1. Running too many leagues

Ensure you are not running too many leagues for your system. When starting a new game, the "Recommended Setup" will give you an indication as to how many leagues and what kind of game setup the game itself thinks your system is capable. While this is not necessarily 100% accurate, it should err on the side of caution.

If you are running a game with too large a database and/or too many leagues at the same time it is possible that you can run into out of memory errors, as the system may not be able to handle all the data the game requires. In addition to that, running too many leagues or with a database that is too big will severely impact the performance of the game.

2. You have 512MB RAM (or thereabouts) on Windows 2000 or XP

Older versions of Windows, like Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows Millennium Edition, may have problems both in general Windows usage and when running the game if you have more than 512MB RAM installed in the system.

You can try to work around this by using a utility from Microsoft called Application Compatibility Toolkit, which you can find here. Follow the instructions to download the latest ACT. Once downloaded, install it by double clicking the downloaded file and following the instructions in the installation wizard.

Once installed, do the following:

• After installing ACT 5.0, run Compatibility Administrator.
• In the left side panel it should be focused on "New Database" under "Custom Databases". If not, make it so.
• Right click "New database(1)", go into the "Create New" menu and click on "Application Fix...".
• Type a name for the application (CM1020),, name of the vendor (SI), and click "Browse..." to locate cm0102.exe in your disk.
• Click "Next", and you should be on a page called "Compatibility Modes".
• Under "Operating System Modes" select "Windows 98/ME.
• In "Select additional compatibility modes" tick the box named "ProfilesSetup" (should be the bottom one).
• Click "Next" - you're now on a page called "Compatibility Fixed.
• Find and tick the box named "GlobalMemoryStatusLie".
• Click "Next", you're now on a page called "Matching Information".
• Click "Finish" and the wizard closes. Click "File" and choose "Save", and type a database name (for example: MyAppFixes), and click OK.
• After saving it, right click the database name (MyAppFixes) in "Custom Databases".
• Save it on your disk somwhere using the file dialog that comes up - default location is My Documents.
• Give it a file name and click "Save". From the menu, click "Install".
• You will get a dialog telling you that the database was installed.
• A new item in the list on the left side will appear: "Installed Databases".
• Now try to run the game.

3. You have more than 512MB RAM on Windows 98 or ME

Older versions of Windows, like Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows Millennium Edition, may have problems both in general Windows usage and when running the game if you have more than 512MB RAM installed in the system.

You can try to work around this by doing the following:

• Run the System Configuration Utility and tell Windows not to use more than 5 12MB of the available memory: Click 'Start', then 'Run...', type 'msconfig' without the quotes in the 'Open' box, then click 'OK'. Now click 'Advanced' and locate the option 'Limit Memory to <x> MB:' and set it to 512.
• Making sure there is at most 512MB RAM physically installed.
• Also see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q253912/

Definitions

• <username>: The username with which you're logged into your computer. This is usually the same as the user display name on the system, but may be different.
• <User Data Folder>: The user data folder of the current logged in user. See "User Data Folder" below. This folder is configurable from the game preferences.
• <Shared User Data Folder>: The user data folder where all users on the system have access, see "Shared User Data Folder" below.
• <Application Data Folder>: See "Application Data Folder" below.
• <User Cache Folder>: The folder in which game cache is created if necessary. See "User Cache Folder" below.

See "Descriptions" below for more details about the above definitions.

General Folder Layout

For things that are configurable there are generally three levels of folders the game will look in for data, in the following priority order:

• <User Data Folder>
• <Shared User Data Folder>
• <Application Data Folder>

Each of these may have the following subfolders where the game will look for different types of data:

• skins: The parent folder for any skins installed in the FM system. Each skin is its own sub-folder.
• db: The parent folder for any databases installed in the FM system. Each database is its own sub-folder.
• graphics: This folder may contain customised graphical content that are separate and standalone to any installed skins (such as facepacks, kits, logos, icons, etc)
• sounds: This folder may contain sounds that override the default sounds in the FM installation application data folder.

