Crossfire Launcher Doesn't Show Up? Crash when launching from Manhattan

Some help would be good. I've been at it for 5-6 hrs and tried what's being posted already: (disabled 3d sound, it's a real CD copy, used lowest setting)

It seems like there's a crossfire launcher that should show up after activating it via FLMM, but it never appeared and the game version stays at 1.0. I tried SP and I always crash when I launch into space from Manhattan. Is there a patch or file I'm missing? I'll try again tomorrow.

Still nothing. I'm not seeing a Crossfire launcher come up after I successfully activated the crossfire mod. I open Freelancer and it just takes me to the mainscreen. There's no option for an update or anything. It reads Crossfire v. 1 at the lower right corner for your information.

EDit: Btw, I've everything deactivated, antivirus and windows firewall. So nothing's being blocked. Is there a way to force "the launcher" to begin? Whatever it is. I actually never got that pop up it seems.

I'll post a move in-depth outline of what I've done. Ive gotten a more helpful guide, but #8 is not happening. I've colored in red what's my problem.

Did clean removal of everything+used CCcleaner+Advanced System Care.

1. Install Freelancer
2. Restart your PC(The Setup wll request it when it finishes with the installation process).
3. Install Freelancer Mod Manager 1.31(FLMM)
4. Install Crossfire 1.82 ==> Both Freelancer Mod Manager and its mod(CF) must be in 1 same folder. (As the CF Mod installs within the FLMM program).
6. Activate Crossfire 1.82 => In the process of your activation, you will notice that the windown will go to a " Not Responding " mode ... => ignore that and keep waiting until it activates it. It requires several minutes. (Perfect Install/no hangups)
7. If you're running Windows Vista or 7, after the installation , right click on the FL Icon/Properties, compatibility and then choose " Run it Under Windows XP SP3". , you can also change your FL icon from there too. (I'm using XP)
8. Once that's finished, if you're planning to play in the Crossfire MP ( or even CF SP) , wait for the updates to download and then click CF SP/MP button to play.

It's not updating for me. No popup, no error message. So I'm wondering what programs/registry files does this update require (I already deactivated all firewalls/antivirus)? And is there a way to ask/manually seek this update?

Also, here's a concern. I've clean downloaded crossfire 1.82 twice and each time when it's done, the finished file shows up as a white window icon. Is this right? Normally these installers usually have flashier icons. But the file size is right and it says it's complete. I got both the crossfire mod+FLMM 1.31 from this site.

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Ok, so I downloaded it twice more from a different computer (all XP) and I still get the white window icon and not the red cross one. Its size is 1.39 though so I assume it's a proper download.

Regardless, I've the same issue. (I've done complete sweeps before hand each time, uninstall everything, delete everything, Program Files + the entire My Games Folder on my Document, cleaned with CCleaner+Advanced System Care+restart CPU before reinstalling Freelancer. I've put the mod in my FLMM folder and then installed it to the FLMM/mods folder. The FLMM will pop up automatically and I can activate it fine.) It's just that NO Crossfire Launcher appear when I start freelancer after activating the mod. It's not the EULA thing! I took care of it before installing the mod. The Crossfire Launcher refuses to appear. It's not an error with the game or the graphic or anything. It's just that the next step won't happen. (I've also test played Freelancer vanilla and w/ the Discovery mod last night. Both ran perfectly so I know it's not my game or the FLMM)

Here's what I think: It's an auto-play/auto-run issue. It's why I ask about required registry and manual launch. I've auto-run/auto-play turned off somewhere (i.e. I had to go into my CD to launch Freelancer setup to install, it won't do it automatically). If someone can tell me how (by what mechanism) the Crossfire launcher is initiated (is it like the auto.exe on a game CD or what?) I think I can work from that. Either that or someone give me instructions for reactivating auto-run, that would help too.

Oh I definitely don't think it's a mod issue, but the mod has to interact with my PC and I thought there was something off on my computer that didn't allow it to happen. I'd like to figure out what that is.

"So keeping flmm closed and unpackign the mod will make the flmm open, and then you can activate it."

Right and that happened, which is why I don't think it's really a mod or game issue. The FLMM opened automatically and I activated the mod without a problem (it turned green afterward). Just to be completely explicit:

1) I put the 1.39G size "crossfire 182" white window at ...Program Files\Freelancer Mod Manager
2) I double clicked the file.
3) I unpacked/installed the mod to the "mods folder" at Program Files\Freelancer Mod Manager\mods
4) FLMM automatically opens up when crossfire unpacked.
5) I activate crossfire and it turns green when finished.

After that, there's nothing, there's no crossfire launch sequence, no new icon on desktop, no automatic patching... there's just nothing.

So my question is what SHOULD happen at this point. Alternatively, if you have/used XP, tell me what "exact" step you do after 5). I.e. I double click on this new icon that shows up in "...." called "...." or whatever. I feel like people assume something is happening and my point is that it doesn't (or at least I'm not seeing it). If you can tell me what that is with as much detail as possible, like what is the title, the message it shows (screenshot would be nice :P) ... then I can try and work from there.

"After activatign it, you should have an icon on the desktop, and have it at Microsoft games folder." What icon is this? i.e. the "name"? I don't see any new icons either on my desktop or in Programs/Microsoft Games.

Btw, thanks for the expedient replies. I really do appreciate it. But I'd like to know what is wrong/missing before I do another reinstall since the previous ones haven't helped.

