Post your Windows 7 + Civ experiences please.

Ok, so I finally got Windows 7 installed! Yay!

Here at Lemon Labs, we work tirelessly to enhance your Civving experience. To that end, I thought it might be a good idea to ask everyone who has done it to share their Win 7 - Civ install experiences in order to try to help us all with some of the problems that come up. I'm going to be researching these things to add to my Civ/Vista guide in my sig, and the more information I can get, the more complete the addition will be. So, if you'd like to participate, please do.

Please include some system specs, the problems/successes that you had, and maybe some steps that you took to overcome any install issues. Thanks in advance!

I'll start.

System specs:
Lemon Labs "Monster" model - Phenom II 965 @ 3.95 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Dual Radeon 3450 cards in Crossfire, Win 7 Home Premium x64, blah, blah, blah...

What happened:
Vanilla installed perfectly, but the in-game 1.74 patch broke it so badly that I had to resort to registry editing to get the Installsheild nonsense out of the machine.

What I did wrong:
It seems that installing the game to anything other than the default location works fine, but the patch installer assumes the default location, and mangles both the installation and the registry. I couldn't un-install, so I had to manually delete the game, and the custom assets, and the Installsheild folders in the appdata directory. (Civ installs on Seven exactly like Vista. 64 bit, anyway.) When I tried to re-install, the manual patch install (The one I downloaded from CFC) would not complete without errors, and the game wouldn't load at all. "Missing msvrc71.dll" and "Error loading shader libraries" and "Valid program source not found" (It was looking on my floppy drive, for goodness sake.)

How I fixed it:
I removed all of the Installsheild setup files, and removed the corresponding keys from the registry. (Basically anything to do with Civ.) Then I removed the main program, and deleted the entire "Firaxis Games" directory that I had installed on a different hard drive. What had happened was that I installed the program on drive G:, and the installer put custom assets in the normal place in the documents folder on drive C:. Not a problem. But the patch tried to install into C:\Users\Admin\Appdata\Roaming\Firaxis Games... which is the default install path, (and where the game was not.), and then modified (mangled) the registry. After I noodled about for about an hour, reinstalling the game three times, the second and third times in the normal location, the game still wouldn't work. I had to manually run the DirectX runtime from Microsoft before the shader libraries would work. It finally worked right when I loaded it.

What I know for certain: You must install the game, as well as run it as administrator in Win 7. It doesn't need compatibility mode to work, but you need to elevate privilege to make it go. You also need to install any downloaded patches as administrator.

And remember: Just being the admin account doesn't count. You must elevate privilege for this to work.

The good news:
BTS installed and patched without a hitch, and my favorite mods went in just fine. It runs like a top! Faster than Vista, with none of the graphics lag that others have complained about. I am such a happy girl right now!

So, let's share, and see if we can make some sense out of this, and then we can all upgrade without fear, terror, or an excessive amount of Tylenol consumption.

Windows 7 has, thus far, exceeded my expectations. Understand, though...I went straight from 32-bit XP Pro → 64-bit XP Pro → 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate (Beta) → 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate (RC), so I'm not familiar w/ Vista at all. What I can tell you, and everyone else here, is that Civ IV runs very well under Windows 7, even on my humble rig.

I've yet to patch BTS from 3.17 → 3.19, but I fully intend to, preferably sometime before Christmas. Of 2012.

Wish me luck... ; )

Call it luck, call it persistence, call it whatever you want: I finally got BTS patched to 3.19!

Following the sage advice of those brave souls who've gone before me, I jumped through all the InstallShield deregistration hoops, wiping out my initial Civ4 install on my seldom-used, yet still connected primary drive that harbors my full-up license of XP Pro, created a brand new directory on my Win7RC drive entitled, “Games”, installed Civilization IV ~ The Complete Edition on it w/ Admin rights, did NOT restart, was forced to install Colonization (but used default directory), STILL didn't restart, copied Civ4BeyondTheSwordPatch3.19.exe to said newly-created 'C:\Games' folder, ran patch w/ Admin rights, and the rest, how shall I say, is history.

