Civ IV GOTY Edition Not Starting on Windows 7

I recently picked up a CD copy of Civ IV Game of the Year Edition, but it's been proving difficult to run. The installation worked perfectly, no issues or errors there, but the game doesn't start at all. Looking in the Task Manager, the Civ 4 process starts, but ends almost immediately, with no error message to speak of.

Things I've tried:

• Running in Admin Mode - the game refuses to start without it, in fact
• Fresh re-install, twice, in different directories
• Updating DirectX, from both the included DX installer and one from the Microsoft Site
• Updating Graphics Card (Nvidia Quadro K2000M)
• Running in Compatibility Mode (Windows XP)
• Installing the 1.74 Patch
• Disabling non-essential processes on startup (this allowed the Civ 4 process to stay up for several seconds longer, but otherwise did nothing)
• Checking Event Viewer for any Civ 4-related error messages (there was only one, and I couldn't understand it)

I've tried looking around the internet for a solution, but I couldn't find any additional information, other than debugging and installation solutions that worked for other problems.

Specs:

• Computer: Lenovo ThinkPad W530
• Processor: Intel Core i7-3840QM @ 2.8 GHz
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
• RAM: 8 GB
• Graphics Card: Nvidia Quadro K2000M

I'll add additional information if necessary and as requested. I hope someone can help me figure out an answer to this.

The problem that you are having is due to a security update that MSFT released last fall. Among other things it prevented the copy protection scheme used by many older games, including CIV, from working properly. The result is that when the game tries to access the copy protection program to verify the disc, it is unable to do so and the game won't start up. Since you are using WIndows 7, you can work around the problem, in order to get the game to start up. The work around is discussed in the thread "Please login with administrator privileges and try again" below in this forum.

Another option is to buy the "Beyond the Sword" (BTS) expansion disc for the game and install the game patch 3.19, which you can download for free from the "Patch & Update" section of these forums. BTS patched to 3.19 no longer uses any copy protection, so it works fine without the work around.

BTW, if you "upgrade" to Windows 10, the work around will no longer work because MSFT removed the copy protection software entirely, rather than turning it off, which is what the Windows 7 patch did. BTS will still work with Windows 10.

The final option, which probably won't do you much good, is to buy the download online version of CIV from one of the content providers. Those don't use the now deactivated copy protection scheme.

s.bernbaum said:

The problem that you are having is due to a security update that MSFT released last fall. Among other things it prevented the copy protection scheme used by many older games, including CIV, from working properly. The result is that when the game tries to access the copy protection program to verify the disc, it is unable to do so and the game won't start up. Since you are using WIndows 7, you can work around the problem, in order to get the game to start up. The work around is discussed in the thread "Please login with administrator privileges and try again" below in this forum.

Click to expand...

Microsoft updates messing me up again, huh? Why am I not surprised...

Anyway, I applied the workaround found in the thread you mentioned. It worked! Thanks for your help.

You're welcome!