In your user data folder there may also be some other folders:

• games: This folder contains all your savegames unless you have manually saved a game somewhere else.
• matches: This folder contains any matches you have saved to disk (with the file extension .pkm).
• screenshots: This folder contains any screenshots you have taken from within the game (default shortcut Alt+F9).
• tactics: This folder contains any tactics you may have exported from the game. These can be imported into other saved games.
• filters: This folder contains any exported search filters.
• shortlists: This folder contains any exported shortlists.

So in general you may have a folder layout like this that contains data such as pictures, skins, databases, etc:

<User Data Folder>:

• skins
• db
• graphics
• sounds

<Shared User Data Folder>

• skins
• db
• graphics
• sounds

<Application Data Folder>

• skins
• db
• graphics
• sounds

Descriptions

Skin Folders

Skins can be installed to a number of folders. It is highly recommended that they be installed in either the current user data folder, or in the shared user data folder.

Both on Windows and Mac there are two levels of skin folders, in the following priority order:

• <User Data Folder>/skins/
• <Shared User Data Folders>/skins/
• <Application Data Folder>/skins/

Each skin is installed in its own sub-folder inside a "skins" folder.

It is recommended that third party skins are installed to the skins folder in the <User Data Folder> location.

If the skin is to be shared between all users on the system, install the skin to a "skins" subfolder in the <Shared User Data Folder> location. Do not install it to the installation folder of the game (all users may not have access to this folder).

Database Folders

In FM 2007 database updates can (and should) be installed to separate folders. This avoids having to overwrite the database that was shipped with the game.

It is highly recommended that any updates are installed into the current <user data folder>, or if the update is to be shared between more than one user on the system, to the <shared user data folder>.

Each database should be installed into its own sub-folder in the "db" folder. Each database must implement an XML file specifying some basic properties, and this file must be named the same as the folder it is located in (e.g. <User Data Folder>/db/my data update/my data update.xml).

There are three levels of database folders, much like how the skin folders work. They work the same on both Windows and Mac:

• <User Data Folder>/db/
• <Shared User Data Folder>/db/
• <Application Data Folder>/db/

Graphical Content

By 'graphical content' we refer to stand-alone facepacks, pictures, kits, logos, icons, etc that are not part of a skin.

As both the skin folders and database folders, the list of folders the game will look for these kinds of resources is similar:

• <User Data Folder>/graphics/
• <Shared User Data Folder>/graphics/
• <Application Data Folder>/graphics/

Sound data

Like the above folders, the sounds should be put in either your user data folder (in the "sounds" sub-folder) or in the shared user data folder ("sounds" sub-folder).

• <User Data Folder>/sounds/
• <Shared User Data Folder>/sounds/
• <Application Data Folder>/sounds/

General Folder Types

User Data Folder

This is the base folder for objects such as save games, tactics, etc. Basically any user-specific data is stored inside subfolders of this folder, and follows the rules laid down by the operating system as to where such content should be stored.

This folder is configurable from the game preferences.

• Win 2K/XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\
• Win 98/ME: C:\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\
• Mac OS X : /Users/<username>/Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2007/

Shared User Data Folder

This is the user data folder on the system where all users (regardless of whether they are administrator or not) have access. Any data that is to be shared between users on the system should be stored here. This includes skins and data updates (or even saved games) that people other than the current user is supposed to be able to access.

As defined by the operating system, such content should not be put in the installation folder of the game, as it is quite common that normal users do not have access to modify this location.

• Win 2K/XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\
• Win 98/ME: C:\Windows\All Users\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\
• Mac OS X : /Users/Shared/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2007/

Application Data Folder

You should not modify content in this location, as some users may not have full access to it. Content such as database updates, skins, etc should be installed to the respective user or shared user data folders (see above).

• Win 2K/XP: C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\data\
• Win 98/ME: C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\data\
• Mac OS X : /Applications/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2007/data/

Game Preferences/Settings Folder

This is where the game preferences are stored. In previous versions of Football Manager the settings on Windows were stored in the registry, and on Macintosh on teh disk. From FM2007 both platforms store settings on the disk.

