Installing Civ 4 on Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 / 11 (32-/64-bit)

Maybe try editing the "CivilizationIV.ini" file may work, in My Games under My Documents folder.

Code:
; Don't show minimum specification warnings
HideMinSpecWarning = 0
change to
Code:
; Don't show minimum specification warnings
HideMinSpecWarning = [B]1[/B]
 
Sorry, I must say that I completely disagree with this your installation order and that it is incorrect. There is no need to install so many patches. You only need to install the latest patches for Civ4, Warlords and BTS in this order: Civ4 and its patch v1.74+Warlords and its patch v2.13+BTS and its patch v3.19. Installing so many patches can always lead to game errors and bugs, and also the latest patch for each game always contains all previous fixes. I tested this installation order and game seems to work, but I disagree anyway. Also I noticed a map/scenario with the weird name "a_Civ4..." or something like that in BTS where you can play as Chinese leader with name Alex, come on! :) I think that it is caused by installation of BTS patch v3.17 and it was probably used by Firaxis/2K Games game testers and creators for game testing but they forgot to remove it somehow.
 
In theory, you are correct but you shouldn't have to install any patches except the final patch for BTS as the expansions should fully patch the previous installation. In practice we have seen many occasions over the years since Civ 4 were released where the game will not install properly unless you install other patches first. As such the order in this thread has been developed to avoid those problems and give the best chance of a successful installation.
 
Yes :D, but according to some other sites where the gamers talk about Civ4 I even saw that someone recommends this installation order: Civ4+Warlords+BTS+Civ4 patch v1.74+Warlords patch v2.13+BTS patch v3.19 :scan:. I have never test it yet but there is probability that it should be the most correct installation order. Also, if you ever search for a detailed Civ4 setup instruction at Firaxis and 2K Games sites you will not find it, and that is something that these game developers should give us to avoid the potential game errors and setup problems. :) But, it seems that they don't care about us so much :rolleyes: :(
 
I suspect over 100,000 people (given the number of views to this thread) have used this process and have not complained of errors or bugs, so I am willing to bet that it is solid installation guide. Mine is based on a 30+ IT career, with a good understanding of computer software and operating systems. Naturally I use it myself too, when I rebuild/reinstall my own computers and games (and especially new mods)

However, you are free to try your own installation method and see what happens.
 
Well, I'll continue to use my own installation method and it works perfectly. :) Everybody has right to choose what method to use. I am computer hardware and software expert too and so I know a lot of things about the computers, operating systems and applications. I didn't say that I doubt your expertise, but only that it may be incorrect. :) Good gaming and have fun :)
 
I've followed all the steps mentioned here. I successfully installed civ vanilla and warlords. However, for some reason, when I run the setup of BTS, no option of "custom install" appears, only the button "install". When I click on it, it simply crashes to destop after a while. I have win7 64 bits, did everithing as admin., etc... It was running ok before, but I uninstalled it a few days ago. Now, bts just won't install.
 
Maybe uninstall, run a registry cleaner like ccleaner and then install again.
 
Did it. Still crashes to desktop seconds after the message "searching for installed components and updating as necessary" appears.
 
Seems as if the DVD could be faulty ... have you been able to successfully install on another computer.
 
Haven't tried it. I don't have another pc at hand to do it. What I did was to copy the contents of the dvd on the desktop. There wasn't a message of error or anything like it. Also, I re-inspected the dvd and it's absolutely flawless.
 
Kiwitt:

I "borrowed" a BTS copy from someone and it installed just fine. It's probably a problem with my Amazon-purchased DVD, which is very weird, because it looks perfect. Anyway, thank you very much for your attention and help. All the best!:)
 
I've been stalking these forums for several years now and downloading mods (especially Rhye's and Fall and its branch-offs), but I have joined now so I can discuss this problem. This is the only thread I've found that seems to be able to offer any help.

Last week I bought a Toshiba Windows 8.1 64-bit laptop, and just today I was downloading Civ4 (I have the Complete Edition, so all of the expansion packs on one disc). The game seems to run fine, but I wanted to play my mods. None of the mods I installed are working. I've read some of the first post but honestly I just nitpicked the things I thought were the quickest and easiest. Since the game itself isn't causing me any problems and it's just, coincidentally, all of the mods that I installed that aren't working, I figure there should be a simpler fix.

A little elaboration on the problem: say I got into Load a Mod and I click on Dawn of Civilization (or any other mod that wasn't pre-installed for that matter [the vanilla RFC works]), it will close out of Civ4 as normal but I wait and wait and the mod never loads. Then I tried going into the folders themselves and opening the WB saves from there, I didn't even get a response from them. My OS has some kind of troubleshoot tool that lets me run programs at a previous OS setting, but the mods still wouldn't load when I ran Civ on XP settings.

I was already extremely apprehensive about getting a Windows 8 computer, but it couldn't really be helped. My previous PC was a desktop running XP and I considered it my baby, but the motherboard blew out over the summer after moving to a new home.

I greatly appreciate any help I can get.
 
QManNL, did you let it install in the default location? The reason the process in this thread suggests installing elsewhere is due to problems with mods (its a permissions thing with Vista/7/8). If you have installed to the default location it may be worth re-installing somewhere else.
 
I did install it in the default location, and then I moved it to another folder outside of the other programs, but I guess that doesn't count because it still wasn't working. I'll reinstall it instead. My drivers and DirectX are all up to date as well, so I know those aren't an issue. And I'm assuming I would do that C:/GAMES/CIV4... process. I'm a little bit confused though because when I downloaded it the first time, it was already patched, which wasn't the case on my other computer. So I'll just try installing it into that folder and seeing what happens.
 
I have also found it near impossible to load Civ IV onto Wins 8.1, But I have solved it, here's how.

First of all you'll need to run in safe mode, but it would appear getting into safe mode is no longer as easy as it was before, so here's how.

http://www.howtogeek.com/107511/how-to-boot-into-safe-mode-on-windows-8-the-easy-way/

Once in safe mode simply install the game in the normal way, then reboot to normal startup.

Patch the game with the latest patch, ensure you run the games .exe file in xp mode.
This works fine.
 
Wow! I installed the game in Safe Mode, put it in its own hard drive folder instead of the Program Files folder, and now everything works, even the mods. I didn't have to run it on XP settings either. The folder even let me SVN patch all of my mods in the folder instead of having to create them on the desktop and move them in. Looks like the coast is clear. Thank you guys for your help.
 
So, is there a way for the patches to work with Civ 4 BTS on Steam/Non-disk? I believe that is why whenever I try to download the 3.19 patch etc. it can not find the location. Would greatly appreciate help. I would normally assume that the game has come with 3.19 on steam, however, when I try to download the latest version of the BAT mod, it tells me it can not find the latest folder for BTS.
 
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