First post details account and trial access

Second post details modem crashes and launcher issues
http://forums.startrekonline.com/sho...36#post2104036

Third post details hardware requirements and laptop integrated video cards
http://forums.startrekonline.com/sho...91#post2162991

It won't let me login to the game

Account Error, please contact Billing support or You are not allowed to log into the server at this time make sure you meet the account requirements to play the game.

A retail copy of the game (physical box from store or a digital download) with a valid retail key
A subscription to the game (Credit card, Gamecard, or Paypal required)

These need to be tied to your STO account, make sure you create and login to your account before activating the key. http://www.startrekonline.com/activate

The retail game purchase DOES include 30 days of time, but you NEED a subscription setup on your account before you can play. The subscription will begin 30 days after you register your retail key.

On the USA box, Subscription Required - 30 Days Game Time Included With Purchase


I pre-ordered from Atari and never got my retail key

You need to go to the Atari store (this is NOT on Cryptic's website)
http://store.atari.com/dr/v2/ec_MAIN...PN=1&xid=41045

Enter the Atari order number and Atari password into the upper right hand corner of the screen to log in. Click on the printer icon and the next page should show both the preorder key and the retail key.

Enter the retail key at http://www.startrekonline.com/activate - make sure you are logging in with your Cryptic STO account here.


Where do I view my account details?

http://www.startrekonline.com/user

Here is an example of a retail key and active subscription - NOTE Preorder/Beta keys no longer give you game access alone

Activated Features

* Star Trek Online - Preorder
* Star Trek Online 12 Month Subscription Preorder
* Star Trek Online Del Taco Promotion B
* Wrath of Khan Admiral's Uniform
* Star Trek Online - Digital Deluxe
* Star Trek Online - Retail

Subscriptions

* Star Trek Online Recurring 12-Month ACTIVE
Next Billing Date: Mar 3 2011


Where do I get a trial or demo of this game

The only ways to get a trial without buying the retail game and a subscription on file are:

Del Taco STO promo codes that come on the STO Macho drink cup - EXPIRED MARCH 15th 2010
There are four unique cups, each has a unique promo code (Promo A,B,C,D). Each code gives you 2 days of play and with all four you get 10 days of play. You can't stack the same promo code (A and A for example) so make sure you get a different cup if you want to get more than 2 days of time. Fine a location here http://www.deltaco.com/locations.html

STO Collector's Edition (CE) guest passes
Find a friend or someone that is willing to give you an unused guest pass from their collector's edition of STO, this will give you ten days of play. They only get three of these passes so you have to be lucky to get one.

Five day buddy key from retail purchase
Fine a friend or someone that is willing to give you their one five day buddy key from retail game purchase.
http://www.startrekonline.com/claim_buddy_key


How do I use the buddy key my friend sent me?

Activate the key at http://www.startrekonline.com/activate
The game client can be downloaded at http://www.startrekonline.com/download

Network troubleshooting tools - Ping, Telnet, Netstat, Ping Plotter, and Packet Capture

http://forums.startrekonline.com/sho...29#post2281229

Whenever I try to patch the game, I get completely disconnected from the Internet!
Speedstream 4100, 5100, Motorola 4200, 2Wire, and other modems
http://forums.startrekonline.com/sho...=118737&page=3

Patching problems or disconnections when using the 2Wire brand modem

• Open a browser and connect to http://gateway.2wire.net
• Go to Home Network and then Wireless Settings
• If you receive a password prompt, enter your 2wire admin password.
• Go to Additional Settings (defaults recommended)
• Look for the Wireless mode 802.11b/g setting
• Change this to 802.11b, removing /g
• Save this change and try STO again

Fatal Error: Error decompressing data

Delete the file reported in the technical details - delete the file reported and let the launcher patch it. This may take some time to download.
In the example below you would delete texture3.hogg.

Fatal Error: Error decompressing data. Verifying Files in the launcher may fix this issue.
Technical Details./piggs/texture3.hogg:
Texture_Library/Costumes/Avatar/Uniforms/M_Uniforml_Go_01N.Wtex:Error decompressing data. Verifying Files in the launcher may fix this issue


I just installed STO from the DVD and the launcher isn't working

Try installing the newer production Star Trek Online.exe launcher that was posted on March 5 2010
http://forums.startrekonline.com/sho...45#post2310445


My launcher doesn't update, patching is slow, hangs, game hangs connecting, etc

Update your network adapter driver - install the current driver for your network adapter, there are some reported issues with older drivers and the launcher. Microsoft Update may not have a current version, you should go directly to the manufacturers websites and download the driver that matches the brand, model (rev version important), and OS (32 or 64bit). If you find the last driver for your specific adapter is from 2003 that is a pretty good indication it is been out of support for a long time.