• Win 2K/XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\Settings\
• Win 98/ME: C:\Windows\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\Settings\
• Mac OS X : /Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/Sports Interactive Ltd/Football Manager 2007/

User Cache Folder

When you first launch the game, a cache of the skin you are using will be created. This speeds up subsequent launches of the game. There may also be other cache files generated in some situations.

• Win 2K/XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\Cache\
• Win 98/ME: C:\Windows\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\Cache\
• Mac OS X : /Users/<username/Library/Caches/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2007/Cache/

Temporary Folders

Any temporary items that needs to be created are put in this folder.

Technically these folders are not the temporary folders of the system (as defined by the operating system), but to avoid any problems with the system or applications automatically cleaning up any system temporary folders the FM temporary files are stored in a slightly different location.

The default locations are:

• Win 2K/XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\Temporary\
• Win 98/ME: C:\Windows\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2007\Temporary\
• Mac OS X : /Users/<username>/Library/Caches/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2007/Temporary/

The location of the temporary folder is configurable through the --custom_temporary_folder (pass a full absolute path) or the "Use user data folder for temporary files" in the Preferences screen (it sets the temporary folder to "temporary" inside the current <user data folder>).

You can start FM and pass it command line options to either override existing preferences or do some additional stuff. Please refer to the "HOWTO: Start the game with command line options" for detailed explanations of how to do this.

Command Line Options

--database_location=<folder>

This lets you specify a different location of the database used to start a new game than the one that was installed with the game. There is now no need to overwrite the database that came with the game when installing third party updates. There is a small limitation as to where you can put these third party updates at the moment: It must be in a folder on the same level as the save game folder, tactics folder and so on. In other words, by default on Windows, this will be in

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2006\

In here you create a folder called "db", and in there you can create subfolders for each database collection, so for example:

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2006\db\update1\

You would tell the game to use this database for creating new games by passing it the command line option:

--database_location=update1

You can use spaces in the folder, and if you do you need to enclose the folder in quotation marks:

--database_location="my update"

You can pass a single folder or a partial folder path (relative to <FM User Data>\db\):

--database_location="fm update 1" (will use "\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2006\db\fm update 1\")

--database_location="english updates/update 1" (will use "\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2006\db\english updates\update 1")

IMPORTANT: You must use the forward slash (/) as path separator.

Mac: The location for this on the Mac would normally be ~/Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2006/db/ where "~" is your home folder.

Absolute paths (6.0.2 onwards only)

From Football Manager 2006 v6.0.2 (the second patch) onwards the --database_location command line option supports absolute paths. In order to use an absolute path, prefix the path you pass to the command line with a forward slash (remember the internal FM path separator is the Unix-style forward slash): "/", then the drive (on the Mac use the volume name) that contains the database you want to load.

So to use a database you have put in "C:\My Database\test update 1\", you use the command line option:

--database_location="/c:/my database/test update"

--user_data_location=<folder>

Note that this option is only supported in v6.0.2 onwards.

It works much like --database_location above, except it specifies what is the "base user data folder" for Football Manager. This "base user data folder" is where the game puts the subfolders with "games", "tactics" and so on - by default this is in "My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2006". This command line option lets you redirect and override the location of this folder.

As mentioned it works much like --database_location except with one important difference: You must use an absolute path. In other words, it does not support relative paths.

To redirect the "base user data folder" to a folder you have created in C:\My FM Data\, pass the following command line option to the game:

--user_data_location="/c:/my fm data"

--external_ip=[0/1]

This lets you control whether or not the game will try to find your proper external IP. If you are behind a router of some sort then this must be on to display your correct internet address in the Game Status screen, otherwise it will only display you local address. It is not necessary to for the game to find the external IP, however, except for display purposes, so in case you have problems with running the game as a server (see the in-game Preferences) then you can try to turn off this external address lookup by passing FM the command line option:

--external_ip=0

This option is enabled by default.

--cpu_count=[N]

If for some reason you want to enable in-game threading even if you do not have a dual processor or hyper-threading enabled computer, you can do so by passing this command line option to FM.

