Windows 7

Post Reply
User avatar
BlaineBlitzer
Member
Posts: 32
Joined: February 2nd, 2011, 7:32 pm
Location: San Antonio , Texas
Contact:
United States of America

Windows 7

Post by BlaineBlitzer »

My 14yr daughter just got a laptop donated from my ex-wife its an older dual core asus with windows 7 on it. when i loaded 1942 and dc, dcf it couldn't find the files it couldn't even find the files to install the patches or pb update but i can find the manually and when i do look them up only 1942 seems to be there. the laptop has my ex wife as admin and my daughter as separate profile.never had a problem like this before not sure how to proceed, any advise would be welcomed? :18: :?:
BoOn
Member
Posts: 999
Joined: April 18th, 2011, 5:43 pm
Location: Edmonton, Canada
Canada

Re: Windows 7

Post by BoOn »

Need to install the game while logged into the "Admin" account.
User avatar
Trench
Admin
Admin
Posts: 2908
Joined: May 22nd, 2012, 3:19 am
Location: Dallas / Fort Worth
Contact:
United States of America

Re: Windows 7

Post by Trench »

It's true that the installation will have to be done by an Administrators-member user account. But at least by default, Windows is already going to force that to happen, even if you initiated the installation while logged-on as a non-Administrators user account.

All of the involved installation programs -- the original BF1942 setup.exe, the battlefield_1942_patch_v1.6.19.exe, the battlefield_1942_incremental_patch_v1.6_to_v1.61b.exe, the desertcombat0.7fullinstall.exe and the dc_final_client.exe -- are detected by Windows as installers which require Administrators rights.

Trying to run these programs as a non-Administrators-member user account will result in a Windows "User Account Control" prompt (UAC) which actually prompts you to provide the credentials of a Windows user who /is/ an Administrators member since the account you're logged in with is not. Ultimately the installation is performed with that Administrators-member user account, not the non-Administrators account you're logged on with.

If you're getting the UAC prompt during installation but its not asking you for credentials (just "approval" to run the installation program), then your daughter's account actually is an Administrators group member, not withstanding that it's a separate user account.

If you're not getting a UAC prompt at all, then someone has apparently disabled Windows UAC on this computer. THAT definitely would cause issues, if your daughter's account is not an Administrators member, because now the installers and program are just forced to run as non-Administrators. But in that case the original Battlefield 1942 installation would have never started or completed, due to lack of rights.

So it's unclear what really is happening on that laptop; what you're describing about "the game is there but patches nor DesertCombat can find it" doesn't even fit with the "her account is a non-Administrators member" expectations. Nothing wrong with going ahead and trying to re-install while logged on with the Administrators-member account; just saying it's not clear whether that's the true issue or only issue going on here.


What was suggested in the in-game chat the other day was that once you do have the game installed, you also need to ensure the shortcut icon you're using to launch the installed Desert Combat or Battlefield 1942 has the "Compatibility" tab options set to "run as Windows XP (Service Pack 3)" and also "Run this program as an Administrator". This is going cause even launching of the game to prompt for the credentials of an Administrators-member user account, but is necessary in order for the game to have access to the directory where your control profiles are stored.

(Right-click the shortcut icon and select "Properties" to get to the "Compatibility" tab. If you're not logged on with an Administrators-member account when changing the "Compatibility" tab settings, you'll also need to first invoke the "Change settings for all users" button on the "Compatibility" tab which, you guessed it, is going to first ask for the credentials of an Administrators-member account in order to make the changes.)


Isn't the real question though, "Dad, why are you installing your games on my laptop??"

-Trench
User avatar
BlaineBlitzer
Member
Posts: 32
Joined: February 2nd, 2011, 7:32 pm
Location: San Antonio , Texas
Contact:
United States of America

Re: Windows 7

Post by BlaineBlitzer »

Thanks guys for your response ill try to reinstall the game in admin mode, ill have to try to get my ex-wife to tell me her p/w, and trench thanks for that explanation I'm going to give it another shot this weekend and my daughter wanted me to install it on her laptop because her and my older son like playing DCF also. and I'm really looking forward to having me and my kids on a server all at the same time

:25:
User avatar
Nightstalker
Retired Admin
Retired Admin
Posts: 4624
Joined: February 7th, 2010, 9:29 pm
United States of America

Re: Windows 7

Post by Nightstalker »

I bet they get banned within the first map :o

Just playin. Always good to hear of some new people coming in. And since you said they have already been playing we wont have to take it easy on them. :)
Image
God bless the past and present men and women in uniform.
Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives. This is Nightstalker and this is EA117.
BoOn
Member
Posts: 999
Joined: April 18th, 2011, 5:43 pm
Location: Edmonton, Canada
Canada

Re: Windows 7

Post by BoOn »

Man, that Trench doesnt mess around when making a post lol.
Nightstalker wrote:I bet they get banned within the first map
Lmao, fricken NS haha
Nightstalker wrote:already been playing we wont have to take it easy on them.
Kids = Faster reflexes , I think they are gonna have to take it easy on the older fellas lol.

