Age of Empires II on Windows Vista

I am attempting to play Age of Empires on Windows Vista. I can load and play
the game, but sometimes (Almost always) the entire computer will freeze. I
cannot even get back to my desktop using key strokes. I have to hold down
the power button to shut the computer down. WHen I re-boot the computer the
screen resolution is all messed up because it is still set to the low AOE II
screen resolution settings. Is there anything I can do to stop making the
computer freeze?

Install DX9.0c and the most recent drivers for your video card. It sounds
like it may be an issue with drivers.

[Lockdown]

Hey all, I'm new here and only came here because my AOE 2 kept freezing as well, and it seemed hopeless to fix it because no one had a fix. Well i figured it out and it's quite ridiculous to be frank, here goes...

If you have this problem in XP this fix will also work for you as well as VISTA. (I had the problem in both OSes on the same system)
Get a copy of your video drivers first for your video card.


Go to Start and right click on "My Computer" and click on properties. Then the window pops up with all its tabs with the "hardware," tab being one of them; click on it. Then click on the "Device Manager" button and a new window will popup showing a list of your hardware devices under their categories. We need to find the "display adapters" category. Click on that and then it expands to show what device (or sometimes software renderer) you are using. Click on your video device (video card) and right click it. When you right click it, click on uninstall, follow the prompts to uninstall it and then reboot the computer. Now this part sounds a little crazy but just follow what i say : When the computer finishes rebooting, click on age of empires and play it! It will work perfectly and you can play it at any resolution the game lets you (one of the three resolutions lol). So at this point you're playing the game without any technical videocard drivers. And yes their is a difference, try opening up a folder and scrolling or scrolling on a webpage and you'll know your drivers were uninstalled because the scrolling will be very choppy. Another thing you could try back in the device manager is disabling the device driver instead of uninstalling it, it gives you both options, that could also work but i've never tried it. But anyways, it would be nice to have another copy of your video drivers so when you decide to play a 3d game that you would need the drivers for, that you could easily install them again.

I gotta say, i'm gald to be playing AOE2 after a year of getting my new laptop and not being able too. And the funny thing is, not all vista people have the problem, so it became really puzzling to attempt to fix but then i did this and it was so simple but a little annoying but well worth it for our AOE2 lans . Another thing, it froze for me in both vista AND xp! so don't think downgrading will well, i'm dual booting and it did nothing for me changing back to xp, but xp was able to run more older games than vista could so xp might be worth it .

Simplified version:

start>my computer, right click>properties>Hardware (tab)>Device manager>Display adapter>right click your videocard>uninstall (or disable but haven't tried disabling, im sure it would work too and be easier)>follow prompts to uninstall>reboot>play AOE2.

Hey all, I'm new here and only came here because my AOE 2 kept freezing
as well, and it seemed hopeless to fix it because no one had a fix.
Well i figured it out and it's quite ridiculous to be frank, here
goes...

If you have this problem in XP this fix will also work for you as well
as VISTA. (I had the problem in both OSes on the same system)
Get a copy of your video drivers first for your video card.

Go to Start and right click on "My Computer" and click on properties.
Then the window pops up with all its tabs with the "hardware," tab being
one of them; click on it. Then click on the "Device Manager" button and
a new window will popup showing a list of your hardware devices under
their categories. We need to find the "display adapters" category.
Click on that and then it expands to show what device (or sometimes
software renderer) you are using. Click on your video device (video
card) and right click it. When you right click it, click on uninstall,
follow the prompts to uninstall it and then reboot the computer. Now
this part sounds a little crazy but just follow what i say : When the
computer finishes rebooting, click on age of empires and play it! It
will work perfectly and you can play it at any resolution the game lets
you (one of the three resolutions lol). So at this point you're playing
the game without any technical videocard drivers. And yes their is a
difference, try opening up a folder and scrolling or scrolling on a
webpage and you'll know your drivers were uninstalled because the
scrolling will be very choppy. Another thing you could try back in the
device manager is disabling the device driver instead of uninstalling
it, it gives you both options, that could also work but i've never tried
it. But anyways, it would be nice to have another copy of your video
drivers so when you decide to play a 3d game that you would need the
drivers for, that you could easily install them again.

I gotta say, i'm gald to be playing AOE2 after a year of getting my new
laptop and not being able too. And the funny thing is, not all vista
people have the problem, so it became really puzzling to attempt to fix
but then i did this and it was so simple but a little annoying but well
worth it for our AOE2 lans . Another thing, it froze for me in both
vista AND xp! so don't think downgrading will well, i'm dual booting and
it did nothing for me changing back to xp, but xp was able to run more
older games than vista could so xp might be worth it .

Simplified version:

start>my computer, right click>properties>Hardware (tab)>Device
manager>Display adapter>right click your videocard>uninstall (or disable
but haven't tried disabling, im sure it would work too and be
easier)>follow prompts to uninstall>reboot>play AOE2.

I found the solution to LAN multiplay Age of Empires II: The Conquerors
on Vista!

First, rightclick on the age2_x1.exe file. Under properties, select XP
compatability. (Not sure whether is really necessary). What -IS
IMPERATIVE IS THE FOLLOWING: -Then, go into the game. When running
Vista, MAKE SURE YOUR AGE OF EMPIRES GAME RESOLUTION is on 1024 x 768,
and NOT 1280 x 1024. If you run it in 1280 x 1024, the game when playing
multiplayer will simply exit, which is very frustrating!!

So put it on the lowest or middle resolution. Then, when the game is
going, you can switch from lowest (600 x 800) to 1024 x 768. Further,
when running vista, the colour might appear weird and bleachy. The
solution is to simply press on the 'return to windows button' (Next to
Alt) The return to the game, change the resolution in the game to
lowest. Play for 30 secs, the change it to middle resolution (1024 x
768) wait a while and it appears normal.

[marsid]

hi all.i faund the solution for aoe 2 on windous vista.do not registery your game aoe 2 but put it intu hardwer like usb. its inaf and usb with capacity 256kb put it into computer and open from there.so you can play.i have 6 months playing in this mode and dont have problem.if your colors arent right you put daun aoe 2 and then put at top one mor time.it is funcional trust me.for every problem with aoe 2 contact me

i am telling u men.put aoe 2 in usb ans play from here.wen y must to do brose u selct the usb (removable hardwere).and then play.i u have bad colors u must to but dawn the aoe with widows buttun then put it again in the front this works i play in this way.

[babyman]

hey listen...i play age of empires on my XP my it works perfectly....(using gameranger)
but when i try to work it on vista(thru gameranger)
it starts freezing on (STARTING UP THE MULTIPLAYER GAME)

please help.......i really wanna play it..!@!!

[babyman]

u r right...but the prb is resolved now...

thx for ur help...
i appreciate!

Hi all,

I was also trying to play AoE on my new Windows Vista pc, but it
stopped working after trying to start the game. It did both in single
and multiplayer. I didn't think it had anything to do with the drivers,
because the game gave no error message or something like that.

Compatibility mode also didn't work out for me. Windows vista should be
compatible with AoE II, according to the site.

I tried marsid's suggestion - running the game from a USB device - and
this worked out for me. So thank you marsid! It is a little weird
because the version of the game I have on this pc wasn't installed in
any way, I just copied it from the same USB device. There shouldn't have
been any difference. Still it worked and I'm not complaining ;)

--
antonstam


--
antonstam