--cpu_count=2

Will force FM to assume you have two processors even if you actually haven't.

--reset_preferences

This option clears all the in-game preferences (Windows: from the registry, Mac: from the disk) so that the game starts up as if it was being started for the first time. This means that unless you add command line options to regulate its fullscreen/windowed state it will start in full screen when you give it the --reset_preferences command line option.

--windowed

If you want to force the game to run in windowed mode then you pass it the --windowed command line option. If there is insufficient space available in windowed mode this will not work. A monitor that supports a maximum of 1024x768 will not have sufficient available desktop space for the game to run in the minimum required resolution of 1024x768 because the Windows taskbar takes up some space (as well as the FM window borders). In this case there is a workaround, see "--small_screen" below.

--small_screen

The minimum required and supported resolution to play FM is 1024x760. By todays standards this should be fine. However if you have an older monitor that only supports 800x600 you can force the game to accept this by passing:

--small_screen

On the command line. Otherwise the game will give you an error.

Another potential use for this is that if you want to run the game in windowed mode on a 1024x768 monitor you will also need to pass it the --small_screen command line option. The reason for this is that in windowed mode the actual available resolution is less than the minimum requirements of 1024x768 - the Windows taskbar takes up some, and the borders of the FM window also takes up some space. So to get FM running in windowed mode on a 1024x768 monitor you would need to pass:

--small_screen --windowed

--fullscreen

This is the inverse of "--windowed" and forces the game to start up in full screen.

--power_save=[0-10]

The game is reasonably clever when it comes to CPU usage, so that if it doesn't need to use CPU for any calculations it will only use the bare minimum to run. Such a situation is normally when you are not moving forward in the game world but browsing around looking for players or other teams.

Please note that there are situations the game will use as much CPU as it can even if you are not moving forward in time in the game world. If this is the case then there are matches being played in the background at the same time as you are browsing players, teams, etc.

The --power_save option to a certain extent lets you override the cpu usage:

--power_save=10

will tell the game that as much as possible it should always pause 10 ms between each cycle, in other words this means there will be 100 cycles per second. CPU usage on Windows in this scenario is generally 0-1%.

10 is the maximum value and the highest "power save" available.

0 is the minimum value and lowest value. 0 is basically "real time", meaning that the game will use as much CPU as it can possibly grab all the time.

The only real useful usage of this *might* be on laptops, but even that is probably arguable.

Please note that even if you specify a --power_save this does *not* mean that the game will never use a higher amount of CPU. All it means that generally it will try to use less than it probably would ask for normally.

IMPORTANT: Using --power_save may/will cause the game to run slower than it otherwise would, and may cause stuttering during matches.

--fullscreen_height=[N]

If you want to run in full screen on a "non-standard" resolution then you can use this option to specify what resolution you want to run. Use with care - if the resolution is incorrect or unsupported on your system the game will not start up properly.

--fullscreen_height=1050

Tells FM that the vertical resolution is 1050 pixels.

This option is particularly useful for running the game in fullscreen on wide screen monitors.

--fullscreen_width=[N]

If you want to run in full screen on a "non-standard" resolution then you can use this option to specify what resolution you want to run. Use with care - if the resolution is incorrect or unsupported on your system the game will not start up properly.

--fullscreen_width=1400

Tells FM that the vertical resolution is 1400 pixels.

This option is particularly useful for running the game in fullscreen on wide screen monitors.

--cache_skin=[0/1]

This is the sam as the in-game option "Use Skin Cache", and the "0" turns off the skin cache, telling the game to re-scan the resource files and folders every time it runs up. Might be useful to troubleshoot some systems where the game is having problems starting properly.

--skin=[skin name]

This is the same as the in-game option "Skin", and tells the game which skin to load. For example: "--skin=metallic2006" (without the quotes) tells the game to load the default FM06 skin Metallic 2006.

--play_sounds=[0/1]

Has the same functionality as the in-game "Play Sounds" option, and tells the game not play any sounds.

--small_ballls=[0/1]

This lets you specify if you want to use larger balls on the 2D match pitch. "Small balls" is what is used normally, so to override this to use larger balls specify "0".