That will be awesome to see you gaming with your lil ones on the same server Blaine, Hope the install goes well for you.
User avatar
BlaineBlitzer
Member
Posts: 32
Joined: February 2nd, 2011, 7:32 pm
Location: San Antonio , Texas
Contact:
United States of America

Re: Windows 7

Post by BlaineBlitzer »

well it didn't work, but i found out about using xp mode but i have windows 7 home, and you can only download it if you have win 7 pro. does anyone know how to install via torrentz, or free download
User avatar
Trench
Admin
Admin
Posts: 2908
Joined: May 22nd, 2012, 3:19 am
Location: Dallas / Fort Worth
Contact:
United States of America

Re: Windows 7

Post by Trench »

Not sure that you'll have access to DirectX 8+ / the video card features from inside XP mode. You're essentially just running Microsoft's Virtual PC and it's emulated hardware; great for applications, probably not so great for games, but I've never actually tried.

(Third-party sites show clear "no DirectX support in XP Mode" answers, but Microsoft just has a more vague "not optimized for 3D intensive games". http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... -windows-7)

It's definitely just side-stepping some other issue that's going on, since XP Mode is not necessary for running Battlefield 1942 or Desert Combat on Windows 7 or Windows 8, on x64 or 32-bit. But if you don't want to pay Microsoft for theirs, there are other free virtual machine emulators like virtualbox.org.

No, I'm not aware of a way to install XP Mode on Windows Home torrent or otherwise.

So when you say "that didn't work", where do things start to break down now that you're able to install as an Administrators-member account? e.g. After you uninstalled everything previously installed and started again, did BF1942 install fine? The BF1942 patches? The DC or DFC clients? What happened.

-Trench
User avatar
BlaineBlitzer
Member
Posts: 32
Joined: February 2nd, 2011, 7:32 pm
Location: San Antonio , Texas
Contact:
United States of America

Re: Windows 7

Post by BlaineBlitzer »

yeah everything installed fine 1942 and dc but when i went to install dcf it couldn't find mod folder same with patches and pb, it was the exact same as when it had a separate account instead of admin account. when installed the game starts fine with, start up video then when it gets to multilayer screen it crashes or freezes and i get a not responding for task manager. same as before i set the admin account.

:25:
User avatar
Trench
Admin
Admin
Posts: 2908
Joined: May 22nd, 2012, 3:19 am
Location: Dallas / Fort Worth
Contact:
United States of America

Re: Windows 7

Post by Trench »

BlaineBlitzer wrote:yeah everything installed fine 1942 and dc but when i went to install dcf it couldn't find mod folder same with patches and pb...
It doesn't seem like something that would explain the difference, but for what it's worth, every time I've installed it's been to install Battlefield 1942 itself, then the 1.6 update (which is the first option you're given to also install PunkBuster), then the 1.61b update, then Desert Combat .7, then the DC Final client. (i.e. Exactly the same order the downloads are listed in http://www.ea117dcfanfavorites.com/view ... =62&t=1655.)

That you CAN get through two of the installs but then cannot get through the "updates" to those installs is definitely some kind of major clue; I'm just not sure to what. If the machine were in front of me my next step would be to use Microsoft's Process Monitor to watch what files and paths the update installer "probed" before declaring that it couldn't find the installed mod / installed game, to try and explain why the installed game couldn't be found by the update's installer program.

If that sounds like a fun way to ruin a perfectly good afternoon, let me know and I can put together some more verbose steps for how to collect the Process Monitor information.

-Trench
User avatar
Trench
Admin
Admin
Posts: 2908
Joined: May 22nd, 2012, 3:19 am
Location: Dallas / Fort Worth
Contact:
United States of America

Re: Windows 7

Post by Trench »

I still don't think XP Mode or Virtual PC are the right direction to go, but I just remembered a piece of additional information about that in case you do end up exploring that option more. Even though XP Mode is a product feature Microsoft only provides for Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Professional (and is already built-in to Windows 7 Enterprise), Microsoft actually started giving away the full Virtual PC product for free some years back.

If you go to the Virtual PC home page (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/), the first thing they want to pitch you is XP Mode on Ultimate or Professional. But if you go to the download page (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtua ... nload.aspx) there is a link there named "Don’t need XP Mode and want VPC only? Download Windows Virtual PC without Windows XP Mode." That gives you a download for the regular Virtual PC product.

So with XP Mode, Microsoft is giving you Virtual PC and an XP license, plus a virtual machine with Windows XP pre-installed, ready for you to begin running XP-compatible applications.

If you download Virtual PC on your own, you just have to come up with your own XP license and XP installation media to install an XP virtual machine yourself.

-Trench
Post Reply