retrieving saved game data

when i save my game and then click on it another day to play it. it comes up with a pop box saying not well-formed(invalid token) at line 1 of last_saved_game.xml. can anyone help me to resolve this because i have to start a new game again and its getting annoying , and there isnt a tech issues topic to put this on and please don't close this topic off . And then .While FM08 is loading up right at the start , that pop up box comes up and it says what i put earlier and then when the start is on with the new game , load last saved game and load game and so on is on there the load last saved game bit isnt lighted up with my last game ready to load up. so i click on load game and double click on my last game i want and then it starts loading and it does a little bit and then it says ' The saved game could not be loaded' so i have to start a new game again and then it does it again and its annoying so i dont know what to do about it ...

when i save my game and then click on it another day to play it. it comes up with a pop box saying not well-formed(invalid token) at line 1 of last_saved_game.xml. can anyone help me to resolve this because i have to start a new game again and its getting annoying , and there isnt a tech issues topic to put this on and please don't close this topic off . And then .While FM08 is loading up right at the start , that pop up box comes up and it says what i put earlier and then when the start is on with the new game , load last saved game and load game and so on is on there the load last saved game bit isnt lighted up with my last game ready to load up. so i click on load game and double click on my last game i want and then it starts loading and it does a little bit and then it says ' The saved game could not be loaded' so i have to start a new game again and then it does it again and its annoying so i dont know what to do about it ...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Olly Kenney:

Try doing a clean reinstall. When doing it make sure all of the following have been deleted.

1. The 'Sports Interactive' folder in Program Files.

2. The 'Sorts Interactive' folder in Your Documents

3. The 'Sports Interactive' folder in your cache.

4. Any Sports Interactive files in your Registry.

Also before you reinstall the game this document on SIbase explains in detail how to check your disk for errors. If you are checking the same partition as the Windows system disk (which you are), it will ask you to reboot to perform the check - you need to do this to so it can do the check.

You can also find more information on the Microsoft support pages which says to run 'chkdsk' with the '/f' command line option, which should repair any problems with the file system table.

Once you have done this install the game again and see if this has helped to fix your problem. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9482076743/m/8662051353

Try using paragraphs and punctuation in future

why do you have to criticise my grammar , why cant you just help me instead.

im sorry but i read it wrong ... thankyou for helping me.... im just installing the game back on again

Hopefully that will help you - you're new to the forums and I'm just making sure that when you post in future, you can post clearer so that you can get better replies. It's just a constructive tip.

Thank you for the tip . My gramma and punctuation isn't brilliant as i am only 14 but it will pick up in the future. Thank you

Theres one problem ... i can't find the Cache thing and i cant find the sports interactive files in my registry ... because i dont know where to find them on my computer .

right , i uninstalled FM08 and i deleted my sports interactive folder in program files and i deleted sports interactive folder in my documents but i didnt delete the other 2 that you said because i couldnt find them . so i installed FM08 again and then when it started loading up a pop up box came up and it said ' did not find font resources' and it just had a blank white screen...

What do i need to do to fix it

@tom baxter

Are you using XP or Vista?

im using XP .... Why?

I don't know how much you know about computers so if anything I type sounds like I am talking down to you, my apologies.

Go to Start>Settings>Control Panel>Add or Remove Programs

Select Football Manager 2008 and click remove.

Do i need to uninstall it again....

right ive uninstalled FM08

Now go to C:\Program Files to see if the Sports Interactive folder is gone.

While there click

Tools>Folder Options

In the display that appears click the 'View' tab. Scroll down and select 'Show hidden files and folders' and press 'OK'.

The sports interactive folder hasnt gone so do i need to delete it

Delete that Sports Interactive folder.

Sorry I've assumed so far that your drive is partitioned. In your next post can you confirm if you have two separate drives C and D.

ive deleted the sports interactive folder ... what do i need to do know

If you haven't done it already, then do the following:-

Go to

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator

Then

Tools>Folder Options

In the display that appears click the 'View' tab. Scroll down and select 'Show hidden files and folders' and press 'OK'.

A folder called 'Application Data' should appear if it isn't visible already.

Open this folder and delete the 'Sports Interactive' folder.

for some reason tools isnt on documents and settings

When you open this folder

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator

it should look like this

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/7125/cleanreinstall01uk7.jpg

The 'Tools' is circled in red in the image.

ohhhh right i looked in the wrong place lol ....that made me look thick.... i clicked on tools>folder options .. what do i need to click on now

ive done what you said earlier about clicking on show hidden files and it the circle next to it was already filled in so whats next for me to do

ive deleted the sports interactive folder on the application data folder

In here

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator

you should see a folder 'Application Data' which is slightly greyed out looking (if that makes sense). Open this folder and then delete the 'Sports Interactive' folder located in there.

Ive done that bit now

In D:\My Documents there is a folder called Sports Interactive. In here is where it stores your individual stuff (saved games, customised databases, facepacks, etc.). Make a copy of this folder. put it in D:\My Documents and rename it something like 'FM 2008 backup'.

Then delete the 'Sports Interactive' folder in D:\My Documents.

i deleted it earlier i didnt know i would need it

i got it back but it doesn't have anything to do with facepacks or customised datapacks

You don't need it. I was just recommending you back it up in case you had save games you wanted to continue or a database you created.

You have one of 2 choices now.

1. Reinstall FM 2008 and see if it works.

If it doesn't you will have to go through the previous steps to clear it off your machine again.

2. Continue with clearing FM related registry entries.

This step is very risky and a wrong step in the registry can cripple your PC, requiring reformatting your drive and reinstalling every program you have from their original disks including XP.

