Windows 7?

[maillemaker]

Do not install the game to any directory under 'Program Files' or 'Program Files (x86)'

Why not? That is where I installed mine, by default, in the x86 folder, and it worked fine.

I downloaded SHIII from Direct2Drive.

I have a brand new machine with Windows 7 Pro 64bit, Core i7-930, Asus P6TSE motherboard, Nvidia GeForce 5500GT graphics.

I installed SHIII using the defaults (it went into Program Files (x86), and it ran fine, and I installed GWX3.0 using the defaults (it found Program Files x86).

Ran fine right out of the box.

Steve

[supposedtobeworking]

Oh my word, I got the bloody thing to work! with Greywolves and widescreen mods!!! here is what I did:

followed the instructions on this forum page in the first post - http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/t...7691096797/p/6

EXCEPT, here is the slight changes I made:

1. Uninstall SH3 if installed already
2. Run SFRemove
3. Reboot
4. Begin installation of SH3 as normal
***change setup.exe properties to Run as Administrator and change for all users. Afer that, Click Troubleshoot Compatibility and click Run with Recommended Settings (WinXP SP2). Now run setup.
***I also changed the installation directory to C:\games\ubisoft\silent hunter III\

5. When you get to Game Shadow cancel install
6. When you get to finish screen DO NOT press Finish. This IS crucial!
7. Install the 1.4 EU DVD patch with Run As Admin
****The EU Patch would not recognize my version, so I used the U.S. Patch. Again, I set it to run as administrator for all users and ran it under recommended compatibility mode.

8. ONLY after Patch has completed hit finish and the launcher screen runs to check system spec and reboot message appears. DO NOT reboot.
***No reboot message showed up for me.
9. Exit spec check. DO NOT choose Launch.
10. Overwrite the files with the NO DVD rld-sh14.rar
11. Run the game. Should now work.


I have no clue how or why this works, but after a few hours of troubleshooting and whining, I'm just happy it does. I did not buy a new copy, but installed from an old DVD with Starforce on it, but of course I didn't launch the game with the DVD so it never installed it. I don't have to change any video settings to make SH3 run, this was all I did, and I can install any mods via JSGME so far including GWX3 and Widescreen fix. I'm running it on a widescreen 18" with 1366x768 native resolution. ha, I was almost going to break down and buy Silent Hunter 5 to make me feel better, but now that SH3 is up and running Ubisoft isn't getting any more of my money.

[maillemaker]

Oh yes, thank you for reminding me. In my install (which did not have starforce, so I did not have to go through any of the removal jazz), I DID cancel the install prior to the installation of Game Shadow.

Steve

[kylania]

Originally Posted by maillemaker

Why not? That is where I installed mine, by default, in the x86 folder, and it worked fine.

Permissions problems mainly.

Originally Posted by maillemaker

I downloaded SHIII from Direct2Drive.

I have a brand new machine with Windows 7 Pro 64bit, Core i7-930, Asus P6TSE motherboard, Nvidia GeForce 5500GT graphics.

I ended up buying yet another copy of SH3 from D2D after my fully patched Encore no-DRM disc wouldn't install. The D2D version gave me the SAME ERRORS! I'd bought it based on 4 people saying "D2D works fine on Win7", guess not.

[remowilliams]

Originally Posted by supposedtobeworking

I did not buy a new copy, but installed from an old DVD with Starforce on it, but of course I didn't launch the game with the DVD so it never installed it.

Same here. Key is not to let the thing run and install the starforce crap before you get a chance to overwrite the executable and dlls.

On my Win7/x64 here I didn't need to set any compatibility settings for things to run properly. Installed to c:\games\sh3

If anyone is being forced to install to a 'programs' folder, I would take kylania's advice and move the entire directory somewhere else after install.

[Yavasa]

It sure does work! Thank you!

Originally Posted by supposedtobeworking

Oh my word, I got the bloody thing to work! with Greywolves and widescreen mods!!! here is what I did:

followed the instructions on this forum page in the first post - http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/t...7691096797/p/6

EXCEPT, here is the slight changes I made:

1. Uninstall SH3 if installed already
2. Run SFRemove
3. Reboot
4. Begin installation of SH3 as normal
***change setup.exe properties to Run as Administrator and change for all users. Afer that, Click Troubleshoot Compatibility and click Run with Recommended Settings (WinXP SP2). Now run setup.
***I also changed the installation directory to C:\games\ubisoft\silent hunter III\

5. When you get to Game Shadow cancel install
6. When you get to finish screen DO NOT press Finish. This IS crucial!
7. Install the 1.4 EU DVD patch with Run As Admin
****The EU Patch would not recognize my version, so I used the U.S. Patch. Again, I set it to run as administrator for all users and ran it under recommended compatibility mode.

