GameBanshee Forums

As I suspected, since my XP system died and I was forced to buy a windows 7 I have been having major trouble re-instating some of my favourite games.

Worms 2, Medieval: Total War, Divine Divinity are all bumming out on me. I even tried a new game 'A Farewell to Dragons' but that CTD'd aswell.

Does anyone know what the deal is with Windows 7 and compatibility issues?

I saw a Youtube video where someone proved Windows could play Doom perfectly on all editions, but that doesn't really ease my concerns about the other 3 million games out there.

Is there a general rule of thumb I'm missing or do I have to wait for the game-box to say it's Windows 7 compatible or are some games destined to only really be playable on their own time-zone specs?

just waiting for Win7 compatible version

You'll have to screw around with compatibility options a bit. Also, never install any game to /program files/. As a matter of fact, don't install anything you will want to edit, cut, paste & screw around with to program files.

Did your Win XP happen to be 32 bits, and your Win 7 64-bits? I had that problem when "upgrading" to Vista.

I have no idea if my XP was 32 bit but I've just checked and the Windows 7 is definitely 64 bit.

I got several games running once I started googling for solutions for Vista 64bit, so maybe that will help here too.

Almost everything works on Windows 7 but it is often time consuming to fix one of the old games.

Always apply the latest official patch.Look for community/unofficial patches too,the fans wont let good games die.

Windows XP service pack 2 compatibility mode is usually the best(but not always).Always run exes as administrator.

As Stworca said never use the default install path.

Dosbox and virtualPC(download from microsofts official site)are useful tools(especially for installing or running something not compatible with x64 Op.system).There is a program called CPUkiller which is capable of slowing down your computer up to 99% permitting you to run old software with multicore processors and this often fixes the runtime and overflow errors(but use it at your own risk).

When you search for solutions on google use the " " marks to get the exact results(I dont know what its called but it saves you lots of time).Example:

"divine divinity" "windows 7 x64"

Always keep your old PC,you will need it sooner or later Rolling back drivers and directx to an earlier state often helps.

Notice that there are two Program Files folders, one labelled simply Program Files, the other Program Files (x86). I've always installed games to the latter, and have had no problems; I am the sole user so I'm also the Administrator by default. Make sure you are always logged in as the Administrator when installing or playing games.