A Fix for Windows 10 Blocking SH4 Executable

[propbeanie]

Windows 10 and the 'modern' computing world demand a bit more of a person seeking to run 'legacy' software these days...

Read through this, and change the Properties setting of the SH4.exe file:
SH4 won't start after recent Win10 update

[Sosondowah]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Windows 10 and the 'modern' computing world demand a bit more of a person seeking to run 'legacy' software these days...

Read through this, and change the Properties setting of the SH4.exe file:
SH4 won't start after recent Win10 update

Thank you, but it doesn't work, I just did that.

[3catcircus]

Originally Posted by Sosondowah

Thank you, but it doesn't work, I just did that.

I'll ask again. After you logged in as an admin? As in did you open up the accounts page and see that there account actually has admin rights. There have been instances where Win10 updates have removed those rights.

[Sosondowah]

Yes, it works from the Administrator account, but that account is not customized. Also, it works perfectly from a user account on my other desktop, with the same OS and updates. But it doesn't from this PC from the regular user account.

[propbeanie]

First things first: have you attempted to activate any mods, or is this a bone-stock install? Have you tried to clear the Save folder ("C:\Users \UserName \Documents \SH4")? Navigate to that folder and delete it. Everything below it will be re-created when you start the game again. However, you will lose all game progress - if you have an. Another technique would be to move the folder out of Documents for safe-keeping elsewhere, or copy and paste it somewhere else.

Have you set the video stream correctly? Your monitor has a "native" resolution, such as 1920x1080 or similar, which Windows will refer to as "(recommended)" after the numbers, such as "1920x1080 (recommended)" or "1366x768 (recommended)" or some-such. Be sure you have Windows set like that, unless you are doing HDMI, in which case, Windows will set it to whatever it wants... I do not use anything with the DisplayPort connector, so I am uncertain as to how Windows handles those. Be sure your "Scaling" is set to 100%. Look at those Properties settings in the link on the previous page again, and make certain that you have the "Disable fullscreen optimizations" checked, as well as the "Override high DPI scaling... Application" from the "Change high DPI behavior" button. On one of my computers, I have to tick the "Run this program in compatibility mode - Windows 7", on another I do not. On one of my computers, I have to tick the "Run this program as an administrator", on the other I do not. It all depends upon your hardware and OS settings. It took a LOT of experimentation on the newest beast I have, to find the correct combination.

What can sometimes help is to edit the "Main.cfg" file with a text editor, such as Windows Notepad or Notepad++ or similar, to match your video settings, but set it to windowed. If the game ran previously, that file is usually found in the "C:\Users \UserName \Documents \SH4 \data \cfg" folder. "UserName" being the name that you log into the computer with, and "Documents" might be "My Documents". The first line under the heading "[Video]" in the file to look for is similar to "Resolution=1768,992,30,22" or maybe "Resolution=1024,768,30,22" or similar. Match your Windows video setting. The other line is "FullScreen=No", which you might change to "FullScreen=Yes". This should be unnecessary to do. A person with SH3 might need to do this.

I have 3 computers with Win10 on them. 1) A Core2 quad-core Running Win10 Insider, fast circle, with an nVidia 560Ti card, minimal changes (High DPI changes though). 2) A 5th gen Core i5 laptop running Win10 Home "Local" log-in, with onboard Intel graphics, minimal changes, (Run as administrator). 3) An i7 920 running Win10 Home retail, with dual nVidia 980 cards, and this one was a real bother to get SH4 running reliably on, and Win10 seems to constantly want to change all of my user settings for the "legacy" apps with each update, like my cell fones do... - everything is ticked on it, and is the basis of the illustration in that previous post.

[Sosondowah]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

First things first: have you attempted to activate any mods, or is this a bone-stock install? Have you tried to clear the Save folder ("C:\Users \UserName \Documents \SH4")? Navigate to that folder and delete it. Everything below it will be re-created when you start the game again. However, you will lose all game progress - if you have an. Another technique would be to move the folder out of Documents for safe-keeping elsewhere, or copy and paste it somewhere else.

Have you set the video stream correctly? Your monitor has a "native" resolution, such as 1920x1080 or similar, which Windows will refer to as "(recommended)" after the numbers, such as "1920x1080 (recommended)" or "1366x768 (recommended)" or some-such. Be sure you have Windows set like that, unless you are doing HDMI, in which case, Windows will set it to whatever it wants... I do not use anything with the DisplayPort connector, so I am uncertain as to how Windows handles those. Be sure your "Scaling" is set to 100%. Look at those Properties settings in the link on the previous page again, and make certain that you have the "Disable fullscreen optimizations" checked, as well as the "Override high DPI scaling... Application" from the "Change high DPI behavior" button. On one of my computers, I have to tick the "Run this program in compatibility mode - Windows 7", on another I do not. On one of my computers, I have to tick the "Run this program as an administrator", on the other I do not. It all depends upon your hardware and OS settings. It took a LOT of experimentation on the newest beast I have, to find the correct combination.

