gi.dat is considered a type of Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file. Dynamic Link Library files, like gi.dat, are essentially a "guide book" that stores information and instructions for executable (EXE) files - like MpSigStub.exe - to follow. These files were created so that multiple programs (eg. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II) could share the same gi.dat file, saving valuable memory allocation, therefore making your computer run more efficiently.
Unfortunately, what makes DLL files so convenient and efficient, also makes them extremely vulnerable to problems. If something happens to a shared DAT file, either it goes missing or gets corrupted in some way, it can generate a "runtime" error message. Runtime is pretty self-explanatory; it means that these errors are triggered when gi.dat is attempted to be loaded either when The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II is starting up, or in some cases already running. Some of the most common gi.dat errors include:
- Access Violation at address - gi.dat.
- gi.dat could not be found.
- Cannot find C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Battle for Middle-earth (tm) II Demo\gi.dat.
- Cannot register gi.dat.
- Cannot start The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II. A required component is missing: gi.dat. Please install The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II again.
- Failed to load gi.dat.
- The application has failed to start because gi.dat was not found.
- The file gi.dat is missing or corrupt.
- This application failed to start because gi.dat was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
Your gi.dat file could be missing due to accidental deletion, uninstalled as a shared file of another program (shared with The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II), or deleted by a malware infection. Furthermore, gi.dat file corruption could be caused from a power outage when loading The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, system crash while loading gi.dat, bad sectors on your storage media (usually your primary hard drive), or quite commonly, a malware infection. Thus, it's critical to make sure your anti-virus is kept up-to-date and scanning regularly.