I ain't necessarily a religious man, by any stretch, but I honestly feel wholeheartedly compelled to proclaim the following to anyone within earshot: Praise God Almighty.

Installed Civ4, installed BTS, updated BTS, played the game

Rig:
i7 920
Nvidia GTS-250
6GB DDR3 ram
Win7 Home Premium 64 bit, upgraded from XP 32 bit (Vista transferred settings and programs, and Win7 transfers them from Vista, so why can't Win7 transfer from XP?!? That Mac ad has a real point going...)

Being a Civ4 latecomer, I have the Complete Edition, which installs everything patched up nicely to BtS 3.17.

The good stuff:
-No problems installing without boosting privilege, which I'm not even sure I would know how to do.
-No problems installing to a custom folder (D:\Games\Civ4).
-No problems patching to 3.19 with the manual patch downloaded a while ago for XP.
-No problems installing FFH2 and its most recent patch, or starting a game with it.

Stuff to figure out:
-Haven't played through a game yet to compare performance, but with the new rig I almost never saw performance issues in XP, so I doubt I'll see much here either.

-I hate the "games" folder Win7 (and Vista? idk) builds for you. So far I have no idea how to modify the shortcuts there, if that's even what they are, to accomodate mods and option changes. FFH installed a shortcut to my desktop that seems to work properly, so I should be able to adapt that for my other mods/games and break Win7's monitoring and control over my gaming habit.

-Where does Win7 put the CustomAssets folder, saves, etc? Particularly I would like to import my FFH trophy case which was off that tree in XP, but I haven't found it yet.

-Never tried Colonization, is it any fun?

These do not seem insurmountable, I can only assume most of the problems people are reporting come from starting with Vanilla only, using an install program that never even heard of Windows Vista. The Complete Edition at least knows how to ride that beast.

[Edit:] Ok, so there are folder shortcuts in the Civ4 folders that take you to the right place, which I somehow missed in the "[Username]\My Documents folders for CustomAssets, saves, etc. Still haven't found them in the actual file tree, but I suppose that will do for now.

Where do I begin?

I bought a new computer: HP Pavilion p6210y with Windows 7. Looks like it has Windows 7 Home Premium.

1. I installed like we used to do in the old days by putting the disk in the CD drive, etc. It seemed to install fine but it wouldn't play so I couldn't patch it. No problem, I have the two expansions so I moved on.
2. Installed the old fashioned way. Same problem, but again, I have .
3. Installed . IIRC it didn't run either.
4. Did some research and learned about the compatability settings. Did that and got the game to start. Patched it. So far, so good. But I generally only play GOTMs and HoF attempts. So, next step...
5. I downloaded and installed the three HoF mods.
6. Couldn't load the Buffy Mod. Learned about read only and permission settings for users. At one point the mod seemed to load up but then a message was displayed. Can't remember it's details but I found it in the forums though I still haven't resolved the issue. When I try to load Buffy the loading screen comes up but then disappears and nothing further happens.

• Summary of current progress:
• I put in the disk. Autorun starts giving me the menu. I click on "play" and the stupid machine tells me it can't find the CD.
• I put in the disk. Same thing happens as with
• I put in the disk. This time when I click on play the game starts. Probably because you don't need the disk to play with the newest patch. Anyway I can play . I can also load and play the standard mods. Buffy still won't load.

Here's the ironic part. My old (Widows XP) computer started giving me problems and I could not determine if it was a virus or failing hard drive. Went a few weeks with only then bought this computer so I'd be able to play the Civ IV games again. While my new computer is dead practically dead in the water Civ IV-wise I've figured out it was a virus on the old computer and fixed it. So the old hand-me-down computer is hands down better than the new one as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, if anyone has suggestions for getting this new bucket of bolts up to speed, please post them here.

donsig said:

Where do I begin?

I bought a new computer: HP Pavilion p6210y with Windows 7. Looks like it has Windows 7 Home Premium....

Anyway, if anyone has suggestions for getting this new bucket of bolts up to speed, please post them here.

Click to expand...