--always_reload_skin=[0/1]

Note that this option is only supported in v6.0.2 onwards.

This command line option is mostly useful for people creating skins or other content for Football Manager. It is partly related to --cache_skin but isn't linked, so --always_reload_skin will not affect --cache_skin in any way - for any useful appliance of --always_reload_skin it needs to be used in conjunction with --cache_skin=0 so that the skin cache is turned off.

All "always reload skin" basically does is always reload the skin data when you go to the preferences screen and click "Confirm". Prior to v6.0.2 (FM05 as well FM06) when skin authors wanted to see a change they did be applied to the game they had to go to the preferences screen and change the skin to another skin, then change the skin back to the skin they were working on. Using --always_reload_skin reduces this to simply going to the preferences screen and clicking "Confirm".

For example if the game (such as FM2005) requires a minimum of 1024 x 768, and your wide screen monitor only offers a wide screen resolution of for example 1152 x 864 or 1440 x 900 (common for 17" LCD wide screen monitors), then once the size of the taskbar, window titlebar and possible other items that occupy desktop space it taken into account, the available desktop space may be 768 or less. When this happens the game will not allow you to run in windowed mode.

There is a way you force it into windowed mode, but be aware that this is an unsupported solution.

• Right click the game shortcut (on the desktop, the quick launch bar or in the start menu)
• Go to the "Shortcut" tab
• In the "Target" area, add the following: "-small_screen -windowed" without the quotes
• If you have installed the game to a location with spaces in the path there will be quotes around the game executable, for example: "C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive Ltd\Football Manager 2005\fm2005.exe" - add the above arguments outside and after the quotes.

There are some possible workarounds, listed in order of simplicity:

1. Black screen problems

Please read the "troubleshooting black screen" document for instructions.

2. Nothing happens

"Nothing happens when I launch the game" covers this topic.

3. You see the Windows crash (or error) dialog

If you see the standard Windows crash/error dialog (not the FM "Application Error" dialog) then please refer to "troubleshooting Windows crash dialog".

4. Run the game with another user

If there are something on your system that are causing a problem, then you might want to try to run the game as a different user to see if that helps. If you only have one user, try to create a new one (preferably with Administrator rights, but that shouldn't be a requirement) and run the game. You should not need to re-install the game for this user.

In some rare cases, such as if a CD writing or emulation software is causing problems, where this might help. (See also "troubleshooting Safedisc problems".)

5. Uninstall and re-install

If you can't get any of the above to work, a last resort can be to try a clean re-install. This makes sure any install is as clean as it can be. After re-installing, you may try one or more of the options mentioned above (#2 and #3).

1. Reset the skin to default

Please refer to "how to change the skin back to the default" for instructions.

2. Delete the cache folder

You can try to delete the cache folder to see if it helps.

• Click the "Start" menu
• Go to "Programs"
• Then "Accessories"
• Choose "Windows Explorer"
• Prior to v6.0.2: Windows: Go C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2006\ (or where FM is installed). Mac: Go to Applications/Football Manager 2006. Then go into the "Data" folder.
• From 6.0.2 onwards: Go to your documents folder (Windows: C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\My Documents\, Mac: <Your Home Folder>/Documents/), then go into the "Sports Interactive" folder and then "Football Manager 2006" folder.
• Right click the folder name "Cache"
• Choose "Delete" (Mac: "Move to trash").

Try to run the game.

3. Turn off the cache option

If for subsequent launches of the game problem resurfaces, you may want to turn off the cache option altogether. Please note that doing so will increase the startup/launch time (the time from you click the shortcut or executable until the game is up and running) quite considerably.

The best place to do so is in the game itself - go to the "Options" menu, choose "Preferences" and in the "Display" section untick "Use Skin Cache" and click "Confirm".

You can also do so by providing a command line option to the game - please refer to "FM2006 Command Line Options" for details about command line options in general and the --cache_skin options in particular.

4. Check your hard disk for errrors

It is possible that errors on your hard disk may cause the caching to not work properly or optimally. It is recommended you try to check your hard disk for errors.

