Windows 8.1 problems

Shooter7 · 08-17-14, 03:28 PM

Hi, first posting for me. I got SH4 a couple years back as a gift, and while I was able to get it to load up and kind of function on my old Dell laptop with Win7, it would crash on me or lock up or not save my game or whatever. I finally decided to get a new machine, but this one has Win 8.1 on it. I put in the disk and tell it to install, which it doesn't seem to have any problem going through the motions with that, but after it finishes the game won't start up at all. You tell it at the end of the install to finish and run SH4, but it just goes away and nothing else happens. I have found that it drops a file in my documents and there are files in the c drive it looks like. I have not been able to find an exe file anywhere, and no icon shows up on my desktop. So, I don't know if this is the right forum or not to be asking this, but I would really appreciate some assistance with being able to get my game running on this machine. I have read that others are running the game on Win 8.1, so it should be possible. I just really liked what time I could get playing it on my old Dell and would love to play it on a machine that should be able to handle it without crashing.

The new rig I have is an Asus G550JK.
Republic of Gamers
Intel Core i7 4710HQ (2.50GHz)
8GB Memory 750GB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M 2GB GDDR3
1920 x 1080
Windows 8.1 64-bit

Let me know if there is more info I can give to help, but be advised, I have my limitations when it comes to tech. I have read some threads on here before I signed up and got kind of lost when people starting delving in deep with doing stuff with their files. So... thank you in advance for whatever help you can provide.

captcrane · 08-17-14, 05:14 PM

Hey saw your post If you let the cd install the game itself it loads it in your Program Files(x86) folder on your c drive. inside that folder is a Ubisoft folder inside that one I believe is the Silent Hunter exe. file which will start your game.The game will run from there and you can make a shortcut on your desktop to it. The folder you found in your Documents folder is where the game stores saved games.

Aktungbby · 08-17-14, 05:50 PM

Shooter7!

Shooter7 · 08-17-14, 07:16 PM

Aktungbby - thanks for the welcome.

captcrane or anyone else who can answer this - after some searching, there weren't any obvious exe files, I finally found one that in the "details" part of the properties it showed that it was the sh4.exe file. However, once I found this, I clicked on it and told it to open and... nothing happened. What should I be doing to get it to start from there? thanks

Captain Diver · 08-17-14, 07:53 PM

To find what you're looking for, go to your "C" drive, then go in to your "program files (x86)", scroll down to you see a file called "Ubisoft", inside that you will find a file called "Silent Hunter Wolves of the Pacific" inside that file scroll down until you see an "icon" that says "SH4" there will be 2 of them one is just an "icon" the other is the "exe" and it should say "application" to the right under "file type" I would create a shortcut to the desktop when you play the game so you don't have to do this everytime you want to play. I hope this helps you in your situation. If not don't worry and don't give up. There is always someone here to help you and btw welcome.

p.s. ( I am assuming you are doing all of this through your "file explorer" in your taskbar)

Respectfully,
Captain Diver

Shooter7 · 08-17-14, 08:26 PM

Yes, I found all that, but when I got the file and clicked on it and then told it to open, nothing happened. Since then I found an entry in an ubisoft forum that said NOT to let it load into the program files, but to create a new file name and load it. So, I uninstalled, installed with another name on the c drive and told it to run, but now I'm getting an error box that says, "The game is already running in a different account". What the heck does that mean? Do I need to delete it off my old computer I had it on or something?

Shooter7 · 08-17-14, 08:58 PM

I restarted my laptop and opened stuff up again and the error boxes didn't happen again, so that's good. Although, I don't know what account it was talking about the game already running in. So, a little more info... this last time I loaded the game not into the default file, but created its own named file. When I put the disc in, it loads up the menu for the game, but when I click play, nothing happens.

Jimbuna · 08-18-14, 05:01 AM

Do you have an alternative drive to C? A partition to D perhaps?

