After 15 years on a Mac, I'm the happy but woefully ignorant recipient of a Sony Vaio PCV-RX551 (1.6/80) running Win XP. To my huge disappointment, this spiffy new computer won't install games, specifically Baldur's Gate II Shadows of Amn and No One Lives Forever. I got an error 0x80040707. In a search of this error # on Google, it looks like it's related to InstallShield, but what do I know? Nada. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

To backup the Windows Registry: go to Start, Run, Regedit, click OK, select My Computer, File, Export.

Then copy exactly this text in Notepad saving it as file "User.reg":

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders]
"Common Desktop"=hex(2):25,00,41,00,4c,00,4c,00,55,00,53,00,45,00,52,00,53,00,\
50,00,52,00,4f,00,46,00,49,00,4c,00,45,00,25,00,5c,00,44,00,65,00,73,00,6b,\
00,74,00,6f,00,70,00,00,00
"Common Start Menu"=hex(2):25,00,41,00,4c,00,4c,00,55,00,53,00,45,00,52,00,53,\
00,50,00,52,00,4f,00,46,00,49,00,4c,00,45,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,74,00,61,00,\
72,00,74,00,20,00,4d,00,65,00,6e,00,75,00,00,00
"Common Programs"=hex(2):25,00,41,00,4c,00,4c,00,55,00,53,00,45,00,52,00,53,00,\
50,00,52,00,4f,00,46,00,49,00,4c,00,45,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,74,00,61,00,72,\
00,74,00,20,00,4d,00,65,00,6e,00,75,00,5c,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,\
61,00,6d,00,73,00,00,00
"Common Startup"=hex(2):25,00,41,00,4c,00,4c,00,55,00,53,00,45,00,52,00,53,00,\
50,00,52,00,4f,00,46,00,49,00,4c,00,45,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,74,00,61,00,72,\
00,74,00,20,00,4d,00,65,00,6e,00,75,00,5c,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,\
61,00,6d,00,73,00,5c,00,53,00,74,00,61,00,72,00,74,00,75,00,70,00,00,00
"Common AppData"=hex(2):25,00,41,00,4c,00,4c,00,55,00,53,00,45,00,52,00,53,00,\
50,00,52,00,4f,00,46,00,49,00,4c,00,45,00,25,00,5c,00,41,00,70,00,70,00,6c,\
00,69,00,63,00,61,00,74,00,69,00,6f,00,6e,00,20,00,44,00,61,00,74,00,61,00,\
00,00
"Common Templates"=hex(2):25,00,41,00,4c,00,4c,00,55,00,53,00,45,00,52,00,53,\
00,50,00,52,00,4f,00,46,00,49,00,4c,00,45,00,25,00,5c,00,54,00,65,00,6d,00,\
70,00,6c,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,73,00,00,00
"Common Favorites"=hex(2):25,00,41,00,4c,00,4c,00,55,00,53,00,45,00,52,00,53,\
00,50,00,52,00,4f,00,46,00,49,00,4c,00,45,00,25,00,5c,00,46,00,61,00,76,00,\
6f,00,72,00,69,00,74,00,65,00,73,00,00,00
"Common Documents"=hex(2):25,00,41,00,4c,00,4c,00,55,00,53,00,45,00,52,00,53,\
00,50,00,52,00,4f,00,46,00,49,00,4c,00,45,00,25,00,5c,00,44,00,6f,00,63,00,\
75,00,6d,00,65,00,6e,00,74,00,73,00,00,00


Go to Start, Run, regedt32.exe (NOT regedit), click OK, File, Import, browse and select User.reg, click Open.

Then check if folder "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop" does exist, if not create it.

Reboot. Log as administrator. Install game software. If it works, log under your user name and try installing other game software.