5. Re-install the game

If all else fails, try to do complete and clean re-install of the game.

If you dont have the 4.1.4 patch installed you may encounter problems. If you have certain CD-burning software installed, such as Nero Burning Rom, or other system tools like Inseektors, Daemon Tools, or others, you may need to disable any processes the software installs, such as the NeroCheck utility installed with Nero.

This problem may also occur if you are running debuggers, decompilers, or CD-ROM Drive emulators on your system, or if you are using Real Mode drivers for your CD-ROM drive.

Finally make sure you have a valid copy of CM4 and indeed that you don't have a no-cd crack or indeed the Crack directory; within which came a No CD crack. Both of these will stop the game working, or will cause problems down the line at best.

Error occurred during the installation: null.

If this happens, it means that a previous software installation and/or uninstallation caused the InstallShield installer to run incorrectly and possibly have corrupted an InstallShield file on your system.

There are a couple of possible workaround for this:

1. Rename InstallShield Common Folder

Windows

• Open Windows Explorer.
• Navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Universal\
• Rename the 'common' folder (inside 'Universal') to 'common_backup'. Do not rename the 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\' folder!
• Now try to install FM07 by running the FM07 installer.

• If there is a folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Universal\Common Files\, rename the 'Common Files' inside 'Universal' to 'CommonFilesBackup'.
• If there is a folder 'Sports Interactive inside the 'Universal' folder, try to rename this to 'Sports Interactive Backup'.
• Now try to run the FM07 installer.

• If 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Universal' is not present, look in: C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\InstallShield\Universal\ - there might be a 'common' (or 'Common Files'): Rename it to 'common_backup' (or 'common_files_backup').
• Now try to run the FM07 installer.

• If those doesn't work, also try to rename the "Sports Interactive" folder inside "InshallShield\Universal" folder (either in C:\Program Files\Common Files\ or C:\Documents and Settings\<your username\) to "Sports_Interactive_Backup".
• Now try to run the FM07 installer.

Mac OS X

• Open Finder.
• Navigate to your home folder (it should be in the Finder sidebar, having your user name).
• Go into the "InstallShield" folder.
• Go into the "Universal" folder.
• There should be two folders: "common" and "Sports Interactive".
• Rename "common" to "common_backup" and try to install FM07.
• If that doesn't work, also try to rename "Sports Interactive" to "sports_interactive_backup" and try to install FM07.

2. Install logged in as a different user

• If you have a different user (with administrator priveleges), log out of the current user and log in as this user, then try to install the game.
• If that doesn't work, or if you have no other user, create a new user by clicking the "Start" menu, then "Control Panel", then "User Accounts" and click on "Create new accoun". Make the user a computer administrator. Once completed, log out the current user and log in as the new user, then try to run the FM07 installer.

3. Uninstall and/or re-install the Java on your machine

Please read this document on how to uninstall and re-install the Java version on your machine, and see if it works with no Java installed on your system, or if it works when installing the latest version of Java.

Windows

On Windows you there are two ways start the game with command line options:

• From a command prompt ('cmd' on Win2K/XP, 'command.com' on Win98/ME), open a command prompt and go to the FM06 installation folder (where fm.exe). Start the game by typing "fm.exe" (without quotes) and then add command line options after that - for example: fm.exe --windowed
• By editing the FM desktop (or start menu) shortcut: Right click the shortcut, choose "Properties". In the "Target" field, add the command line option after "fm.exe", press OK and then try run the game as normal. (Please note that you do NOT want to do this when using --reset_preferences, as unless you remove it afterwards it will keep resetting your settings to the default every time you run the game!)

Mac OS

The Mac did not used to have concept of a command line, and FM is at the moment not in a MacOX Mach-O executable format, and therefore you cannot launch it from the command line (terminal). Instead, to get a 'command line' you'll have to create a text file (it needs to be in text format and not RTF or HTML) named "command line" in the same folder as the FM application.

