Updated 5/31/07:  There is a workaround to install and play the original Area 51 (PC) on Windows Vista™ operating system.

This occurs when installing games released for Windows® 2000 and Windows® XP on a  Windows Vista™ (32 bit) operating system.   Midway has tested most of our game catalog and found the steps below allow you to run a Midway PC game using Windows Vista™.   Midway's "Area 51" and "Suffering" (original) will not run on Windows Vista™.  Windows Vista™ 64-bit is unsupported.  Additionally, older titles developed for Windows® 98 or Windows® ME such as Spyhunter and Mortal Kombat Trilogy are not supported or tested on the Windows Vista™ Operating system.   The games that this applies to were released before Microsoft Vista™ was released and the following steps have been found to allow the game to run on this "non-release" operating system.  

• If you already have the game installed, please uninstall the game and reinstall.
• If you receive a prompt during installation regarding windows media components being outdated, hit cancel to continue.
• After the game has been installed, right-click on the game's shortcut and click "Run as administrator".
• Install the drivers when prompted.
• DO NOT REBOOT.
• Update the protection drivers from the web.  Under the heading "How to Update ... "  - follow the three steps listed including downloading the file from the "SFUPDATE tool" link.
• Reboot when prompted after updating the drivers.
• Windows Vista™ may stop/hang, in which case a hard reboot [manually shutting off your computer] will be required.
• After the restart, right click on the game icon, choose Run as Administrator.
• Launch game.

Additionally,  you must have the original retail disc in a valid optical drive for the copy protection to pass.  If you require further assistance, please provide a full error report (.txt) and a dxdiag.txt file from the computer using the Ask a Question link from the top of the page.