What can sometimes help is to edit the "Main.cfg" file with a text editor, such as Windows Notepad or Notepad++ or similar, to match your video settings, but set it to windowed. If the game ran previously, that file is usually found in the "C:\Users \UserName \Documents \SH4 \data \cfg" folder. "UserName" being the name that you log into the computer with, and "Documents" might be "My Documents". The first line under the heading "[Video]" in the file to look for is similar to "Resolution=1768,992,30,22" or maybe "Resolution=1024,768,30,22" or similar. Match your Windows video setting. The other line is "FullScreen=No", which you might change to "FullScreen=Yes". This should be unnecessary to do. A person with SH3 might need to do this.

I have 3 computers with Win10 on them. 1) A Core2 quad-core Running Win10 Insider, fast circle, with an nVidia 560Ti card, minimal changes (High DPI changes though). 2) A 5th gen Core i5 laptop running Win10 Home "Local" log-in, with onboard Intel graphics, minimal changes, (Run as administrator). 3) An i7 920 running Win10 Home retail, with dual nVidia 980 cards, and this one was a real bother to get SH4 running reliably on, and Win10 seems to constantly want to change all of my user settings for the "legacy" apps with each update, like my cell fones do... - everything is ticked on it, and is the basis of the illustration in that previous post.

Thank you for the effort, but it's a Windows problem.

[1Patriotofmany]

Just another reason I hate win10. Hell charge me $400 a year to update XP and 7 against hacks and lockups microsoft and I'd gladly pay it. XP was great, 7 was awesome IMO. Guess I'm just a dated guy but I hate 10.

[3catcircus]

Originally Posted by Sosondowah

Yes, it works from the Administrator account, but that account is not customized. Also, it works perfectly from a user account on my other desktop, with the same OS and updates. But it doesn't from this PC from the regular user account.

So... You haven't answered my question. The account you *normally* use on that machine - the one you indicate is "customized" - does *that* account have admin rights? Not is it an admin account - you need to actually open up the accounts info and confirm that account didn't somehow get it's admin rights revoked.

The account you log in to play SH4 *must* have admin rights.

[Sosondowah]

Taking this into account, I would say I have (theoretically) administrative rights, belonging to the Administrators group:


https://ibb.co/VNYmQWx

[3catcircus]

Originally Posted by Sosondowah

Taking this into account, I would say I have (theoretically) administrative rights, belonging to the Administrators group:


https://ibb.co/VNYmQWx

I'm wondering if your account became corrupted somehow...

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...4-a2c7ab5370d3

https://www.ryadel.com/en/windows-us...ights-uac-fix/

[propbeanie]

From Page 1:

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Windows 10 and the 'modern' computing world demand a bit more of a person seeking to run 'legacy' software these days...

Read through this, and change the Properties setting of the SH4.exe file:
SH4 won't start after recent Win10 update

What is "unsafe" about changing the High DPI behavior of an app? or setting its compatibility to something other than Win10? The game is put in a "sandbox" inside of Windows, even on the Home edition (one address space), but especially on a Pro version (multiple address spaces available). Windows 10 wants to "help" you with the "scaling" of all apps, but SH4 has no clue how to allow Windows to do that. SH4 can't even share the audio stream, much less the video stream. It is an old, "legacy", DirectX v9.0c game... kind of like some of the "legacy" members around - o-l-d... present company included...

[Sosondowah]

propbeanie, just in case your above message was meant to be directed to me: it's not safe for your computer to have UAC disabled, which is USER ACCOUNT CONTROL.

In my particular situation, that is the first and mandatory required step to do in order not to receive that crappy red message. Any other attempt failed and I have tried some.

And only the second step is to change the proprieties of the. exe file.

[propbeanie]

You shouldn't have to disable UAC to run SH4.exe - You have your computer set to log-in on restricted privileges. As 3catcircus mentioned, you can log-in on the admin account and change the settings for your "normal" account to run SH4.exe as an administrator by right-clicking on the SH4,exe file, by use of the Compatibility tab on the Properties page, and using the "Change settings for all users" and then change the settings as alluded to in previous posts. "OK" your way back out, log-out of the Administrator account, and log back into your "normal" account, and see if it won't allow you to run the program now. You should be set to "Run this program as an administrator" on the Properties page...

[Sosondowah]

Your suggested solution doesn't work.

OK, thank you all for the effort!

[Red Devil]

I have just posted in general comments about this - I am getting the red screen too. Will reinstallation fix this problem. Its currently residing on my E Drive which I use mainly for games.

The 'elevated' system looks complicated but will try it if I have to