Completely at wit's end ...

[Uglyhat]

If help is possible, I could sure use it. I think I've read (or at least perused for relevance) every thread in this forum.

I cannot get eq2map to work on my new comp (works like a charm on the old one - feel blind w/out it). Similarly (but not germane to this forum) I cannot get Advanced Combat Tracker to work, with similar errors and malfunctions.

Here's a synopsis of what I've done.

Built comp for gaming, Intel dual core 2.4 ghz on fatality MB w/4 gig corsair ram, velociraptor HD.

Installed Win XP Pro SP 2, let it update itself, DL Mozilla Firefox, DL McAfee antivirus, spybot and adaware. Install EQ2:KoS disc set, wait (and wait) while updates patch into old disc set.

No problems thusfar, EQ2 runs fine.

DL and install EQ2MAP ... I get a NET FRAMEWORK error ... DOT NET 2.0 seems to have been installed in either the original XP disc set or updates. I repair DOT NET with no errors, but get the same error with EQ2MAP. I uninstall EQ2MAP, re-DL, reinstall, etc. ... same error. I uninstall DOT NET Framework 2.0, re-DL and install. This time no DOT NET error, it just goes to the 'unrecoverable error' message and asks if I want to send MS the error log (heh ... uhm ... no).

I read related forums ... one suggested installing ver 1.1 in addition to 2.0, so I DL DOT NET Framework 1.1, try to install ... all is well until I get: "Error 1719. The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed" (although other programs have seemingly installed using this already...).

More sleuthing ... Microsoft has a patch for the Installer, I DL, Install the intstaller patch (which oddly required stopping and restarting the install process), execute and try V 1.1 again.

"Error 1719 ....."

Amazingly I still have hair after all this.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and if somehow I missed the Sticky thread with the solution, feel free to call me an idiot but PLEASE help.