SHIII-still no luck! Went from Vista to Win 7

[Ferrante]

I could not get SH III to work under Vista no matter what I did. I have upgraded to Win 7 (prep-planed; not just to try and run this game) and thought based on other's comments that it might work. Nope. I see get a message which says that the installed Starforce protection driver is blocked due to incompatability and will be disabled. I am beginning to think this game will never work for me and since this is my introduction to subsims, I would not want to start with anything harder. Posters in the past have suggested that this game is a good one to begin with. Anyone have any more suggestions?

[Herr-Berbunch]

Have you followed this thread to remove Starforce?

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=160118

[Gerald]

What are your computer system spec.? As you say yourself that the set may not support W7

[Ferrante]

Computer Profile SummaryComputer Name: Mark-PC (in WORKGROUP)Profile Date: Friday, October 29, 2010 12:28:19 AMAdvisor Version: 8.1pWindows Logon: Mark Plan for your next computer refresh...
click for Belarc's System Management products Operating System System ModelWindows 7 Home Premium (build 7600)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States) HP Pavilion 061 RJ181AA-ABA a1600n 0nx1114RE101NODM300
System Serial Number:
Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b2.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded Board: ASUSTek Computer INC. NODUSM3 1.05
Serial Number:
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 3.07 08/02/2006
Drives Memory Modules c,d200.05 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
42.55 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

HP DVD Writer 740e USB Device [Optical drive]
TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-H652M ATA Device [Optical drive]

Generic- Compact Flash USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 1
Generic- MS/MS-Pro USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 4
Generic- SD/MMC USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 3
Generic- SM/xD-Picture USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 2
WDC WD20 00JS-60NCB1 SCSI Disk Device (200.05 GB) -- drive 0, SMART Status: Healthy 3520 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'A0' has 1024 MB
Slot 'A1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'A2' has 1024 MB
Slot 'A3' has 1024 MB Local Drive Volumes c: (NTFS on drive 0)200.05 GB42.55 GB free Network Drives None discovered

[Herr-Berbunch]

Looking good on the specs front.

Whatever you've installed for SH3 then uninstall, remember to delete any SH3 entries in My Docs, and run a registry cleaner (I recommed CCleaner from Piriform - it's free and good!) to tidy up any messy entries.

Start your reinstallation of SH3 but NOT in Program Files folder of any sort (create your own is recommended - name it something like Gaming, or UbiGames...), don't install game shadow, don't click finish.

Appy patches (and I think the SF removal is here to), now finish. Reboot, and install mods (don't forget supermods must be installed over a fresh install) and play away...

...or so the theory goes

It is all stickied here somewhere! If I've got any steps wrong (as it's all from memory) I'm sure someone will say so.

Let us know how you get on

[Ferrante]

I created a folder on my desktop for the installation and did as was suggested in your post. I copied the patch files into that folder and then tried the game. Wow! It did start and went throught the introductory video and then when the game was loading and neared 100% of the process. it stopped. It says windows was looking for a solution, which it did not find. I know this might be stupid, but once I patched everything and all of that, was I supposed to put the DVD back in before attempting to play the newly patched game? If not, what could be the problem?

[Ferrante]

Any other suggestions as to why this still isn't working even though I did everything that was suggested? The game will start and when it loads, it quits. I have no clue as to what is going on...

[Paulie76]

I'll confess to being a little bit stumped with your issue. I had the same problem, but installing to a non-program folder fixed it for me. You have done the same thing, but are still having the same issue.

I'm going to assume here that when you installed, instead of double clicking on the install icon, you right clicked and "ran as administrator", so I don't think that would be the issue. That was what caused the issue for me, since without that administrator priviledge it wouldn't give me access to install EVERYTHING, hence the crashes.

I'm also going to assume, since it's been suggested elsewhere, that you have opened up the shortcut properties and under the compatibility tab chosen windows XP and set it up to run as administrator for all users.

The only other possibility I can think of, and it's related to the first issue of administrator priviledges, is that I have a little .bat file installed on my system called "Grant Admin full control". Before I even try installing anything, I right click on the installer, run the .bat file and it changes the ownership of the file to allow full access, then choose "run as administrator".

It has saved my butt from a heap of trouble getting older programs to work around the ownership issues in Windows 7, but it should not be the issue here since it's being installed outside of the program folders (where theoretically Windows 7 doesn't care about ownership).

Simply put, Windows 7 will protect itself from anything being installed in it's core folders with ownership rights, etc.... As long as what you're installing doesn't go in them, it doesn't care.

You could try the bat file. Do a google search for "Grant Admin full control". Right click on the installer and run the bat file on the installer, and then right click again on the installer and select "run as administrator", then install into a non-program files folder.

Like I said, it's a long shot, but other than that I'm stumped.

[Gerald]

I have followed this thread, what has happened since last time, except that you do not get it to work, I use myself W7-64 bit but that does not run as adm.or as usual, you can be a bit more specific in your details

[Paulie76]

Ignore everything I just wrote. Sorry. I should have read your second last post a little more closely.

Don't uninstall and reinstall just yet. If it's loading up and crashing at near the 100% mark than it's doing it for probably the same reason mine was, because you're using a screen resolution greater than the sim generally likes. I'm going to guess it's widescreen as well?

There are a few widescreen fixes available. The one that worked for me was b25WideCamera. I believe it's available on the site.

I think what you're facing now isn't an install issue, it's a display resolution issue.

[Pisces]

Yup, sounds like a resolution issue now. For starters, force the resolution of your desktop to 1024x768 and try again. If your videocard settings can support it try to make it scale up to native resolution but maintain aspect ratio. That should get the best of both worlds, despite a slightly blurry quality.

[Gerald]

@Pisces, when you play what do you use for video card? Are you use a resolution fix...

[Akela]

When I first installed SH3 I was unable to use my monitor at it's native resolution of 1920x1200. It wasn't because SH3 won't support that resolution, it's that the monitor/card would force the refresh rate (mhz) down below 60 at that resolution. From what I can tell I believe that SH3 will run at any resolution provided the refresh rate is above 60mhz. I was able to follow another thread on this site which walked me through tricking my nVidia card into reporting a refresh rate of 61mhz to Windows and SH3 was then able to run at 1920x1200.

Obviously another solution would be purchasing a monitor that will support a higher refesh rate at higher resolution. Guess what else will be higher. $$$$

Akela

[Ferrante]

I tried everything everyone suggested and nothing worked. My normal resolution is set at 1440x900. I went to 1024x768 and nothing. I tried every setting above that until I reached the 1440 again and nothing. I even repeated it changing the refresh rate to above 60 and again, nothing.
Maybe in my earlier post I did not explain this clear enough: when I click onto the SHII icon, the opening videos and all of that runs without problem. I then click the mouse and the games starts to load and does reach 100%, sits there for a second and then the screen changes as if it is going to run and that is when the error window opens saying the game has quit and windows is seaching for a solution, which of course, it never finds.
I saw this in another thread: You can still buy the SH3 Gold edition with all the proper patches and Starforce free for $9.99 from the Subsim Store here. It also includes a free copy of Silent Hunter II, the first of the U-boat Silent Hunters.
Might this be the way to go, or would I still have problems with Win7? Would one of the newer SH games be better, keeping in mind that I am a newbie at this and I would like something easy enough to learn and still be fun. Needless to say, I am becomming very frustrated. Also, know I sincerly appreciate everyone's effort(s) in trying to help me.

[Ferrante]

I sure hate to give up on this as I really want to play this game. No more ideas? I know I am stumped; I am sure others are as well...