8. ONLY after Patch has completed hit finish and the launcher screen runs to check system spec and reboot message appears. DO NOT reboot.
***No reboot message showed up for me.
9. Exit spec check. DO NOT choose Launch.
10. Overwrite the files with the NO DVD rld-sh14.rar
11. Run the game. Should now work.


I have no clue how or why this works, but after a few hours of troubleshooting and whining, I'm just happy it does. I did not buy a new copy, but installed from an old DVD with Starforce on it, but of course I didn't launch the game with the DVD so it never installed it. I don't have to change any video settings to make SH3 run, this was all I did, and I can install any mods via JSGME so far including GWX3 and Widescreen fix. I'm running it on a widescreen 18" with 1366x768 native resolution. ha, I was almost going to break down and buy Silent Hunter 5 to make me feel better, but now that SH3 is up and running Ubisoft isn't getting any more of my money.

[Herr Minger]

I am thinking of getting windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit for my Dell xps630 and I want to know if SH3 will work with the premium version. I currently run Vista Home Premium 32bit and it sucks. I believe xp compatability is only available with pro and ultimate, is this correct?. The reason I ask is because of this part of the instuctions for installing SH3 in windows 7

(4. Begin installation of SH3 as normal
***change setup.exe properties to Run as Administrator and change for all users. Afer that, Click Troubleshoot Compatibility and click Run with Recommended Settings (WinXP SP2). Now run setup.)

Thanks in advance

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by Herr Minger

... I believe xp compatability is only available with pro and ultimate, is this correct?. The reason I ask is because of this part of the instuctions for installing SH3 in windows 7

(4. Begin installation of SH3 as normal
***change setup.exe properties to Run as Administrator and change for all users. Afer that, Click Troubleshoot Compatibility and click Run with Recommended Settings (WinXP SP2). Now run setup.)

Thanks in advance

Those compatibility settings are available in ALL versions of Vista and Windows 7. They change the way how your modern OS talks and treats the application/game that was built for older OS-ses. What you are probably mixing it up with is XPmode. Which is a virtual machine (simulated computer) running XP separately inside your pc. That one is only available for Professional (,Enterprise) and Ultimate Windows 7. (You can however install a virtual XP on your own in Windows VirtualPC if you have a legit XP-license for it. Windows Virtual PC probably works on Home versions, eventough XPmode doesn't) But you won't be able to use that anyway for SH3 since the game requires hardware acceleration for graphics which those virtual machines don't simulate.

Not in Program Files (x86)
It's about administrator credentials and UAC (user account control) since Vista came about. Actually, it's also an issue in XP, but no one notices it. (I'l explain later) Vista and Win7 treat those Program Files folders and it's content with extra vigilance (XP makes less fuzz about it) because of malware/trojans/virusses. If anything tries to meddle with files/folder there it pops up a warning asking if this was intended, or simply blocks it downright. At the same time it blocks almost all other user-interface use until acknowledged or times out. If you as a user are of the administrator type (member of the built-in 'Administrators' group) then all you have to do is acknowledge with a yes (or no if not intended and malware impersonated you) That is, IF you can see it with the fullscreen in the way. But if you happend to have an ordinary user-account then the OS asks for administrator permission, and you'll have to provide his password. Here is where XP is different, in XP a user account gets administrator rights from the start. So anybody that installed XP on his computer, or was given an account by his/her's unsuspecting mom/dad could do with the system what he wanted. Including the digital cold,worms or horses he brought onto the system. So, Microsoft woke up and made only the first user-account created at OS-install get administrator rights. (M$ isn't all that bad, they are able to learn ) Al user accounts created after OS-install have to be assigned an administrator role manually.

Well, this is all understandable from a defensive point of view regarding malware. But it's very anoying if you actually want to mod just your game files. Or just want your screendumps to be saved there. It sometimes even causes the game or application to crash if the acknowledgement doesn't come quickly enough or isn't prepared for the delay. JScones suggest to run his JSGME application (not sure, maybe SH3 Commander too) with administrator credentials to avoid this, and set compatibility mode for JSGME.exe to XP SP2. That works probably for most, most likely also the reason why it did for maillemaker. But since I normally use an ordinary user account on my laptop (I only want to put my administrator hat on when I really need to.. you know, power corrupts ...more often your system than your mind ) I still had to provide Administrator credentials/password when I wanted to use JSGME. That's just too much of a bother if it can be solved much more easier. Well, if you take it into account before you install the game.

