you like. You will then need to install Impulse on the other computer and restore the archive from there. Impulse can be run in off line mode so long as when you first set it up/install it you have internet access. After that you will be fine.

Endless Universe will not be distributed at this time through Impulse. This is in accordance with agreements with distributors in Europe. If this should ever change we will post news about it here. However there are no plans to do so at this time.

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

Endless Universe will not be distributed at this time through Impulse. This is in accordance with agreements with distributors in Europe. If this should ever change we will post news about it here. However there are no plans to do so at this time.

To clarify this statement, it is not being *sold* through Impulse, however it will be possible in the very near future to register and update via Impulse if you bought GC2EU at retail (it was being worked on today, but looks like it didn't get finished before closing).

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I bought a CD version of TA from you guys, but it came with no serial number so I couldn't register my copy of TA.

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

If you bought it direct, it will have been autoregistered at time of purchase to the email you provided then. If that was not your usual email that you have DL/DA on, support can do an account merge for you.

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Quoting kryo,

reply 13

My grandmother bought me the TA CD pre-order. My email adress that I have DL/DA on is a different one. So would it be possible to get a new serial key from you guys?

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

Just contact support@stardock.com with both emails, and ask them to merge them onto yours.

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Quoting kryo,

reply 15

Just contact support@stardock.com with both emails, and ask them to merge them onto yours.

I don't know my grandmother's email and she probaly won't lte me use it. But should I tell them her email and will have them merge the accounts?

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Okay, I download this damn Impulse thing to get the GC2 ToTAv2.0 Update

But when I try to login to the damn Impulse crap thing, it says I have this stupid message that says:

Server not responding Pleasecheck your internet connetion

WTF??!!!! I paid for ToTA and I can't get this update because someone wants to push some new program like Impulse on everyone to sell us stuff!!!!

My Stardock Central works fine, but since someone came up with the imbecilic idea of NOT PUTTING THIS ON STARDOCK. I CAN'T GET IT!!!!

So then WTF now??!!!!

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

We were experiencing some server issues last night, but those should be solved now. If your problem is still present, please post in the Impulse forum or contact support@stardock.com.

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Hey guys, I just stumbled over my copy of the GalCiv CE and decided to give it a go again.

I just installed impulse on my new Vista machine after my old one croaked (that glossy monstrosity is an affront to my senses after years of frenetic Win2k worship, yuck). So far, so good (?).

Now, when I check my serial in impulse it doesn't match the serial I have printed on my game disk. How strange. It lets me download the game, though, so I guess everything's peachy. Is this normal? I mean, do I suddenly own two valid keys for GalCiv2?

Furthermore, how do I make sure the CE content is actually enabled? I can download the Desktop theme&CE enabler off galciv2.com, so I guess that will do the trick, right? I wasn't asked for my key though. Maybe it's already in the system from when I bought it... I don't quite remember whether I registered it on there, though.

I just wish I could handle that stuff via the impulse license management instead of having to futz around on random websites.

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

Is this normal?

Yep.

The CE serial was only used to download the extras. The in-game stuff has been included in the updates for some time though, so unless you want the desktop theme, it's no longer needed.

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Good to know.

I believe I didn't make myself clear though. I now have three serials: One CE (GC2-...) and standard game serial on the jewel case of the disk, and another standard game serial in impulse. Which is a bit confusing, but certainly nothing I'll ever lose any sleep over. I'm just surprised I got another serial, is all.

Anyway, thanks for the quick reply. Much appreciated.

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Quoting ctlance,

reply 21

Good to know.

I believe I didn't make myself clear though. I now have three serials: One CE (GC2-...) and standard game serial on the jewel case of the disk, and another standard game serial in impulse. Which is a bit confusing, but certainly nothing I'll ever lose any sleep over. I'm just surprised I got another serial, is all.

Anyway, thanks for the quick reply. Much appreciated.

If you want email support@stardock.com with the serial numbers and I can clarify and possibly clean up the account for you.

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Hi, I just bought from Walmart, Galactic Civilizations II Gold Edition. Does Windows Vista and Nvidia have problems with GC2? I've installed GC2 but when I try to play Vista tells me GC2launcher.exe fails. Any suggestions?

Thanks

I run Vista on Desktop pc and am updating GC2 Gold now and my drivers are the latest provided by Nvidia.

Again Thanks

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If you are running Vista on a laptop that uses a Nvidia Video Card you may encounter problems. This is an older issue though so if you have not already please update GalCiv2 through Impulse. If need be you should be able to get drivers that work for your laptop here:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/

If you have any questions about their drivers, you should be able to get help on their forums. Let us know if you have any further troubles or questions

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Ok I did the updates and gc2launcher.exe opens but that's all it does is open. When I click Play the game nothing happens. Any further suggestions or places to go for help would be appreciated?

Again Thanks

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