Personally I would reinstall FM 2008 and see if it works to avoid using the registry.

i think ill just reinstall FM08 back on and see if it works for the easiest... i uninstalled it and reinstalled it earlier on and when i loaded it back up it just had a blank white screen

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">i got it back but it doesn't have anything to do with facepacks or customised datapacks </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you mean you got it back by restoring from the 'Recycle Bin' then delete it again if it doesn't contain save games you want to continue or customised things (skins, databases etc.)

If it does contain things you want to keep then do as I said earlier

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> In D:\My Documents there is a folder called Sports Interactive. In here is where it stores your individual stuff (saved games, customised databases, facepacks, etc.). Make a copy of this folder. put it in D:\My Documents and rename it something like 'FM 2008 backup'.

Then delete the 'Sports Interactive' folder in D:\My Documents. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

which installation is better, express or advanced

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> think ill just reinstall FM08 back on and see if it works for the easiest... i uninstalled it and reinstalled it earlier on and when i loaded it back up it just had a blank white screen </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Make sure all FM related folders are gone before you reinstall:-

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Sports Interactive

C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive

D:\My Documents\Sports Interactive

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> which installation is better, express or advanced </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's been so long since I installed it off the top of my head I couldn't say. It probably tells you which one is recommended, so select that one.

yeah there all gone .... which installation is better express or advanced

i chose express. ive been playing FM since 2005 and i never new that you had to get patches and stuff like that ... i only just found out today and im in the middle of getting patch 8.0.1 i think

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">i chose express. ive been playing FM since 2005 and i never new that you had to get patches and stuff like that ... i only just found out today and im in the middle of getting patch 8.0.1 i think </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Did you have the patch installed when you got the errors in your opening post?

When you say you are in the middle of getting the 8.01 patch do you mean you are currently downloading it or installing it?

Did the 'out of the box' unpatched version work when you followed the reinstall instructions?

im currently downloading it ... its on 96%

well FM08 is working now it isnt coming up with a blank white screen ... Thankyou so much for doing that for me .I appreciate it

it's finished downloading so now i need to install it

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">well FM08 is working now it isnt coming up with a blank white screen ... Thankyou so much for doing that for me .I appreciate it </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No problem

You might want to add this thread to your 'Favourites' or cut and paste into a Word document for future reference (just in case it happens again).

the saved game thing has happened again ...

Does it happen with all save games or just the ones you had initially - try creating a new game now that you've reinstalled and see if that loads. Try looking at the URL I provided earlier, and look around the rest of the Bugs Forum

it happens with all my latest saved game data ... last night i started a new game and i saved it when it asked me just after i started a new user ... and then this morning when i loaded FM08 it said that the last game could not be loaded so i had to start a new game ....and the same thing will probably happen tomorrow

I haven't had this problem on FM08 ('save game could not be loaded error')but anytime it happened on 07 it was due to a fragmented hard drive.

To check do the following:-

1. Start a new game

2. Save the game

3. Quit and attempt to reload

4. If the 'save game could not be loaded' message still appears, do the next steps.

5. In XP go Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter

6. Click once on the drive where you save your FM games (probably D: if yours is partitioned like mine)

7. Click 'Analyze'

8. When it is done analysing a message will pop up. It will tell you if your drive needs to be defragmented

If the message says your drive needs to be defragmented then this might be the problem. To verify if this is the case do the following steps directly after step 8.

9. Click 'View Report'

10. Click 'Save As' and save it on your Desktop for easy access.

11. Open this text file (called VolumeD). This will give a list of fragmented files. If your FM save game is one of them then this is probably the problem, although it depends on the number of fragments the save file is in.

Defragmenting can take a fair amount of time so to check if this is the issue (and not a corrupt save game) try one of the following.

12a. If you have a second drive called C: repeat steps 5 to 8 except in step 6 select the C: drive

or

12b. If you have an external drive (a USB memory key will work) repeat steps 5 to 8 except select the external drive in step 6 (usually called F: or G: in Windows XP)

If whichever secondary drive you checked does not require defragmentation, then move your save game to that drive (assuming you have sufficient space on said drive). Make a note of where you move it as you will have to locate it when you attempt to load it in FM. After moving the FM save game to the non-fragmented drive repeat steps 5 to 11 on said drive just as a precautionary check of whether or not the save game is overly fragmented in the secondary drive.

Open FM 08 and try to load the game again from it's new location. If it loads successfully then the issue you have is the drive where you save your games requires defragmentation (in your case D. If this is the case then do the following:-

13. In XP go Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter

14. Click once on the drive where you save your FM games (probably D: if yours is partitioned like mine)

15. Click 'Defragment'

If there is less than 15% free space on the drive you want to fragment an error message will appear stating 15% as the recommended minimum free space to continue. In this case you will have to do some deleting or move files temporarily to a different drive.

Depending on the size of your drive and the level of fragmentation this process may take a long time so you might have to be patient. Do not interrupt the process once you start it.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Open FM 08 and try to load the game again from it's new location. If it loads successfully then the issue you have is the drive where you save your games requires defragmentation (in your case D. If this is the case then do the following:-

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

EDIT:-

In the above post it was supposed to be D: close bracket but it automatically got changed to a smilie face.

i cant find the drive which has my fm thingy in it ... it just comes up with the (c thing and when i click on it nothing happens.

i think that might of worked because i started a new game earlier and saved it, then i restarted my computer and loaded FM08 back up and it allowed me to load my recent game ...