If able, stay well clear of the C drive.

captcrane · 08-18-14, 07:15 AM

Ahoy Shooter! Sorry to hear your stuck in high seas. We both have the same computer so this is what I suggest. 1. uninstall the game from your control panel (programs and features) 2. restart your computer 3. install the game from your dvd. when the computer asks where to install it click change button and type C:\Ubisoft do not install Game shadow or acrobat reader. 3. do not check box to run game instead restart your computer 4. in windows 8.1 go to your desktop not the tile interface click on the folder looking thing on your taskbar in the far left pane of the window click on OS [C:] then double click on ubisoft scroll down til you see 2 entries with an sh4 icon. one of them says application. this where the game starts and you can make a shortcut to your desktop In the event this fails also go back to that same application icon right click on it. A menu will appear click on details check product version # . unfortunately this game was released before it was ready you might need some patches. the gold edition is great and ready to go out the box 10 bucks I think at amazon

Shooter7 · 08-18-14, 08:14 AM

Ok, I will try this route asap. Working right now, but work from home, so may be able to mess with it some. I do have the Gold edition, btw. Thanks for the assistance, hopefully it will work. I just want to start torpedoing stuff...

Shooter7 · 08-18-14, 09:55 AM

sigh... followed all the above instructions to the letter and still, no joy. I went back in and tried to mess with the compatibility troubleshooting, but that didn't seem to have any effect either. I told it to try using Vista and XP settings both, but when it asked to test it, I would click the test button and nothing would happen. I really don't know what the heck to do with this.

Eichhörnchen · 08-18-14, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shooter7

sigh... followed all the above instructions to the letter and still, no joy. I went back in and tried to mess with the compatibility troubleshooting, but that didn't seem to have any effect either. I told it to try using Vista and XP settings both, but when it asked to test it, I would click the test button and nothing would happen. I really don't know what the heck to do with this.

You're not alone, Shooter7: I'm running "gold edition" OK on Windows 8 so I'm sure someone's going to get you moving soon. Feel sure it's only a question of finding your way through; I'll see if I can come up with any ideas...

Eichhörnchen · 08-18-14, 01:10 PM

Mine is installed in the usual place, Program Files (X86) and runs fine with no patches, but while I was nosing around in there just recently, I came across another "application" icon marked simply "gu", a bit higher up than the sh4 one, and thinking "Wonder what this does" I clicked on it and it launched the program. It was labelled "Autopatch system". I was a bit disappointed that it did nothing more interesting at the time but if you can find it, it may be worth a try. If it does work then just send it to the desktop as a shortcut instead. It might just make your pc explode, of course: I'm no expert so consider it just a suggestion.

The only other thing is that people often need to turn off their anti-virus before some programs will run because they block them. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable could give a view on this??

Shooter7 · 08-18-14, 01:24 PM

Figured I'd try this before I have to sign off for a bit, I remember seeing that GU file in there. I clicked on it, but didn't start the game for me. Still nothing working. Throwing out ideas... on my first attempt to load this game, I let it load everything but the game shadow. Could the adobe file it loaded have anything to do with inhibiting it, and do I need to delete that file? Could there be any other files anywhere that need specific deleting that could be a block to the game. Very frustrating knowing some people are running this game on 8.1 but I can't get this going. I have another older tank game I was going to try and put on here, but figure I'll probably have the same problem.

There is a comment further up regarding using D: drive to load on and staying away from C:, should I be trying this?

Thanks for any further help.

Eichhörnchen · 08-18-14, 02:24 PM

I think he meant do you have another drive on your pc; I load games onto an auxiliary hard-drive when I'm installing something that will run on my old desktop, but the "brains" which start the programs are always going to end up in your pc's C-Drive, as far as I know, so any links which aren't functioning will still be there. Do you have a laptop with more than one Drive?

This has to be just an issue of an incorrect path, I would've thought.

BUT...I know you've tried to run it on compatibility settings, but have you tried INSTALLING it on compatibility settings? I know it's a pain to have to uninstall yet again but I had a tip from an expert recently about installing XP-configured software on Windows 8: he said to NOT just select the Autoplay choice when the little blue rectangle appears at the top but instead choose to open the disc, find the "setup" icon, right-click this and choose to run IT on compatibility settings. It will ask you to TEST, as usual, so you then let the INSTALLER go to work (on XP settings) and once the thing is installed you'll be able to save these settings (though I don't really see why).

Then try running it, either with or without compatibility settings (maybe try both).

Incidentally, this guru also advised me not to install programs configured for any O/S older than XP. Just XP or Vista.

