Tech Help

[LowtherCastle]

Somehow I can’t open my civ user. I have a separate admin user I can open. When I try to run CIV i get this message. What do I do?

 

[lymond]

Not sure if you have a new install or something going on here. Maybe a windows update jacked something up.

First, let us know what version of Civ IV you run. OS?

My first advice is make sure you follow step 1 and 2 from the HOF Vista fixes page here:

HOF Vista fixes

Specifically, I think doing the uncheck Read Only on the My Games/BTS folder (+subfolders) will do the trick. But also do the same of the main Civ IV root folder in programs ..or Civ Complete or whatever. If Steam then the BTS root folder is fine.

Setting the executable to "run as admin" should help, but I assumed you already did that before.

This should no have bearing on playing a BOTM though. What are you trying to do here?

 

[LowtherCastle]

Thx for responding, lymond.

Just playing BOTMs now, so if that’s ok then problem solved.

Windows 7 (remember that?)

I think I’ve got all my files and folders r/w. I tried to anyway.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

That looks to me like the message you get if you are playing Civ from an account that doesn't have admin settings . The game needs admin settings on your PC in order to save all the info required to ensure a fair competition. As lymond says, you should make sure that your BtS executable is set as Run as Admin - that normally fixes it, though in the past we have seen some additional issues with non-dvd versions of Civ.

If the game is running not as admin, then you'll still be able to play the game fine. But you might find your submission gets rejected, so it's worth trying to fix.

If you're unsure and it's one of my games, you're welcome to PM me one of your saves from your in-progress game, and I can check if it's a valid save or not. (You can also PM me if it's BOTM 200 because, although it's not my game, I've already played and submitted my entry.

Since you've submitted lots of games before that don't show any problem, I'd surmise that something has changed recently on your setup. New PC? Reinstalled OS? Reinstalled Civ? Logged in with a different user account?

 

[LowtherCastle]

Thx DS. What changed is one day I turned on my pc and tried to log in to my non-admin user that I always used for CIV. I got this message and couldn’t log in:

Ever since I cannot log in to that user, only my admin user. I suppose it was set as run as admin because always had to type in my admin password upon starting CIV. When I now start a CIV file from my admin user I don’t have to type in the password but instead the load is interrupted by that Buffy message.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

OK that partly makes sense, although odd that you're getting that message if you're logged in with an admin account.

To make sure, you can right-click on your Civ4BeyondSword.exe excutable file, select Properties, than Compatibility, and make sure that Run this program as an administrator is checked. This is what it looks like on my machine:

(On my machine the option is greyed out because I set it using the Change settings for all users button that you can see at the bottom of the dialog).

 

[lymond]

If you are logged in as a different user you should definitely repeat the HOF Vista fixes. You were not very clear on whether you performed the steps.

Also, I would check folder permissions in both those location.

Typing a password to run the game? Something is wrong there.

To be blunt, you are saying “I suppose....” a lot. We are dealing in absolutes here so these steps must be performed or verified.

I recommend looking up that error though as you may be having some issue with your machine/os. Looks very odd and I’ve never seen that before. Something appears to have changed or you have malware.

 

[LowtherCastle]

OK that partly makes sense, although odd that you're getting that message if you're logged in with an admin account.

To make sure, you can right-click on your Civ4BeyondSword.exe excutable file, select Properties, than Compatibility, and make sure that Run this program as an administrator is checked. This is what it looks like on my machine:

(On my machine the option is greyed out because I set it using the Change settings for all users button that you can see at the bottom of the dialog).

View attachment 572691

Okay. I did NOT have that checked. Now I checked it. Thx. Doubt will change anything though because my admin user is admin.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Okay. I did NOT have that checked. Now I checked it. Thx. Doubt will change anything though because my admin user is admin.

Cool! I guess the test will be, next time you open the game, what happens

 

[LowtherCastle]

If you are logged in as a different user you should definitely repeat the HOF Vista fixes. You were not very clear on whether you performed the steps.

Also, I would check folder permissions in both those location.

Typing a password to run the game? Something is wrong there.

To be blunt, you are saying “I suppose....” a lot. We are dealing in absolutes here so these steps must be performed or verified.

I recommend looking up that error though as you may be having some issue with your machine/os. Looks very odd and I’ve never seen that before. Something appears to have changed or you have malware.

Thx for persisting, lymond. I had not done the vista fixes, thinking my system wasn’t vista. My bad. My apologies for the unintended disrespect.

I now have done steps 1 and 2 fully (I hope). Then I ran my 1960bc save from botm 202. Lo and behold I didn’t get the buffy message any more. Many thanks.

As new game saves get added, does this need to be repeated or is it only for system files?

 

[LowtherCastle]

Cool! I guess the test will be, next time you open the game, what happens

Right! It seems to work now. Many thanks!

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Right! It seems to work now. Many thanks!

Brilliant! My suspicion is that, in order to help protect you against malicious apps, Windows runs apps like BtS with non-admin privileges - even if you are logged in as an admin - unless you specifically tell Windows you want a particular app to run as an administrator. And presumably, you'd set BtS to run as admin only for the account you previously logged in as.

I'll look forward to your game!

FWIW I'm not entirely clear why the instructions on the HOF mod page tell you to set all the folder privileges - Whenever I've done it, I've always found that the key thing is to set the 'run as admin' flag for the civ executable itself, and that nothing else makes any difference.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

I had not done the vista fixes, thinking my system wasn’t vista. My bad

I guess we need to update the instructions

 

[Seraiel]

Had the same on Windows 10 and fixed it.

Anyhow, I need a fix for the following: CIV-Version CIV4 Complete, OS Windows 10

LOL, I cannot take screens to make it easy for you, please still help

In all versions of CIV4, once started, the (small) loading screen starts, then the game runs, but the loading screen is still there and OVER the actual game, so even over the map ingame hiding everything in the center.

Any tips for me?

Kind regards, Seraiel.

 

[Seraiel]

Found a FIX-Vid: