I removed all trace of BF2142 and FS from my PC, then downloaded the digital version from EA.  Re-installed both that and FS, and just chose "Run as Admin".  No messing about with compatibility modes or anything.

So far I've only played one quick game, but it seemed pretty stable, so I'm hoping that's the end of my woes!

And the textures look great running on DX10 I can tell you!

Thanks all.

Completely turn of UAC(user account control) forrunning 2142 on Vista.  Otherwise it will crash after a few maps.

Turning off the annoying UAC was one of the first things I did after the upgrade, so it's not that either Im afraid

I have to ask , why in the world were you compelled to install Vista ?
lol

What can I say, I was seduced by the darkside.   To be fair, I've had no problems with it so far, and I've got to say I was impressed that when I did an upgrade from XP it retained all my files, settings, tweaks and many other little bits and bobs I was expecting to have to re-do form scratch.  I had to re-install a few things, but other than this issue I've had no other problems.

Anyway, I'm over the first hurdle - I changed the compatibility setting to Windows 98/ME and I can now launch BF2142 ok.  Now, however, I've got Punkbuster problems!

Every time I join a sever, FS or Vanilla, I get kicked the instant the map finishes loading with the message "PUNKBUSTER IMPORTANT RESTRICTION: Service abnormality".

I've tried a manual update of PB using pbsetup and I've run pbsvc which reported no problems.  And I've tried choosing the run as administrator option, and disabling my firewall, with no success.

Danfun64, did you have any PB issues?

if that doesnt work, post here again, and I will see if theres anything I can find about the problem.

I've just recently installed Vista (I know, I know, despite my better judgment) and the first thing that happened when I tried to run BF2142 was the screen went black, as it usually does when launching, but then it would crash and I'd get the message "BF2142.exe has stopped working".

I then discovered the compatibility mode thingy, and chose XP SP2, but now I just get the message "Please insert Battlefield 2142 Install Disc and select OK to retry".  Obviously the disc is in the drive, were it's spent most of the last two years, so the disc ain't the issue.  I've read various forums on this issue, including ones here, but am yet to resolve the issue.  Here's some of the things I've tried:

- Running the game "as Administrator".
- Updating Punkbuster.
- Reinstalling BF2142 and FS.
- Looked for a no CD crack (which seems to be most people's solution), but there isn't one available yet for 1.5.

I really hope someone can help, otherwise there's no more FS for me