PS/ I work at home too, so get to fiddle about here at all odd times (though I shouldn't)

08-17-14, 03:28 PM	#1
Shooter7 Watch Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 25 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Windows 8.1 problems Hi, first posting for me. I got SH4 a couple years back as a gift, and while I was able to get it to load up and kind of function on my old Dell laptop with Win7, it would crash on me or lock up or not save my game or whatever. I finally decided to get a new machine, but this one has Win 8.1 on it. I put in the disk and tell it to install, which it doesn't seem to have any problem going through the motions with that, but after it finishes the game won't start up at all. You tell it at the end of the install to finish and run SH4, but it just goes away and nothing else happens. I have found that it drops a file in my documents and there are files in the c drive it looks like. I have not been able to find an exe file anywhere, and no icon shows up on my desktop. So, I don't know if this is the right forum or not to be asking this, but I would really appreciate some assistance with being able to get my game running on this machine. I have read that others are running the game on Win 8.1, so it should be possible. I just really liked what time I could get playing it on my old Dell and would love to play it on a machine that should be able to handle it without crashing. The new rig I have is an Asus G550JK. Republic of Gamers Intel Core i7 4710HQ (2.50GHz) 8GB Memory 750GB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M 2GB GDDR3 1920 x 1080 Windows 8.1 64-bit Let me know if there is more info I can give to help, but be advised, I have my limitations when it comes to tech. I have read some threads on here before I signed up and got kind of lost when people starting delving in deep with doing stuff with their files. So... thank you in advance for whatever help you can provide. Last edited by Shooter7; 08-17-14 at 03:54 PM.

08-17-14, 05:50 PM	#3
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 30,017 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	Welcome Aboard Shooter7! __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!!

08-17-14, 07:16 PM	#4
Shooter7 Watch Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 25 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Aktungbby - thanks for the welcome. captcrane or anyone else who can answer this - after some searching, there weren't any obvious exe files, I finally found one that in the "details" part of the properties it showed that it was the sh4.exe file. However, once I found this, I clicked on it and told it to open and... nothing happened. What should I be doing to get it to start from there? thanks Last edited by Shooter7; 08-17-14 at 07:28 PM.

08-17-14, 07:53 PM	#5
Captain Diver Watch Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Florida Posts: 20 Downloads: 261 Uploads: 0	To find what you're looking for, go to your "C" drive, then go in to your "program files (x86)", scroll down to you see a file called "Ubisoft", inside that you will find a file called "Silent Hunter Wolves of the Pacific" inside that file scroll down until you see an "icon" that says "SH4" there will be 2 of them one is just an "icon" the other is the "exe" and it should say "application" to the right under "file type" I would create a shortcut to the desktop when you play the game so you don't have to do this everytime you want to play. I hope this helps you in your situation. If not don't worry and don't give up. There is always someone here to help you and btw welcome. p.s. ( I am assuming you are doing all of this through your "file explorer" in your taskbar) Respectfully, Captain Diver __________________ RFB_2.0=1 RFB_2.0_Patch_23April2010=2 RSRDC_RFB_V575=3 RSRDC_V5xx_Patch1=4 Improved Ship Physics_2.15=5 Improved Stock Environment_v3=6 #2 ISE Realistic Colors=7

08-18-14, 05:01 AM	#8
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,552 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	Do you have an alternative drive to C? A partition to D perhaps? If able, stay well clear of the C drive. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

08-17-14, 05:14 PM	#2
captcrane Electrician's Mate Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 139 Downloads: 184 Uploads: 0	Hey saw your post If you let the cd install the game itself it loads it in your Program Files(x86) folder on your c drive. inside that folder is a Ubisoft folder inside that one I believe is the Silent Hunter exe. file which will start your game.The game will run from there and you can make a shortcut on your desktop to it. The folder you found in your Documents folder is where the game stores saved games.

08-17-14, 08:26 PM	#6
Shooter7 Watch Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 25 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Yes, I found all that, but when I got the file and clicked on it and then told it to open, nothing happened. Since then I found an entry in an ubisoft forum that said NOT to let it load into the program files, but to create a new file name and load it. So, I uninstalled, installed with another name on the c drive and told it to run, but now I'm getting an error box that says, "The game is already running in a different account". What the heck does that mean? Do I need to delete it off my old computer I had it on or something?

08-17-14, 08:58 PM	#7
Shooter7 Watch Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 25 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	I restarted my laptop and opened stuff up again and the error boxes didn't happen again, so that's good. Although, I don't know what account it was talking about the game already running in. So, a little more info... this last time I loaded the game not into the default file, but created its own named file. When I put the disc in, it loads up the menu for the game, but when I click play, nothing happens.