If your computer came with actual install disks for your OS and other critical applications, the best thing you can do is nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure. Then you can start over with a clean install of everything. Unfortunately many computers these days don't seem to come with actual install disks, so you can't easily get rid of their paid advertisement bloatware so that may not be a cost effective option.

Otherwise the best course so far seems to be to install Civ4 in a non-default location (somewhere like c:\games\Civ4), possibly with boosted administrator privileges. Hopefully the game will uninstall cleanly and allow you to do that.

dell inspiron
2.6ghz quad core processor
6gb ram
nividea geforce 220

I cant seem to get civ to work on windows 7, I went thru the install fine got it in and then when i try to run it, it says there is known compatibilty issues and it wont run any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kaeth said:

dell inspiron
2.6ghz quad core processor
6gb ram
nividea geforce 220

I cant seem to get civ to work on windows 7, I went thru the install fine got it in and then when i try to run it, it says there is known compatibilty issues and it wont run any help would be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

It isn't compatible without the 1.74 patch for Vanilla. You need to install that one before installing BTS or Warlords.

Not sure if this'll help anyone running Civ4 on Windows 7, but here's a screenshot showing my list of DirectX dll's. Now, why I have a C:\Windows\system directory is beyond me. Maybe I was in a drunken stupor one night & ran across a post on a message board somewhere, but I could almost swear that particular solution solved my problem at the time, apparently on July 12^th of this year. Note the differing sizes of the highlighted files, though... weird.



Happy Civving ~ Bamm

Thanks for the help guys, I installed the patch and its working fine now only thing it says is something about microphone incompatability but i dont even have one plugged in so hopefully that is just a minor glitch.

Kaeth, good to hear you're back in the game.

Don't worry about the "invalid voice capture" message. I get that too, but only because I don't have my USB Plantronics headset plugged in at the moment.

BammBamm said:

Not sure if this'll help anyone running Civ4 on Windows 7, but here's a screenshot showing my list of DirectX dll's. Now, why I have a C:\Windows\system directory is beyond me. Maybe I was in a drunken stupor one night & ran across a post on a message board somewhere, but I could almost swear that particular solution solved my problem at the time, apparently on July 12^th of this year. Note the differing sizes of the highlighted files, though... weird.

http://bammbamm.org/Visual/Civilization/Windows7DXFiles.PNG

Happy Civving ~ Bamm

Click to expand...

On a 64-bit Windows 32-bit DLLs go in C:\Windows\SysWOW64 and the DLLs in system32 are for 64-bit applications, which is why they have different file sizes. My system folder is empty so no idea why it would work, I guess it's some sort of alternative path in case Civ4 can't find them in SysWOW64 or game folder

Thanks for the heads-up, GVBN.

Just for kicks, here's the list of DX files in my SysWOW64 folder:



Bamm

clearbeard said:

Otherwise the best course so far seems to be to install Civ4 in a non-default location (somewhere like c:\games\Civ4), possibly with boosted administrator privileges. Hopefully the game will uninstall cleanly and allow you to do that.

Click to expand...

No Windows discs came with the computer. I also had trouble gettig pcGen to work and my research on that also told me not to install it in the default directory. So I made a folder called My programs and got pcGen to work fine. I may have given this folder and all it contents a higher priviledge, I can't recall right now.

• Uninstalled , and . This seemed to go fine.
• Installed (as administrator by right clicking on the disc's setup.exe and choosing run as administrator into the My programs folder.
• I was a bit confused as to how to install the patch (by starting the game and using the advanced menu option or by downloading outside the game). I had read somewhere that won't work without the patch so I chose the latter option. I ran the patch as administrator also.
• I tried running the game (by right clicking on the short cut and choosing run as administrator) and the game fired up. I didn't play but started a game and all seemed well.
• I installed the HoF mod (most likely as administrator again - this is probably already a habit for Windows 7).
• I tried running the game again (by right clicking on the short cut and choosing run as administrator) and the game fired up. I didn't play but started a game and all seemed well.

I will try and tonight.