The format of this file is the same as the command line options for Windows - put each command line option on a a separate line, so:

<start file: command line>

--windowed

--small_screen

<end file: command line>

Will force FM into a "small screen" mode (which allows windowed mode in monitors where there is not enough desktop resolution to otherwise do so) and start up in windowed mode even if the preferences are set to full screen.

Command Line Options

Please refer to the FM2006 Command Line Options article for a full description of command line options available for FM06.

The following are other possible workarounds that may help you if you are running into this kind of problem.

1. SafeDisc Driver Fix

This update is designed for Microsoft Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. You may have to log on as an administrator to install it. If you continue to experience problems verifying the CD, a compatibility enhancement update is available.

You can download the driver update from the Macrovision Web site.

2. Disable or change compatibility mode

• Right-click the shortcut icon for the program, and then click Properties.
• On the Compatibility tab, click to clear the Run this program in compatibility mode for check box. 
• Alternatively, on the Compatibility tab, select the compatibility mode Windows 2000.
• Click OK.
• Start the program with the shortcut that you just modified. 

3. Do a "clean reboot"

• Click Start, and then click Run.
• In the Open box, type msconfig, and then click OK.
• On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
• Under Selective Startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
• Process SYSTEM.INI File
• Process WIN.INI File
• Load Startup Items
• On the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
• Click OK, and then click Restart.

After restart, try and to run the game.

1. Backup any save games
2. Uninstall the game
3. Reinstall the game
4. Try to install the patch again

For some reason, the registry information needed by the patcher is corrupt and following the above procedures will correct this issue

1. Uninstall Java Runtime Environment

• Click the "Start" menu.
• Click "Settings" and then "Control Panel".
• Double click "Add/Remove Programs".
• In the "Add or Remove Programs" dialog, scroll down until you find the program called "Java Runtime Environment".
• Click "Remove" to uninstall "Java Runtime Environment".
• When asked to confirm removing Java from the system, press "Ok".

2. Install the latest Java Runtime Environment (JRE) manually

• Download the latest Java from Sun's Java download page.
• Install Java by double-clicking on the file you just downloaded, and follow the intructions.

3. Uninstall the Java SDK

• If you have a Java SDK installed, then this may also be causing some problems in some cases.
• In this case, do the same as in step #1 above.
• Once in "Add/Remove Programs", choose to uninstall anything that starts with "Java".
• This should mean that, combined with #1 above, you now have not got any Java installed.
• Now try to run the FM07 installer.

4. Install the latest Java SDK (JDK) manually

• As a last resort, you may want to try to install the full Java SDK (JDK) rather than the (smaller) Java Runtime Environment (JRE). In some cases this has been reported to help.
• Go to the Sun Java download page, and click "Download" for the latest "JDK Update" (Currently this is: "JDK 5.0 Update 9").
• You will be taken to a download page for the JDK installation.
• Click on the link that says "Windows Offline Installation, Multi-language".
• Download this file to your computer somewhere (e.g. the desktop, or another folder).
• Once the download has completed, double click the file you just downloaded.
• Follow the instructions in the Java installer dialog to install Java on your computer.
• Now try to run the FM07 installer.

• First, please refer to the article covering "Safedisc problems"
• It can also be spyware or ad-ware, software that are automatically installed without your knowledge when you install some other software. What you should do is download spyware checking like AdAware (www.adaware.com) and scan your PC for spyware.  Remove all traces of spyware.  Reboot your machine and try again.
• Right click the shortcut for the game (ie FM06), choose "Properties", then "Compatibility", tick the box and select "Windows NT".
• If you have mutliple cd- and/or dvd-rom drives in your computer, try to put the disk in the other drive(s). Sometimes SafeDisc seems to get confused as to which drive the product was installed from.

• Open Windows Explorer.
• Go to My Computer.
• Right click on the partition/drive where FM is installed.
• Choose Properties.
• Go to "Tools".
• Click "Check Now" under "Error-checking".
• Turn on "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors".
• Click "Start".
• Wait until it's finished - it may take a long time. It will let you know the results of the scan once it has finished.
• If you are trying to check the Windows drive (normally C: ) for errors then it may ask you to do the check on the next reboot, because it needs exclusive access to files currently locked by Windows (and possibly other system-critical applications). Choose "Yes" and then reboot your system. Windows will then automatically start a disk check - let it finish.

