Secure Loader or Aladdin HASP error
(Note: This primarily affects 64-Bit Windows XP and Windows Vista, but has also been seen on 32-bit editions of Windows XP.)
* Problem: You receive one of the following two error messages with error code 0x80040702:
o The Aladdin HASP SL Runtime protecting module "<folder name>\bethsec.dll" could not initialize properly because it is incompatible with the current platform version. Please contact your product vendor.
o The Secure Loader used to protect this software has encountered a fatal error. Please contact your software vendor.
* Cause: The Secure Loader is incompatible with 64-bit Windows XP and Windows Vista; this seems to relate to a known problem with the InstallShield software and msvcrt.dll.
* Solution 1: Install them on another machine or partition with an earlier operating system and manually copy the files in the data directory to your main machine. (Virtual Machines are also a good choice here, since you don't actually need to play the game, just install the files.)
* Solution 2: Buy the box set for Knights of the Nine. The installers in that boxed set are compatible with Windows Vista. According to Bethesda support, there is no other work-around (see talk page for details), however the solutions below may work. Important: If you cannot get any of these solutions to work, and you've already downloaded the files, don't delete your downloads. A future patch may allow their installation on Windows Vista.
* Solution 3: (Tested only on Windows Vista 64-bit.)
Buy and download the "Knights of the Nine Downloadable Content Collection" package from
http://direct2drive.com/. This package works with both the retail and Direct2Drive versions of Oblivion. It contains all of the official plug-ins except for Fighter's Stronghold. The Shivering Isles expansion sold by Direct2Drive is also confirmed to work on Vista 64-bit.
* Solution 4: (Tested only on Windows XP 32-bit.)
Reboot and hit F8 immediately as Windows boots up. When prompted with a menu, select "Safe Mode with Networking" (required for Internet activation; for phone activation, regular "Safe Mode" will do). Re-try your install. (Note: this may be a bit challenging, as there is limited screen real-estate in Safe Mode.)
* Solution 5: (Works in all configurations.)
(Note: With this method, you do not need to actually run the installation program. Doing so will only cause the same error messages as mentioned above.)
1. Download and install Universal Extractor 1.5 or later.
2. Open each plug-in's executable file with Universal Extractor and extract the files using the "isxunpack method". This will place several files in a Disk1 folder under whatever folder you specify (the same folder as the executable, by default, so Oblivion_Horse_Armor_Pack.exe would create an Oblivion_Horse_Armor_Pack\Disk1 folder structure).
3. Use Universal Extractor again, and in each of the previous Disk1 folders, open data1.cab. (Do not open data1.hdr.) This will create a Data1 folder in the specified folder.
4. Copy the Data folder in each of the above Data1 folders to your Oblivion folder. When asked if you want to merge the two Data folders, say "Yes". (Alternatively, you can copy all the files in each Data folder to the Oblivion\Data folder, which will avoid the merge questions each time.)
* Should you wish to avoid this entire process in the future, you can use either OBMM or Wrye Bash's mod manager at this point to create mod files simply by including the entire contents of each Data folder.
5. Delete all the interim files you created in the above steps.
6. Launch the game, go into the Data Files section, and select the appropriate checkboxes.