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Running Civ 4 on Windows 7

silence1186silence1186 Character shields down!As a wingmanRegistered User regular
edited February 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
I didn't want to interrupt the Civ 5 thread or the LP Civ 4 thread, so here's a new thread.

I recently installed Civ 4 on my laptop (which runs Win 7). I played a game with the 1.000 version, but there were some problems with adjusting the Audio/Visual settings, so I decided to patch. After patching, the game won't even launch. Has anyone had a similar problem? Is this problem with Civ or Windows? Has either released something that will allow them to coexist, and make the game playable?

Much obliged for any help offered.

silence1186 on

Posts

  • hackswordhacksword WinnipegRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    I bought Civilization 4 + Beyond the Sword off Steam and I'm running it on Windows 7 64-bit without any problems. What happens exactly when you try to launch?

    hacksword on
  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited February 2010
    Don't have any advice, but I play Civ 4 on Win 7 without any problems

    Druhim on
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  • silence1186silence1186 Character shields down! As a wingmanRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    It said there was some sort of problem with the shaders. I have since uninstalled an reinstalled, and it works again, but I am wary to patch.

    silence1186 on
  • ArtreusArtreus I'm a wizard And that looks fucked upRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    So... have you updated your graphics card drivers?

    Artreus on
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  • HeirHeir Ausitn, TXRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Chalk up another person who runs Civ 4 in Windows 7 without any issues.

    You said laptop, which make me think it might be a graphics issue.

    Heir on
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  • ronyaronya Arrrrrf. the ivory tower's basementRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    No problems either, on a laptop. Did you buy yours off Steam, or installed it from disc?

    ronya on
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  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    What's the video card for your laptop? A lot of laptop cards aren't supported by developers, so it's possible you just got shafted. That said, I'd double-check your drivers. I'm not sure why the patch would break it.

    PolloDiablo on
  • FunkyWaltDoggFunkyWaltDogg Columbia, SCRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    You are not alone!

    I had problems getting Civ 4, retail version (including retail BTS) to install and patch properly on my Windows 7 desktop. I did eventually get it working, thanks to a thread I found at civfanatics. I couldn't find the thread again, but I am pretty sure it was in the tech support forum over there: http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=159.

    Good luck!

    FunkyWaltDogg on
  • silence1186silence1186 Character shields down! As a wingmanRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Artreus wrote: »
    So... have you updated your graphics card drivers?

    I have looked into this, and I have failed miserably. How does one go about doing this?

    silence1186 on
  • FunkyWaltDoggFunkyWaltDogg Columbia, SCRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    silence1186 wrote: »
    Artreus wrote: »
    So... have you updated your graphics card drivers?

    I have looked into this, and I have failed miserably. How does one go about doing this?

    The first thing to try is Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Device Manager (should be at the top right). Then expand Display Adapter and open up the properties on your video card. Click the Change Settings button, then go to the Driver tab and Update Driver. Tell it to search for the best driver. If that doesn't help at all, you can try a manual update, but that can be a tricky proposition on a laptop.

    I eventually remembered what I had to do to get the game working: from a fresh install, manually update to 1.61, then update again to 1.74.

    Patch 1.61 at civfanatics
    Patch 1.74 at civfanatics

    Here's hoping you get it running!

    FunkyWaltDogg on
  • Shorn Scrotum ManShorn Scrotum Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    I run Civ4 fine on 64-bit Win7, but I've never tried to run just Vanilla, patched or otherwise. I've always got BTS installed as well.

    Shorn Scrotum Man on
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  • FunkyWaltDoggFunkyWaltDogg Columbia, SCRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Shorn Scrotum Man wrote: »
    I run Civ4 fine on 64-bit Win7, but I've never tried to run just Vanilla, patched or otherwise. I've always got BTS installed as well.

    I'm running BTS as well; I had to jump through the above hoops with vanilla before I could even get BTS to install properly.

    FunkyWaltDogg on
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