2. Mac OS X

If you have installed the game to a different disk than the one Mac OS X is installed to, you should be able to verify your disk without rebooting.

• Open "Finder"
• Go to "Applications"
• Run "Disk Utility" (it may be in "Utilities" subfolder)
• Select the disk to verify.
• Choose "Verify disk".
• Once it has completed, choose "Verify permissions".
• Note that you cannot verify the same disk Mac OS X is installed on without rebooting from the Mac OS X DVD.

If you want to verify the same disk as the Mac OS X installation, you need to

• Put the Mac OS X dvd in the drive.
• From the DVD, choose "Install Mac OS X"
• Reboot from the DVD when it asks you to.
• When the installer has started, go to the Mac menubar.
• Choose "Tools", and then "Disk Utility".
• Follow the instructions above for verifying the disk(s) and permissions.

1. Delete skin cache

You should first try to delete the skin cache folder as described in the "troubleshooting black screen" document, if that helps and the problem recurs with the skin caching still on, please refer to the same document for how to turn it off permanently.

2. Troubleshoot Safedisc

If that didn't help, please refer to the "troubleshooting Safedisc problems" document for possible reasons and suggested workarounds.

1. Uninstall the game

• Click the "Start" menu
• Go to the Control Panel
• Choose "Add/Remove Programs"
• Choose to uninstall "Football Manager 2007"

2. Ensure all game related folders are deleted

• When finished, make sure the "Football Manager 2007" folder is removed (by default this was located in "C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive". If it's still there, delete it (Windows Explorer, go C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\, right click "Football Manager 2007" and choose "Delete")

3. Delete all settings

Delete any settings from the registry - please refer to "how to reset the game settings (FM07)" for instructions.

4. Delete cache files

Delete the cache folder and all its contents from disk. Please refer to FM2007 Folder Locations for where this may be on your system.

• Now install the game from the disk.

Go to Start in the bottom left of your screen and then Run.  In the run box type ‘regedit’ (no comma’s 

This will open the Windows registry editor.

Now go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER then Software and then Sports Interactive Ltd.

Click on Football Manager 2005 once to highlight it.  Then press the delete button to delete it.

Close regedit and reboot your machine.

Try Football manager 2005 again!

However, if there is a problem with a driver or possibly with the Safedisc protection we employ, then the problem may occur before the game has started properly. If you see the normal/standard Windows crash or error dialog, this means you have such a problem.

1. Update your drivers

It's always important that you are running the latest drivers for your hardware, graphics drivers as well as audio drivers and anything else of hardware you have installed in your system. Please refer to the documentation for the hardware of how to do so and the manufacturer websites of where to get the latest available drivers.

Also make sure you visit Windows Update and install any updates available for your system.

2. Anti-virus and similar

Make sure you are running an up-to-date anti-virus software package with the latest virus definitions. It is recommended you run regular virus checks to ensure your system is clean. However, for best game performance it is recommended you exclude the Football Manager installation folder and subfolders from the real-time file protection (please see the software documentation of how to do so).

3. Troubleshoot Safedisc

It's possible Safedisc is causing this problem. Please read "troubleshooting Safedisc problems" for more details and suggested actions to fix it.

"[Filename] not a valid Win32 application" (where "filename" is the name of the file you try to run)

it usually means the file is corrupted. Mainly you can encounter this error with downloaded files (such as patches, etc) that were corrupted during the download. If this happens, the only way to fix it is to download the file again - if possible from a different source.

• Click the "Start" menu
• Go to the Control Panel
• Choose "Add/Remove Programs"
• Choose to uninstall "Football Manager 2006"
• When finished, make sure the "Football Manager 2006" folder is removed (by default this was located in "C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive". If it's still there, delete it (Windows Explorer, go C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\, right "Football Manager 2006" and choose "Delete")
• Delete any settings from the registry - please refer to "howto reset the game settings" for instructions
• Now install the game from the disk.