Update your modem and router firmware - using the brand, model, and revision update the firmware of your modem and router to the current versions. If you find the last flash for your specific hardware is from 2003 that is a pretty good indication it is been out of support for a long time.

Vista and Windows 7 - make sure the game is NOT installed in Program Files. If it is uninstall and reinstall to a different directory. The default location should be c:\users\public\games\cryptic studios.

XP, Vista and Windows 7 - make sure the game is NOT installed in your WINDOWS directory. If it is uninstall and reinstall to another location. The default location should be c:\users\public\games\cryptic studios.

Proxy settings - under launcher options check the proxy settings. The options are none, US, and EU. Try changing to a different option to see if it solves your issue. Also note there is a check box for Patch via proxy that can be toggled.

MSHTML and Internet Explorer - the game requires the MSHTML library that are also used by Internet Explorer (IE8 for example). Making sure you have the latest IE8 and all of it's updates has resolved a corrupted or missing MSHTML library for several people. Make sure IE can connect to http://www.startrekonline.com and isn't in offline mode.

Run as administrator - some people have reported issues with permissions, try running the STO shortcut with administrator privileges. Right click on the icon and choose "Run as administrator". You might get a Version Mismatch without admin rights. The Vista and Windows 7 privilege escalation prompt may be running in the background.

Uninstall Nvidia Application Firewall - This is a known issue initializing OLE/COM before STO can run. It is installed with Nvidia chipset drivers, not graphics card drivers. Look for Forceware network access manager as an installed program and uninstall it.

You will find the following error in the errors.log file:
100223 08:21:20 1 [1]: OLE failed to initialize: 80010106
100223 08:21:20 2 [1]: Shutting down from fatal error "OLE failed to initialize: 80010106"

Uninstall or allow STO in NetNanny - If you have any other application firewalls, like NetNanny, make sure it isn't blocking STO.

Review STO log files in the game install directory - These include errors.log, CRASH.log, pcl.log, patchxfer.log, force_verify.log, and shutdown.log. These files are located in the Cryptic Studios directory of your install location. The latest entries will be at the bottom of the files with a date and time stamp (GMT).

Multiple Anti-virus or Firewall software installs - Do NOT install multiple anti-virus or firewall programs on your computer. Even if you have one of these disabled, it's very likely you will have a conflict between the two installed programs. Pick the vendor you want to use and uninstall the other vendor program completely.

Anti-virus and Anti-spyware - Make sure your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs aren't blocking Star Trek Online.exe nor GameClient.exe from connecting out to the Internet. This can change with game and antivirus/antispyware updates even after you have been playing fine for months.

Firewalls - if you run a software firewall (Zonealarm, Norton, McAfee, etc) or are behind a hardware firewall (Linksys router, CheckPoint, Cisco ASA, etc) make sure Star Trek Online.exe and GameClient.exe are allowed to connect to the Internet and your PC can connect outbound on the ports STO needs.

The game will need outbound TCP 80, 443, and 7000 through 7500 open. Note: All connections are TCP based from your PC to Cryptic so you do not need to port forward on your router.

The Cryptic data center IPs you'll connect to on TCP 7000 - 7500 are 208.95.184.01 through 208.95.187.254. The proxy servers are outside of this range.

Try running the Cryptic network connectivity tool http://files.champions-online.com/nettest.exe and see if anything fails.

Copy and paste these results in a reply for us to review if you are not sure what to look for.
Comment out your Local IP address, as shown in the examples below.

A successful nettest will look like the following: http://forums.startrekonline.com/sho...05&postcount=5

A failed nettest example: http://forums.startrekonline.com/sho...10&postcount=6

Nettest reports unable to allocate performance buffer - you have a non US-English OS installation, the counters are requested by name in WMI. You will also see missing values in the 2nd and 3rd columns. If the port isn't timed out, then it isn't being blocked, but it can still be throttled by your ISP.

OS privilege escalation, Anti-virus, or Firewall prompt not seen in full screen mode -There may be a prompt for this in a window if the game is running full screen, ALT - TAB or CTRL - ALT - DEL into Task Manager to check.

Accessing the patch console
Start the launcher and log in. As soon as you click the login (or hit enter) after typing your password, hit the C key.

This will bring up a console in a DOS dialog box. Go to the top of this box and select Mark, highlight the text with your mouse and hit enter to copy it. Paste the results in a reply.

Here is an example of the console output.
http://forums.startrekonline.com/sho...1&postcount=20

Accessing the patch transfers dialog box
After you login immediately hit the X key, this will bring up the patch transfers dialog box.

Receive Window Auto-Tuning - When the receive window autotuning feature is enabled, older routers, older firewalls, and older operating systems that are incompatible with the receive window autotuning feature may sometimes cause slow data transfer or a loss of connectivity

Run the command prompt in administrator mode by going to Start -> Programs -> Accessories right click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator

Restrict autotuning by running “netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=restricted” from the command prompt.
Reboot your PC.

If all else fails, in order to disable this feature, run "netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled".
Reboot your PC.

In order to reenable autotuning, run “netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal”.

http://forums.startrekonline.com/sho...d.php?t=130952

How do I backup STO for a fresh hard drive OS install

• Backup your Cryptic Studios directories and files.
• Backup the STO download (or have the STO DVD install ready).
• Download all of the latest motherboard chipset, network, audio, and video drivers from the manufacturers websites. Save these outside of the hard drive to be formatted.
• Format your drive and install the fresh copy of Windows
• Install all of the current motherboard chipset, network, sound, and video drivers from the manufacturers websites.
• Install STO in the default c:\users\public directory (Windows Vista and 7 important).
• Copy your STO backup files to the same directories, replacing with the newer patched files from your backup.

Will this game run on my system? This is a common question about hardware, the first place to check is the hardware requirements of the game.

Hardware requirements directly from the Cryptic support FAQ

Star Trek Online Minimum System Requirements
-OS: Windows® XP SP2 / Windows Vista® / Windows® 7 (32 or 64 bit)
-CPU: Intel® Core™2 Duo 1.8 GHz, AMD Athlon™ X2 3800+
-Memory: 1 GB Ram
-Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7950/ ATI Radeon X1800/ Intel HD Graphics
-Sound: DirectX® 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
-DirectX® 9.0c or Higher
-Hard Drive: 10 GB Free Disk Space
-Disc Drive: 6X DVD-ROM
-Network: Broadband Internet Connection is Required

Star Trek Online Recommended System Requirements:
-OS: Windows® XP SP2 / Windows Vista® / Windows® 7 (32 or 64 bit)
-CPU: Intel® E8400 Core™2 Duo or AMD Athlon™ X2 5600+
-Memory: 2 GB Ram+
-Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800/ ATI Radeon HD 3850+
-Sound: DirectX® 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
-DirectX® 9.0c or Higher
-Hard Drive: 10 GB Free Disk Space
-Disc Drive: 6X DVD-ROM
-Network: Broadband Internet Connection is Required


How do I find my system specs and post them?

Run dxdiag from Start - Run or from a command prompt. After it has finished running click on Save All Information at the bottom of the screen next to Exit.

Save the text file to your desktop and then open it up, copy the following four sections and paste to the forum.

• System Information
• Display Devices
• Sound Devices
• System Devices

I have an integrated video chipset, any way to get this to work? - Dell 1525 information added

The game requires a dedicated video card/GPU but you may have luck updating those drivers to the latest version. People with the Intel 965 Express have reported they could get the game to work once they installed the latest driver from Intel.

Display Devices
---------------
Card name: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
DAC type: Internal
Display Memory: 358 MB
Dedicated Memory: 0 MB
Shared Memory: 358 MB

The driver current as of this posting is http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sear...Chipset+Family


Customized computer manufacturer graphics driver is detected
http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-022355.htm

Description
You may experience one of the following messages:

* The Intel® Driver Update Utility reports the following message: "A customized computer manufacturer driver is installed on your computer. The Intel Driver Update Utility is not able to update the driver. Installing a generic Intel driver instead of the customized computer manufacturer driver may cause technical issues. Contact your computer manufacturer for the latest driver for your computer."

* You are unable to install the Intel® graphics driver downloaded from the Intel Web site and encounter one of the following error messages:
o Error: "The driver being installed is not validated for this computer. Please obtain the appropriate driver from the computer’s manufacturer. Setup will exit."
o Error: "This driver could not be installed on this computer. Please contact the computer's manufacturer for further information."

Work-around
A work-around is available if you choose not to use your computer manufacturer's validated graphics drivers and want to install Intel's generic graphics drivers instead. However, if you encounter problems with using the generic driver, Intel recommends reinstalling and using the validated drivers from your computer manufacturer.

The work-around involves using the Windows* "Have Disk/Known File" method for updating a driver. A disk is not needed. To apply the work-around, follow these steps:

* If you have Microsoft Windows* XP, click Have Disk Installation steps for Windows XP.
http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-030331.htm

* If you have Microsoft Windows Vista*, click Have Disk Installation steps for Windows Vista.
http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-029635.htm


Will this game run on dialup?

The game requirements state a broadband connection is needed, so it does not officially support dialup (56K modem for example). Some have reported that it will connect and function, but I don't expect a quality game experience not to mention the extremely slow patching times.

"Disconnected from server" or "Server timed out". And also getting booted from the game every 30 minutes or so.

Successful nettest

contacting nettest server..
Local IP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Ping: 79.0 msec
Port: 80: 185 KB/sec 11 KB/sec 194 KB/sec 500
Port: 80: 214 KB/sec 14 KB/sec 278 KB/sec 500
Port: 443: 144 KB/sec 11 KB/sec 189 KB/sec 500
Port: 443: 212 KB/sec 15 KB/sec 253 KB/sec 500
Port: 7255: 138 KB/sec 9 KB/sec 167 KB/sec 500
Port: 7255: 187 KB/sec 11 KB/sec 197 KB/sec 500
Port: 7003: 174 KB/sec 17 KB/sec 269 KB/sec 500
Port: 7003: 205 KB/sec 14 KB/sec 237 KB/sec 500
Port: 7202: 206 KB/sec 12 KB/sec 214 KB/sec 500
Port: 7202: 170 KB/sec 8 KB/sec 169 KB/sec 500
Port: 7499: 143 KB/sec 11 KB/sec 181 KB/sec 500
Port: 7499: 272 KB/sec 16 KB/sec 307 KB/sec 500
Port: 80: 236 KB/sec 16 KB/sec 306 KB/sec 500
Idle NIC bandwidth Send: 0 KB/sec Recv: 18 KB/sec
hit return to exit

Failed nettest - looks like a firewall is blocking a needed port

contacting nettest server..
Local IP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Ping: 81.1 msec
Port: 80: 143 KB/sec 11 KB/sec 186 KB/sec 500
Port: 80: 160 KB/sec 11 KB/sec 202 KB/sec 500
Port: 443: 201 KB/sec 13 KB/sec 229 KB/sec 500
Port: 443: 132 KB/sec 8 KB/sec 164 KB/sec 500
Port: 7255: timed out
Port: 7255: timed out
Port: 7003: 234 KB/sec 16 KB/sec 288 KB/sec 500
Port: 7003: 132 KB/sec 9 KB/sec 164 KB/sec 500
Port: 7202: 162 KB/sec 12 KB/sec 183 KB/sec 500
Port: 7202: 148 KB/sec 10 KB/sec 185 KB/sec 500
Port: 7499: 226 KB/sec 12 KB/sec 224 KB/sec 500
Port: 7499: 174 KB/sec 9 KB/sec 178 KB/sec 500
Port: 80: 156 KB/sec 8 KB/sec 149 KB/sec 500
Idle NIC bandwidth Send: 2 KB/sec Recv: 87 KB/sec
hit return to exit

contacting nettest server..
Local IP: 71.203.211.51
Ping: 62.7 msec
Port: 80: 554 KB/sec 7 KB/sec 584 KB/sec 500
Port: 80: 578 KB/sec 7 KB/sec 610 KB/sec 500
Port: 443: 580 KB/sec 8 KB/sec 611 KB/sec 500
Port: 443: 624 KB/sec 8 KB/sec 658 KB/sec 500
Port: 7255: 600 KB/sec 8 KB/sec 633 KB/sec 500
Port: 7255: 280 KB/sec 4 KB/sec 297 KB/sec 500
Port: 7003: 290 KB/sec 5 KB/sec 307 KB/sec 500
Port: 7003: 593 KB/sec 8 KB/sec 626 KB/sec 500
Port: 7202: 398 KB/sec 6 KB/sec 419 KB/sec 500
Port: 7202: 597 KB/sec 8 KB/sec 630 KB/sec 500
Port: 7499: 607 KB/sec 8 KB/sec 640 KB/sec 500
Port: 7499: 89 KB/sec 2 KB/sec 94 KB/sec 500
Port: 80: 148 KB/sec 3 KB/sec 157 KB/sec 500
Idle NIC bandwidth Send: 1 KB/sec Recv: 0 KB/sec
hit return to exit

there is my nettest not sure if its good or bad though.... I still get stuck at retrieving list of maps and booted back to login screen

Looks fine, I've added a failed connection example for you to see the difference.

Added some items.

Looks like Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family can be updated to the latest driver to get you into the game. I've updated the details in that section.