Hi,
I have been having issues installing RA2 and getting it up and running.
I have tried to include a thorough run through of what i've done for reference. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Prerequisite - Went to Control Panel and removed all programs either related to Westwood or Command and Conquer. I did this because years ago when I played C&C I thought something may have been left over that was causing issues. Also searched my computer for Westwood and Command and Conquer and removed anything I could find.
System set up:
I am using a Dell Inspiron laptop which has 2 hard drives; C and E:
C contains Windows (250GB total / 100GB free)
E is just storage (500GB total / 200GB free)
OS: Windows 10 Home
Processor: Intel ® Core ™ i5 CPU M 480 @ 2.67GHz 2.66 GHz
Display Adapter: Intel ® HD graphics
Installed Memory (RAM): 8GB
System Type: 64-bit OS
Steps followed
1.) Download Red Alert 2 from: http://xwis.net/downloads/Red-Alert-2-Multiplayer.exe
a. (File download Location: C:\Users\James\Downloads)
2.) Ran file as administrator
a. (File installed location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Red Alert 2)
3.) Download Red Alert 2 compatibility fix from: http://cncftw.com/Data/2_Patches/Red_Alert_2-Windows_8_and_10_Fix.zip
a. (File download Location: C:\Users\James\Downloads)
4.) Followed steps exactly as described in the first post at: http://xwis.net/forums/index.php/topic/182360-cc-red-alert-2-windows-8-windows-10-fix/
a. Extracted Downloaded file into the same download directory
b. Opened Folder: Red_Alert_2-Windows_8_and_10_Fix
c. Opened Folder: Red Alert 2 - Windows 10 Fix
d. Opened Folder: Compatibility Database
e. Right clicked and run as administrator .bat File: Double Click Me
i. Clicked Yes to allow app to make changes to my device
ii. C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe popped up
iii. Pressed the Enter Key
f. Opened Folder: Game Files
i. Copied all
g. Pasted all files into: C:\Program Files (x86)\Red Alert 2
i. Provided Administrator approval when prompted
h. For the following 4 files:
i. Red Alert 2.exe
ii. Ra2.exe
iii. Mph.exe
iv. Game.exe
i. Applied the following Compatibility settings
i. Ticked the box for: “Run this program in compatibility mode for - Windows 7”
ii. Ticked the box for: “Reduced colour mode – 16 bit (65536) colour”
iii. Un-ticked the box for: “Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution”
iv. Ticked the box for: “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings”
v. Ticked the box for: “Run this program as administrator”
5.) Right clicked the file ra2.exe and ran as administrator
What worked
- First loading screen showing the airships over the statue of liberty loaded.
- Alt+Tab from the menu successfully brings me back to my desktop fine.
Problems
- Initial menu screen shows, but no text or radar animation and no way to proceed. No buttons do anything.
One thing I have checked to see if “C&C Red Alert 2 - Compatibility Fix” was in my programs and features list and it wasn’t.
To try to solve this, I again right click and run as administrator.bat File: Double Click Me. The cmd window pops up but the text contains an error message this time:
“Error: couldn’t find file ‘C:\WINDOWS\system32\RA2-compatability-fix.smd’
To try to solve this, I copied the file: ‘RA2-Comaptibility-Fix’ found in:
C:\Users\James\Downloads\Red_Alert_2-Windows_8_and_10_Fix\Red Alert 2 - Windows 10 Fix\Compatibility Database
And pasted it to:
C:\Windows\System32
After this, I again right click and run as administrator.bat File: Double Click Me.
This time cmd window says installation complete and now when I check programs and features, I can see a file called’ “C&C Red Alert 2”
However, after running ra2.exe again, the same problem occurs. I get to the menu screen and nothing happens.
I have seen references to ddraw files helping out, but I haven’t done anything with these yet as there seem to be a various number of these mentioned over time.
Any suggestions?
