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Solved Game Refuses to Start at all

Green Jacket

Green Jacket

Sailor Apprentice
Well was thinking about coming back to the Build mod!

I've had a few issues with the game on my laptop in the past but always managed to fix it.... however never had this specific issue. :nogood

The Game will not start at all! I presume it may be a windows 10 issue? I made sure to install it outside programme files, so it's currently in C:\MyGames

Specs
Windows 10
AMD FX(tm)-6300 Six-Core Processor
8GB Ram
AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'll try them step by step when I'm home from work this evening :)
 
Without the mod pack, was thinking get vanilla to work first before messing around.

Sigh I have AVG too :mad: and no idea what specific issue that causes, I presume simply put in on the exception list or whatever?
 
Tried the intel fix just in case, added exception onto AVG, removed AVG, tried Compatability Administrator (32-bit) (but may be more an issue of me being unsure how to use it).

Done a new install, still not working, may try installing the build mod to see if the no CD thing helps, if not will do another clean install.
 
I'm hoping some other forum members may have some suggestions. @Hylie Pistof, for example.

Based on your hardware, I'd say the game should be able to run.
 
It's weird, when I start windows like usual -_- does this, afterwards it doesn't even start to load up :/

uSj5vW1.png
 
:ahoy

It looks like you found the problem right there. WinX has a lot more security stuff than older versions and you got caught. Say yes and hope that is the end of it.

I'm just guessing, but WinX has its own game folder. If you put POTC in there then it looks like that is how WinX found it.
 
Sadly pressing yes does nothing.... and it comes up every time I launch... which I don't remember happening with previous versions of windows :read

EDIT: Turned UAC off so now box, still does not run.... will do some rummaging around to see if changing the folder may help.
 
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Ah yes, Microsoft's infamous Windows User Account Control, you can disable it in Windows 10, but like everything else it is more of a pain to do so. It's strange that it is giving you no error at all, usually if there is a problem, Engine.exe will at least show you something. :shrug

Try this mate, bring up so you can see the processes loading, and try and run it again. After you hit "Yes" on the UAC popup, check and see if you have any instances of Engine.exe loading in the task manager list. It might also be a good idea to try it directly from the directory and not use the desktop shortcut. When you try it from the directory, right click on Engine.exe and choose Run as Administrator, if you haven't tried that already.
 
This is the vanilla game correct? No Mods? Did you install it from the retail disks? Windows 10 hates old copy protection.
 
Yep old retail disks and only vanilla.

Actually thought of installing it in compatibility mode.... options such as install direct X and Windows Media player worked this time (neither being compatible in themselves). But still no luck getting it to run!
 
I've been trying to track down the old No CD crack, but can't seem to find it.

You might try installing the latest New Horizons Mod, if I remember right, the mod eliminates the CD check.
 
How many hard drives do you have? I am using WinX and my games are on the D: drive and there are no isuues with any of them. But! 2 days ago I installed a new old game on my C: drive. It works but WinX asks me every time if I really want to run it. I might move it to the D drive just to see how it works out there.
 
Just the C drive atm.

I did download the mod, it gets as far as the Pirates Ahoy screen, which it does anyway when I don't even install it to the correct location. Might try downloading an older version. Tbh I have no idea why it simply refuses to launch, even when I turn UAC off it still refuses, aka it simply does not load up!
 
Green Jacket said:
I did download the mod, it gets as far as the Pirates Ahoy screen, which it does anyway when I don't even install it to the correct location. Might try downloading an older version. Tbh I have no idea why it simply refuses to launch, even when I turn UAC off it still refuses, aka it simply does not load up!
Click to expand...
Does error logging do anything at all?
 
Well I've messed around and it works now :doff.... That is the modded version, vanilla still refuses to boot up, which is a shame, but I can always play vanilla on my laptop if I get desperate enough!!

Anyway, I hadn't installed the Mod properly, which I just realised and corrected (aka not unzipping the file :modding but using the installer with the cab file in the same folder)

Something interesting I noticed however, that I was unable to install the game with the Widescreen Resolution box ticked. The installed didn't freeze, you could still click the install and back buttons, simply nothing would happen. I couldn't close the installer without ending the process via task manager. Not sure if this is a known issue.

Concerning Vanilla refusing to run I'm pretty stumped, I was under the impression the english version didn't require a disk? However I think either windows 10 or maybe my dvd drive has an issue with autoplay because I noticed when I installed C&C 3 that autoplay would not work, so I think that may of been the issue.

Anyway I would say my issue has been solved now, thanks for all your guys help! Amazingly fast and helpful like always!!!

Time to enjoy the mod then :monkeydance

Edit Response for Peter: Nah, error logging showed nothing :/
 
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I should add that I recently experienced this same problem when trying to run the stock game on Windows 10, but installing the mod fixes it.

I tried to run the stock game on both my new desktop and my Surface tablet, and in both cases, it wouldn't start at all, as above.
I assumed it was a Windows 10 problem, but it never occurred to me that the lack of optical drive in both machines could be the cause. :oops: I installed the game from a backup I made of the disks on an external drive.
Come to think of it, I can't even remember if I got the game to run on Windows 8.1 without the disks. If I didn't manage that either, Windows 10 may not be at fault in this case.
Seems I've gotten too used to Steam's all-digital platform and forgotten the olden days of playing games from a CD... :rumgone
 
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