Links 2003: "STOP: Could Not Create Restore Surface" Error Message When You Try to Start Links 2003 (815190)

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, use one or more of the following methods in the order that they appear.

Method 1: Verify That Your Video Adapter Meets the Minimum System Requirements

Verify that your video adapter meets the minimum system requirements. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type dxdiag, and then click OK.
3. In the DirectX Diagnostic dialog box, click the Display or Display 1 tab.
4. In the Device pane, note the value that is listed next to Approx. Total Memory, and then click Exit.
5. If you have less than 16 megabytes (MB) of video memory installed on your video adapter, install additional video memory on your video adapter or install a video adapter that has more video memory.

For additional information about the system requirements, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If your computer meets the game video adapter minimum requirements but the problem continues to occur, continue to the next method.

Method 2: Verify That Your Video Adapter Is Compatible with Links 2003

Check the Hardware-Specific Video Issues section of the following article to see if your video adapter is listed with specific steps to fix this problem: For additional information about known video issues, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If there are no known video problems that are associated with your video adapter and the problem still occurs, continue to the next method.

Method 3: Disable and Then Enable the AGP Texture Acceleration Feature

Disable, and then Enable AGP Texture Acceleration. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type dxdiag, and then click OK.
3. Click the Display tab, or click the Display 1 tab.
4. In the DirectX Features pane, next to AGP Texture Acceleration, click Disable.
   When the warning message appears, click OK.
5. Click Enable to enable AGP Texture Acceleration.
   When the warning message appears, click OK.
6. Click Exit, and then start the game.

If the problem continues to occur, continue to the next method.

Method 4: Update Your Video Driver

Contact your video hardware manufacturer to obtain and install the latest version of the driver for your video adapter. For more information about how to contact the manufacturer of your video hardware, see the "More Information" section of this article. You may also visit the following Microsoft Update Web site to see if applicable driver updates are available:If this problem continues to occur, continue to the next method.

Method 5: Run the Game in Safe Mode

For Windows XP and Windows 2000, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click All Programs, and then point to Microsoft Games.
2. Click Links 2003, and then click Links 2003 Safe Mode.

For Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Pograms, and then point to Microsoft Games.
2. Click Links 2003, and then click Links 2003 Safe Mode.

Method 6: Update DirectX

For more information about how to download and install the most recent version of DirectX, visit the following Microsoft Web site: