Plants vs. Zombies: how to fix invalid file version

How do you solve a problem like invalid file version? I purchased PvZ more than a month ago from PopCap Games and I loved it. My whole family’s officially addicted to it. We think this game is utterly exciting, it spells F-U-N, and best of all, playing this game made us feel updated. You know, everybody loves PvZ, everyone’s talking about the Zen Garden, Mister Crazy Dave, and the zombies, etc. And it’s cool that we can now relate, unlike before when I didn’t own a laptop, if you know what I mean.

That is why I was very disappointed when my brother told me the game is not running anymore. Just, all of a sudden, the game stopped working. I still have a copy of my order number and registration key, I’m quite sure ours is not pirated, I downloaded it from PopCap Games website, I paid 3 euros for it through Paypal,  so what could have possibly gone wrong?

I searched the internet for solutions and found an answer from Yahoo Answers. Apparently, somebody from the other side of world is experiencing the same dilemma, which means, well … we are not alone. It says the game is corrupted and that I should delete the users.dat in my program files. Unfortunately, the suggested solution didn’t work for me. Fortunately, though, I have a special talent in troubleshooting – joke.

I think the trouble with troubleshooting is that it requires a lot of guts. It’s not for the faint hearted. If you’re scared of clicking and saving, forget it, give it to an expert who can do things to it. As for me, I tried to troubleshoot and am glad that I was able to fix the error. I don’t know anything about computer systems so don’t believe everything I say, okay? But if you trust me, follow this:

1.  In Windows 7 Ultimate, open the program compatibility troubleshooter.

2.  Select PvZ from the list of programs and then click next.

3.  Try the recommended settings, in my case, Windows XP (service pack 2).

4. Test run the program, it should be working by now, save the settings, and you’re done.

Note: you will have to re-start to level 1 because all saved games will be lost.