ANNO 1602 Gold Edition and 1602 A.D.:

On the German ANNO 1602 Web site you can find an installation patch for Windows 2000 and XP. On the English Web site, there is a step by step installation guide with a downloadable registry file. You do not need these installation helps for the Gold and 1602 A.D. editions of the game! These already have an installer integrated, which works smoothly with Windows 2000 and XP.

Crashes under Windows XP:

A Windows XP Update usually solves crashes of 1602 A.D. under Windows XP. To do so, please click the [start] button and select [settings][control panel]. On the right side a new window will be opened. By clicking at [windows update] you will be guided to the windows update website. Follow the update instructions. In case you do not want to download or install the update, switch off the music when playing 1602 A.D..

It is also VERY important that you are logged in as "ADMINISTRATOR" when installing and playing 1602 A.D. under Windows 2000/XP.

Please make sure you update your graphics- and sound card-drivers regularly (make sure you choose Win 2000/XP drivers). And don't forget the drivers for certain chip sets, for example VIA at www.viaarena.com.

Plus, install the most recent version of DirectX (currently 8.0 / 8.1).

In case the above tips don't help, try switching off the music in the configuration menu. If this does not help, there is one more solution:
Lower the sound card's hardware acceleration until the problem does not occur any more. You can find this under System/Sounds and Audio/Speaker Options/Advanced/System Power. An alternative is to go Start/Run, and type in "dxdiag.exe". There, you can find the hardware acceleration under "Sound".