Old PC game on Windows 7 laptop (Red Alert 2)

cheater

Hey,

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, so if not feel free to move it!

Anyway.. here goes, I recently got Command and Conquer Red Alert 2, it's the Sold Out Software version of the game.

Anyway I was able to install it fine, when I try to get into the game once it has started the trouble starts. I double click the RA2 Icon on my desktop and it begins to start, it boots into the Loading screen with the Russian Blimps over the Statue of Liberty, but after this the screen goes black, eventually it opens into the main menu screen however none of the links show up unless I press the Windows key on my keyboard, and then click back into it on my taskbar, then I click a button and the same happens for the next screen.

I can continue to do this and eventually start a skirmish which seems to work relatively ok. However if I try to play an online game it will leave me in using the same method, pressing the windows key each time a new screen appears, however all my units blow up after 30 seconds.

I was just wondering has anyone any idea why this may be happening?

The specs of my laptop are as follows:

Dell Inspiron 1564
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 330 @ 2.13GHz
RAM: 4.00GB (3.80GB usable)
System type: 64-bit OS

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

IrishB.ie

Try this.

Right click each *.exe file in the Red Alert folder and go into Properties. Then click the Compatibility tab. In there, enable "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select Windows XP (Service Pack 2).

Lab_Mouse

As IrishB said above that should work.I had loads of xp games and maybe 3/4 of them are playable that way,although they tend to crash to desktop every so often

Laisurg

Try the above and also try running it using only 1 core as that may fix the problem lab mouse had pointed out as well, i had to do that to get a few games from around that time to work, to do this start the game then ctrl-alt-del get the task manager open, go to processes right click red alert 2 and go to set affinity and disable cpu 1-3 while having 0 still ticked, id say this might fix it.

cheater

Hey guys,

Cheers for the replies, I'm at work at the moment so will try these suggestions when I get home and let ye know how I get on!

Lab_Mouse

Laisurg wrote: »

Try the above and also try running it using only 1 core as that may fix the problem lab mouse had pointed out as well, i had to do that to get a few games from around that time to work, to do this start the game then ctrl-alt-del get the task manager open, go to processes right click red alert 2 and go to set affinity and disable cpu 1-3 while having 0 still ticked, id say this might fix it.

Must try that cheers for the tip

cantthinkof1

Win 7 has a feature called XP mode. It free to down load and use. It virtual PC and a virtual version of XP.

I use it for an old photo editing app I use

Lab_Mouse

Afaik the xp mode doesnt support 3d acceleration.I had originaly looked into using it too before I found out about win7's compatibility mode.

EDIT:yeah a quick google shows it doesnt support 3d acceleration

cantthinkof1

Oh rignt so. I dont play games so I didnt think of the 3d acceleration:o

BostonB

Does Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 use 3D?

Lab_Mouse

BostonB wrote: »

Does Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 use 3D?

tbh not sure boston,never played the series.

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.wiki4games.com/Command_&_Conquer:_Red_Alert_2#Recommended_system_specifications

Minimum system requirements

* Pentium 2 266 MHz
* 64 MiB pf RAM
* 2 MB DirectX 7.0a-compliant video card
* 200 MiB free hard disk space

Recommended system specifications

* Pentium 2 450 MHz
* 128 MiB of RAM
* DirectX-compliant sound card

If it can run on a PII at 266MHz and is a 2D game then I don't think speed will be an issue

RolandIRL

I don't think games work in XP Mode. i tried it before but it wouldn't work. afaik XP Mode doesn't have access to the GPU (think it says this in the help file) and it's more suited to businesses with compatibility issues. tried running a really old game (total annihilation) in it and it wouldn't load at all, and it works in XP and 7 grand. just tried it out as a test.

BostonB

I think all my old games work in admin mode no problem in W7.

Theres always dosbox. http://www.dosbox.com/
http://www.dosbox.com/comp_list.php?showID=1362&letter=C

RolandIRL

Dosbox isn't great for non-dos games. i tried the original tomb raider on it, and it was as laggy as hell. even had it running from an image on the hard drive. RA2 isn't on that list btw. that's RA1 you've linked.

BostonB

Its was a suggestion. I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inq....;)

RolandIRL

sorry if i came across like that just don't find dosbox that great anyway

Capt'n Midnight

BostonB wrote: »

wasn't expecting the Spanish Inq....;)

no one does.

BostonB

In honesty I've never used dos box either. I just read others talking about it for old games on w7. I've not had a problem that need it yet.

Is this C&C2 free yet? Or is that just the first one? I keep meaning to fire up Dune2 again.

RolandIRL

http://www.commandandconquer.com/classic
^^the free C&C

ronkmonster

If compability mode doesn't work, you could try run XP in virtualbox, you can get 3D working by installing the tools in safe mode.

Capt'n Midnight

ronkmonster wrote: »

If compability mode doesn't work, you could try run XP in virtualbox, you can get 3D working by installing the tools in safe mode.

the problem is that you'd need an separate XP license

also get the closed source version of virtualbox, it allows the virtual machine to grab a real USB port

ronkmonster

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

the problem is that you'd need an separate XP license


also get the closed source version of virtualbox, it allows the virtual machine to grab a real USB port

If you have xp mode available, you can use it in virtualbox

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/12309/install-xp-mode-with-virtualbox-using-the-vmlite-plugin/

Capt'n Midnight

ronkmonster wrote: »

If you have xp mode available, you can use it in virtualbox

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/12309/install-xp-mode-with-virtualbox-using-the-vmlite-plugin/

Cool

ronkmonster

That's why I said if you had it available. Not everyone will.

Of course, not everyone cares whether they have the license.
Wouldn't surprise me if most of the virtualised windows for home use isn't legit.