If you are experiencing problems running COTA under Vista ( most don't, but some do ) then turn on the compatibility mode for the COTA game application. To do so:
- right click on the COTA.exe file in the Game directory
- select Properties.
- select the Compatibility tab
- check the "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" checkbox and
- select the appropriate mode - eg Windows XP ( Service Pack 2 ) - from the list box.
- select the OK button