Problem with running "SACRED"

[Siminintheass]

Hi. I'm Nik. Yesterday i took a copy of the RPG game Sacred.
I have this particular problem.
I make the setup. I choose my options, i choose a character and then....
I am playnig the game for only one (1) second!! Then the game just fades out. SIMPLY FADES OUT FROM MY MONITOR. Total darkness in my monitor!!!
I tryied everything. Low resolutions, updated my graphics card drivers....
Nothing. The game just fade away from my monitor. I see it only for one second,then TOTAL DARKNESS.
I have a Pentium 4 and a GeForce2 Mx400 graphics card (32bit Colors).
HELP ME!! Should i take my money back, or i can the game?
Do you have a solution for me guys?

[guitaro]

I had the same problem as well - although - this is the Cd protection (2nd line kicking in)
1. - Update to the latest patch 1.7
2. get rid of and VCD programs running
3. get the latest drivers for your videocard - if that dont work then reinstall DX
4. Make sure you dont have any tweaking software running - which was my problem - I was not able to find any nocd that worked with my game (AUS) version - it will start - but as soon as you select a new campaign it will die