Client file corruption

These problems may be caused by:-
Incomplete installation, updates and patches.

Anti-Virus Programs incorrectly detecting files as a potential virus and blocking/deleting them.

Spyware/Anti-Malware programs incorrectly detecting files as a potential spyware and blocking/deleting them.

Hacking Programs messing up/corrupting exisiting files.

Additional unreliable 3rd party programs such as clean-up utilities and defragmenting programs, some of which can actually cause more harm than increasing performance.
Simply installing Crossire over the top of an existing installation may not help, as files may be in use and/or files which are causing the problem may be corrupt or exist separately from the uninstall process.

Similarly, uninstalling via Control Panel then reinstalling may have the same problem with left over files, causing the same problem again after installation. The uninstall process itself may also be corrupted resulting in a failed or incomplete removal.

The Windows registry also contains various code/settings which may be preventing Crossfire from working properly. As previously mentioned, this code can be left behind after a standard reinstall. This may be resolved by using a recommended registry cleaning program such as CCleaner.

If you suffer any of the above problems, please try the following.

** Make sure you follow this in order **

1) Restart the computer.
2) Remove any hacking utilities you may have used.
3) Uninstall Crossfire the usual way:-
Windows XP > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs
Windows Vista/Windows 7 > Control Panel > Programs and Features (or Uninstall a Program)

4) Restart the computer.
5) Delete the Crossfire games folder.
Navigate to the installation location, for example:-
My Computer > C:\Program Files>Z8Games >
Right click the ‘Crossfire’ folder and Delete

6) Download, install and run CCleaner.
Select Cleaner > Analyse and then 'Run Cleaner'
Select Registry > Scan for Issues and then 'Fix selected Issues'
Piriform - Download CCleaner, Defraggler, Recuva, Speccy - Millions of users worldwide! (Latest version 2.36.1233)

7) Restart the computer.
8) Disable all anti-virus and spyware/anti-malware programs you have running.
EG: Norton, McAfee, Spybot, Windows Defender

9) Download and Install the latest Crossfire installer.
At the time of writing this, the current file details should be:
File Name : CrossFire_Setup_v1052_xfire.exe
File Size = 467MB (478,912KB)
(When downloading it may show files size as 468MB)

10) Leaving your anti-virus and malware programs disabled – Test the game.
11) If all goes well, restart the computer and test the game again.

Note: I make no guarantees that this will solve the problem for you, but it will give you the best chance for a clean installation, before you can look at other problems which may be causing you issues, such as graphics drivers problems, file system errors or internet connection problems.