Oh... hmm, now I think I know what you're talking about. I remember seeing files added to my freelancer game folder. Ok, so if the icon doesn't appear on desktop (after activating the mod) I could go into Freelancer\Exe folder instead and double click it to begin the crossfire launch/patching? I assume the desktop icon is just a shortcut which for whatever reason isn't showing up.

Is the icon named "Freelancer" as well but just has a red cross icon?

Ok, still not working, but at least there's some progress. Thanks for the pointers. The mod's not being installed correctly (after activation) even though it gets a green check for activating. I double clicked Freelancer.exe in the crossfire folder under Freelancer folder and it gave me "Error 53" so some files is not being installed. I'm on a XP SP3 machine btw.

1. You say the mod itself is 4GB, but mine is only 2.7 in the FLMM/mods folder (is it being unpacked incorrectly?) and the entire Freelancer game folder is 3.5 GB. Am I missing a whole bunch of files?

2. After being activated in FLMM 1.31, you say the new Freelancer icon (I found it) should be in Program Data\Microsoft Games\Freelancer\EXE folder, but I actually found it in Program Data\Microsoft Games\Freelancer\mods\Crossfire 182\EXE. Could this be the issue? It's being installed to the wrong folder?

3. I still have doubts about the download even though I did it 6x now, on 2 XP machines. Should I try doing it from a Windows7 machine?

Nah, I was just being a moron... can't believe I made this mistake....

For the last three runs, I was unpacking the mod to ...Program Files\Freelancer Mod Manager\mods (which is what you do to every other mod) instead of ...Program Files\Freelancer Mod Manager (which is where crossfire MUST go). Doesn't explain why the first 3 didn't work. Maybe I didn't do a thorough cleanup. Hmm...

It wasn't until your comment that the mod unpacks to the Freelancer game folder that made me rethink the process. Activation of the mod by FLMM does an automatic lateral transfer of files from: ...Program Files\Freelancer Mod Manager to ...Program Files\Microsoft Games\Freelancer

So if my original starting point was different (...Program Files\Freelancer Mod Manager\mods) then they would end up at the wrong place. THAT was why I found crossfire in ...Program Files\Microsoft Games\Freelancer\mods and that's why the launcher won't pop up, because Crossfire's Freelancer.exe was in a different folder from the original Freelancer.exe!

Thanks a lot for all your help! The mod works perfectly and is pretty amazing. Though I'm shocked how awful I'm at the game. I don't recall it being this hard in the original, but that's good. I find it more engaging than before.

But regarding install, Mike/mods, would it be possible for you to sticky a more detailed "Installation Guide for Crossfire XXXX" directly in the main Crossfire mod forum? Reading some previous posts, I'm wondering if a more explicit tutorial with more info might help solve potential issues? Below is the guide I1ian very kindly sent me. I added some notes that I and I believe some people got tripped up on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Removal of Crossfire 1.82:

1. Go to your Control Panel(CP) and uninstall Freelancer and the Crossfire Mod.
2. Go to your My Documents and delete the Freelancer Folder.
3. Go to the folder which contained the Freelancer game and delete it, because it remains after the uninstalling from the CP.
4. Go to your Freelancer Mod Manager, and you'll see 2 uninstall exe files. Use them both, use the first one and then the second one, as they are placed in the perfect order. Once this is done, the 2nd exe you've just used will delete the whole FLMM and its folder automatically.
5. Use a Cleaner program, such as Advanced System Care(better in this case though..) or PC Tools Performance Kit Tool(best in this case).
6. Remove your remaining iso files within the Daemon Tools or Alcohol 120%/52%.

Installation of Crossfire 1.82 for Windows XP:
*Installation works best and fastest if all other programs are closed to minimize memory resource drain.

1. Install Freelancer
2. Restart your PC(The Setup wll request it when it finishes with the installation process).
3. Install Freelancer Mod Manager 1.31(FLMM) [Installed to default location: likely ....Program Files\Freelancer Mod Manager]
*4*. Unpack Crossfire 1.82 ==> [Unpack to default location, which must be the FLMM MAIN Folder, likely... Program Files\Freelancer Mod Manager. Do NOT unpack to the "mods" folder within FLMM, which is where most mods go. Crossfire MUST be unpacked to the main FLMM folder]
5. Do NOT manually open FLMM. FLMM will automatically start once crossfire unpacks.
6. Activate Crossfire 1.82 Client. The window may go to a " Not Responding " mode. Ignore that and wait until it activates. It can take some time/up to half an hour.
7. Open Freelancer game icon and a crossfire launcher should pop up. (If it doesn't, you did something wrong) Allow automatic patching for MP play.
8. If entering Freelancer for the first time, the screen may turn black. Minimize with alt+tab and accept EULA before returning to game.

Troubleshoot:
Improper/Incomplete Installation: The default install setting for all three programs, Freelancer Game, FLMM and crossfire, should be the correct paths. When Crossfire is activated by FLMM, the files of the mod unpacked to the FLMM folder (i.e. ...Program Files\Freelancer Mod Manager)will be installed to the original Freelancer game folder. (i.e....Program Files\Microsoft Games\Freelancer) The Crossfire launcher, called "Freelancer.exe," which has a distinct crossfire icon, must be in the same folder as the original game's "Freelancer.exe." This is why Crossfire must be unpacked to the main FLMM folder in step *4*. This transfer is hard coded.