EDIT:
Installed both and using the same method as for . (Downloaded and installed patches manually rather than through the game, ran everything as administrator). Installed the HoF mod and Buffy. Everything seems to work fine. I do get an annoying unusable sound capture device error message on all three games and doesn't like the graphics setting but I imagine these can be remedied easily.

The sound capture thing can be cured by editing the .ini file and set this setting:

; Enable voice over IP capture and playback
EnableVoice = 0

to zero. Win 7 seems to like to set it to one for some reason, and when the game starts up it will give that error.

As for the graphics, for me, once I started the game the first time and it told me I didn't have the capability to run the game, I just set my graphics settings like I always do and saved them, and then exited the game and reloaded. Everything was fine after that.

Good luck!

I used before windows 7 RC 64bit and had to install manually a special security driver (secdrv.sys) from macrovision in a 64bit-version. secdrv.sys is the main part of the copy protection safedisc from marcrovision.

A week ago I had installed a new clean windows 7 ultimate 64bit and had the same problem with the security driver (secdrv.sys).

You may be have a secdrv.sys problem, if you start civ 4 and get the failure notice "No access ... log in with admistrative privilege ...". After you has started civ4 with admin rigths nothing happens. If you found a failure-ID 7000 in the log for administrative events, you could read, that the driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\secdrv.sys is incompatible.

Please, do not searching the internet for secdrv.sys. You find may hints, but the links are related to windows XP or are death. Marcovision rename as rovi and do not support the safedisc-family, so all links to marcovision are broken. Do not worry you get help from your windows-installation. With the windowsintegrated search you found no secdrv.sys, because the files are hidden and not in the searchindex. As admin, you find a working file unter c:\windows\winsxs\amd64_macrovison-protection-safedisc...\secdrv.sys. Copy these files manually to both destinations c:\windows\system32\drivers\ and c:\windows\syswow64\drivers.

After doing this you can start civ4 with regular user rights and it works fine. (I installed dircetx 9 and gave users full access rights on the gamedirectory before.)

Good luck

How do you elevate administrator privilege? I am new to windows 7. What is the best way to download CIV 4 complete?

I had no problem downloading it at all. My turn time went from five minutes to one minute, on the GEM 1860 AD scenario. The game was installed to program files(x86)\2K Games and it created this itself. The patch 3.19 installed directly there. I have a dual core processor rated at 5.2 GHz, and 6GB of Ram. A crappy graphics card but more than good enough for Civ 4.

RIG: Core i7, 4870 512 Mb, 6 GB RAM.
OS: Win7-64 Ultimate

Installed: Civ 4: in C:\GAMES\CIV4 "non-default"
Installed: Civ 4: Patch 1.6x
Installed: Civ 4: Warlords
Installed: Civ 4: Patch 1.7x
Installed: Civ 4: Warlords Patch 2.x
Installed: Civ 4: BTS
Installed: Civ 4: BTS 3.17
Installed: Civ 4: BTS 3.19

No installations errors at all.

All executables - right-click run-as "Administrator"

Can play Civ 4:BTS without selecting "Run-as".

NOTE: I only play BTS:

kiwitt said:

RIG: Core i7, 4870 512 Mb, 6 GB RAM.
OS: Win7-64 Ultimate

Installed: Civ 4: in C:\GAMES\CIV4 "non-default"
Installed: Civ 4: Patch 1.6x
Installed: Civ 4: Warlords
Installed: Civ 4: Patch 1.7x
Installed: Civ 4: Warlords Patch 2.x
Installed: Civ 4: BTS
Installed: Civ 4: BTS 3.17
Installed: Civ 4: BTS 3.19

No installations errors at all.

All executables - right-click run-as "Administrator"

Can play Civ 4:BTS without selecting "Run-as".

NOTE: I only play BTS:

Click to expand...

Kiwitt, I have been hearing something about crashes on windows 7 after so many turns, please let me know if you experience any of this. I have not actually played a game yet. I did check to see if BTS 3.19 worked with the Giant Earth Map mod, checked a few turns and it was really fast, no glitches at all. I heard you have to perform some kind of update on the NIVIDIA driver, for the game not to get stuck at some point. Not sure if this is true or not.