08-18-14, 07:15 AM	#9
captcrane Electrician's Mate Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 139 Downloads: 184 Uploads: 0	Ahoy Shooter! Sorry to hear your stuck in high seas. We both have the same computer so this is what I suggest. 1. uninstall the game from your control panel (programs and features) 2. restart your computer 3. install the game from your dvd. when the computer asks where to install it click change button and type C:\Ubisoft do not install Game shadow or acrobat reader. 3. do not check box to run game instead restart your computer 4. in windows 8.1 go to your desktop not the tile interface click on the folder looking thing on your taskbar in the far left pane of the window click on OS [C:] then double click on ubisoft scroll down til you see 2 entries with an sh4 icon. one of them says application. this where the game starts and you can make a shortcut to your desktop In the event this fails also go back to that same application icon right click on it. A menu will appear click on details check product version # . unfortunately this game was released before it was ready you might need some patches. the gold edition is great and ready to go out the box 10 bucks I think at amazon

08-18-14, 08:14 AM	#10
Shooter7 Watch Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 25 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Ok, I will try this route asap. Working right now, but work from home, so may be able to mess with it some. I do have the Gold edition, btw. Thanks for the assistance, hopefully it will work. I just want to start torpedoing stuff...

08-18-14, 09:55 AM	#11
Shooter7 Watch Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 25 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	sigh... followed all the above instructions to the letter and still, no joy. I went back in and tried to mess with the compatibility troubleshooting, but that didn't seem to have any effect either. I told it to try using Vista and XP settings both, but when it asked to test it, I would click the test button and nothing would happen. I really don't know what the heck to do with this.

08-18-14, 01:10 PM	#13
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 17,399 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Further thoughts Mine is installed in the usual place, Program Files (X86) and runs fine with no patches, but while I was nosing around in there just recently, I came across another "application" icon marked simply "gu", a bit higher up than the sh4 one, and thinking "Wonder what this does" I clicked on it and it launched the program. It was labelled "Autopatch system". I was a bit disappointed that it did nothing more interesting at the time but if you can find it, it may be worth a try. If it does work then just send it to the desktop as a shortcut instead. It might just make your pc explode, of course: I'm no expert so consider it just a suggestion. The only other thing is that people often need to turn off their anti-virus before some programs will run because they block them. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable could give a view on this??

08-18-14, 01:24 PM	#14
Shooter7 Watch Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 25 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Figured I'd try this before I have to sign off for a bit, I remember seeing that GU file in there. I clicked on it, but didn't start the game for me. Still nothing working. Throwing out ideas... on my first attempt to load this game, I let it load everything but the game shadow. Could the adobe file it loaded have anything to do with inhibiting it, and do I need to delete that file? Could there be any other files anywhere that need specific deleting that could be a block to the game. Very frustrating knowing some people are running this game on 8.1 but I can't get this going. I have another older tank game I was going to try and put on here, but figure I'll probably have the same problem. There is a comment further up regarding using D: drive to load on and staying away from C:, should I be trying this? Thanks for any further help.

08-18-14, 02:24 PM	#15
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 17,399 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	I think he meant do you have another drive on your pc; I load games onto an auxiliary hard-drive when I'm installing something that will run on my old desktop, but the "brains" which start the programs are always going to end up in your pc's C-Drive, as far as I know, so any links which aren't functioning will still be there. Do you have a laptop with more than one Drive? This has to be just an issue of an incorrect path, I would've thought. BUT...I know you've tried to run it on compatibility settings, but have you tried INSTALLING it on compatibility settings? I know it's a pain to have to uninstall yet again but I had a tip from an expert recently about installing XP-configured software on Windows 8: he said to NOT just select the Autoplay choice when the little blue rectangle appears at the top but instead choose to open the disc, find the "setup" icon, right-click this and choose to run IT on compatibility settings. It will ask you to TEST, as usual, so you then let the INSTALLER go to work (on XP settings) and once the thing is installed you'll be able to save these settings (though I don't really see why). Then try running it, either with or without compatibility settings (maybe try both). Incidentally, this guru also advised me not to install programs configured for any O/S older than XP. Just XP or Vista. PS/ I work at home too, so get to fiddle about here at all odd times (though I shouldn't) Last edited by Eichhörnchen; 08-18-14 at 03:44 PM.