Pvt_Meister

This is kinda long but worth the read if you are having problems installing SF.

I had vanilla updated to patch 1.21.

I purchased both Euro and Special Forces.

I installed Euro (after a very long slow download) and it worked.

Now the fun started.

I installed Special Forces. Then when trying multi player got the "modified content" message.

After checking EA's site and reading some post on TG forums.... I tried to reinstall the 1.2 patch then the 1.21 incremental..............

NO WORK!!!!!!!!!

So I bit the bullet and uninstalled per EA's instructions..

(taking from another TG forum post)
EA'S ANSWER:

Thanks for contacting EA Technical Support and for your interest with EA Games! I’m sorry for the difficulty that you are having with Battlefield 2 Special Forces.

However, an improper installation or corruption of the game data can not only prevent the game from loading, but can cause the game to crash at seemingly random but very specific points in the game. When such an occurrence happens, it’s best to manually remove all of the components to make sure that next installation does not run into the same issues. In order to fully uninstall Battlefield 2: Special Forces you must uninstall Battlefield 2 as well. To completely uninstall this software from your system follow the steps below.

You can manually uninstall the game by removing the files and registry keys associated with it. Be sure to follow these steps exactly as they appear to prevent accidental file/program deletion on your system.

To delete the save files:

Open My Documents.
Right-click on the Battlefield 2 folder and choose Delete.
To delete the game files (in the default location):

Open My Computer.
Open the C drive.
Open the Program Files folder.
Open the EA GAMES folder.
Right-click on the Battlefield 2 folder and choose Delete.
Close all open windows.
Right-click on the Recycle Bin and choose Empty Recycle Bin.
To edit the registry and remove Battlefield 2:

Click on the Start button.
Click on Run.
Type regedit in the text field.
Click File and then choose Export.
Name the file Backup and make sure the Export Range is set to All.
Click Save; you will now be returned to the Registry Editor window.
Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
Click the plus sign next to Software.
Click the plus sign next to DICE.
Right-click on the Battlefield 2 folder and choose Delete.
Right-click on the Battlefield 2: Special Forces folder and choose Delete.
Click the plus sign next to Electronic Arts.
Click the plus sign next to EA Games.
Right-click and choose Delete on the Battlefield 2 folder.
Right-click and choose Delete on the Battlefield 2: Special Forces folder.
Click the plus sign next to Microsoft.
Click the plus sign next to Windows.
Click the plus sign next to CurrentVersion.
Click the plus sign next to Uninstall.
Right-click on the key named {04858915-9F49-4B2A-AED4-DC49A7DE6A7B} and choose Delete.
Right-click on the key named {50D4CB89-AF34-4978-96DC-C3034062E901}and choose Delete
A Confirm Key Delete window will appear, choose Yes.
Close the WindowsRegistry Editor.
Battlefield 2: Special Forces is now completely removed from your system.

Install the game in this order:
1. Install Battlefield 2
2. Install Special Forces Expansion, then patch with Battlefield 2 v1.2 (357MB)


I made a mistake in the installation. I installed the patches before SF..... the thing that really screwed me was when I went to install SF it would fail. It would run the start of the installshield wizard then back to desktop with no info on what failed.... grrrrrrrrrr.

So.... Uninstall again... uninstall ea downloader... reinstall everything.... redownload SF (3 hrs)........grrrrrrrrr.. no work. same problem with ea Downloader.

By this time I had been screwing with this for almost 9 hrs. After some searching on Installshield wizard I got some info from a completely different problem but went ahead and went into c:\program files\InstallShield Installation Information (you must have hidden folders viewable). Within the folder I deleted all folders and files that had been changed during the day....... Now SF installed.. but stilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll modified content grrrrrrrr!!!!!

Just for the hell of it I went ahead and downloaded the 1.21 full through EA downloader..... now it works fine.

So the moral of the story is: Stick with ea's official files when having problems.

For those of you who try to install and have the modified content problem, try using the 1.21 full patch before going through the uninstall. In my final successful install the steps taken were

Install BF2
Patched to 1.21 -1.2 full then 1.21 incremental
Install SF
Patched with 1.21 full

I'm willing to bet that if when I got the first modified content message, I had run the 1.21 full patch yesterday would of been spent gaming instead of screaming.

Good Luck.

__________________
Meister