The solution is simple. Place the base-folder of a game/application that requires often manual tweaking of files somewhere else so it doesn't fall into Program Files (with or without (x86) ). To keep everything neat and tidy on your harddrive I suggest it is installed in a folder like:

C:\Games\name_your_game_or_application

Hopefully the application/game wasn't so braindead-designed to force you to place it in Program Files. Some applications store the base-folder path in the registry, so I don't suggest simply moving it after installarion. But SH3 doesn't seem to mind. You'll only have to provide administrator credentials when you are about to install the game, a patch or an installer .exe for a (super)mod. And those are not very frequently done. However, normal use of JSGME to enable/disable mods goes without a hitch, even for an ordinary user.

For the record, I have:

Acer Aspire 8930G, Core2Duo T6400 2GHz,
4GB ram DDR3, ofwhich 1GB is dedicated to graphics,
NVidia Geforce 9600M (embedded) graphics chip, the driver scales fullscreen resolution to keep aspect ratio. (in other words, 'black side bands')
It used to have Vista Home Premium NL, but has now Windows 7 Ultimate English (only) since yesterday.
As said earlier above, running a standard user account by default. (administrator account used only when installing application/patches/system tweaks)
SH3 basefolder, SH3 Commander basefolder and JSGME basefolder ARE NOT in Program Files, but in C:\Games\SH3.
I never set any of those to XP SP2 application compatibility mode.

Oh yeah, version 1.4b. So no starforce stuf.

And it still hunts like a shadow in the waves .

[supposedtobeworking]

Yeah I have Windows 7 Home Premium. So far I haven't found a need for using an XP virtual machine and I saved $30 or so by going that route. I mostly use the PC for gaming and while I've had some initial frustration with older games, a little searching and reading has proven to solve all of my problems and I can run any program I want on Windows 7 HP.

[papa_smurf]

Bought the game off Steam, as my original copy don't work - couldn't be bothered removing Starforce, puls it was only £4.99, so can't complain.
Anywho, it runs fine, and was wondering how to install GWX. Do I install straight to the games location i.e in steamapps?

[KL-alfman]

Originally Posted by papa_smurf

Bought the game off Steam, as my original copy don't work - couldn't be bothered removing Starforce, puls it was only £4.99, so can't complain.
Anywho, it runs fine, and was wondering how to install GWX. Do I install straight to the games location i.e in steamapps?

just be sure all 7files are in the same folder.
then run the *.exe-file and point to the location where SH3 is installed.
(it should be a fresh one)

[papa_smurf]

Thnx for the help, have got the GWX complete file. Just wanted to be sure as im running the game from Steam.

[KL-alfman]

Originally Posted by papa_smurf

Thnx for the help, have got the GWX complete file. Just wanted to be sure as im running the game from Steam.

I see.
you are welcome!

[LoneTraveller]

I'm also having problems with win7.

Here is what I have done so far :

- I have updated my graphic drivers with Catalyst (ATI)

- I have changed the resolution to 1024 x 768
- Changed de full-screen option to ''no''

Both of the last in the main.cfg file

Then I tried the No-CD crack. The game starts the 2 first movies and reaches the loading screen. When it reaches the end of the progress bar, I get a crash message saying "Sh3 has stopped working". In the "view details" arrow I see the following :

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: sh3.exe
Application Version: 1.4.0.1
Application Timestamp: 00000000
Fault Module Name: StackHash_cda8
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c000001d
Exception Offset: 0d0ba35d
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: cda8
Additional Information 2: cda8483c32154a9f3a892cb29fc2293d
Additional Information 3: 7e37
Additional Information 4: 7e37e074d90e8533915c18ce725512e6


My system is a GateWay NV52 with :

- Windows 7 Home Edition
- AMD Athlon (tm) X2 Dual-Core QL-65 2.10Ghz
- 4 gig of ram
- aTI HD3200 graphic chip


If someone has succeed in making sh3 work, I would love to know how.

Thank you for your time

[Bathrone]

There is no inherent incompatibility with windows 7, including the 64bit build and having it run under WoW.

I simply ran the install as admin with UAC, tried to remove starforce but that didnt install anyway (suspect the crapware isnt digitally signed), patched it to 1.4b and I'm in with the no CD patch for build 1.4b.