# Age of Mythology Unable to Install- PidGen DLL Load Error



## kelticvixen (Oct 12, 2003)

I loved AOE, so I recently purchased AOM. The problem is that as soon as I type in my product reg key, I get an error message that reads "Cannot load PidGen.dll". I can't proceed past this point. Ugh. Has anyone else encountered this? I'm not very knowledgable about dlls, but I think that one is a system dll that is used to read microsoft product codes, from what little came up when I did some searches on it. I'm so frustrated at being unable to even install the game. I've had some other dll/ocx errors lately, and I can't seem to solve them.  My sys specs are:

Operating System: Windows 98 (4.10, Build 2222) A 
Language: English (Regional Setting:
English)
System Manufacturer: n/a
System Model: n/a
BIOS: n/a
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2000+, MMX, 
3DNow, ~1.7GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 104MB used, 1432MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 4.09.0000.0902 32bit

ANY help or advice would be so appreciated! Thanks in advance,
Vix


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Is your computer date set correctly? Invalid ProductKeys can also cause that error and antivirus programs running in the background.


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## kelticvixen (Oct 12, 2003)

Hi, thanks for the reply.  Yes, my date is set correctly. I loaded my game on my husband's comp and it works perfectly.  Also, I did a search for the dll and I found it in my windows file, but when I right-clicked it to check the details for it com explorer said that it could not be located in the registry. I clicked the option to register it anyway and was informed by a popup that it wasn't registered, and would I like to register it. I said yes and it returned this error message from regsvr32: LoadLibrary("pidgen.dll")failed. GetLastError returns 0x0000001f. Blah. Any ideas? Thanks!!!


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

It's a rather strange dll -- the Win98 copy of it that I have does not even carry a version number. I've never seen Windows offer to register a file like that when right clicking and selecting properties, but in any case, this particular one is not "self registerable" which is why you got that error when it tried.

http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/moreinfo.asp?Id=163196

You might try using SFC to replace the file anyway.

Using SFC to extract files

1. Go to Start>Run and enter SFC and click OK
2. Check "Extract one File"
3. Enter the file name and click on "Start"
4. In the "Restore from" field enter:: *D:\WIN98* [if 'D' is not the letter of your CD-Rom drive, modify appropriately]
5. Click OK

{if you do not have a Windows system CD, try subsitituting *c:\windows\options\cabs* in the"restore from field"}

And although it probably little consolation you can see you are not alone it getting this error with the very same software:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=...ndow=1&q=pidgen.dll+"cannot+load"&btnG=Search

I'm not seeing a clear resolution for this, but someone with some troubleshooting experience (a Microsoft MVP, of which I'm one too  -- no formal relation to Microsoft though), suggested that the file was dependent on certain Microsoft Foundation Class files such as mfc42.dll. What is your version number for that file?


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## beachmaster (Nov 23, 2004)

I realize this answer comes late and that you may never read it, I had the same problem installing HALO, a few dll's got screwed up from the deinstall of Outpost Firewall, another program on my "Not To Recommend List", however I tried many ideas from online searches but the only way to over come this is going to add/remove software and reinstalling Windows  from there, all your settings are saved but it recompiles your dll's file, works great now.

Good Luck....


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