Age of Empires II - Error Could not initialize graphics system
Hello,
I have been using Age of Empires II Gold Edition for some time now and love
it. The problem is that I recently got a new laptop and I tried to run the
game and I kept getting the error message "Could not initialize graphics
system. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with
DirectDraw". This did not occur with my older laptop and it worked fine even
though it had a poorer graphics card and processor.
I tried reinstalling several times and running "dxdiag" in Run to no avail.
I know I have Direct Draw installed on this laptop and have way more than
enough on my system to run the game. I tried searching the internet for an
answer and came across the Microsoft article
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242902 which would seemingly fix the problem.
It didn't. I tried every example on there and none of them worked. I tried
looking through the support section to try to find a way to contact someone
about it. After about 5 hours of searching and much frustration I have come
here. Hopefully someone will know what is going on. Here are the stats to my
computer:
System:
Microsoft Windows XP
Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2
Manufactured and supported by:
Toshiba
Satellite
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU
T7200 @ 2.00GHz
2.01 GHz. 2.00 GB of RAM
Adapter Information:
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce Go 7900 GTX
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Memory Size: 512 MB
Adapter String: GeForce Go 7900 GTX
Bios Information: Version 5.71.22.08.21
DirectX Features:
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled
AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled
I hope that is enough information to determine what is wrong. Thanks in
advance
RE: Age of Empires II - Error Could not initialize graphics system
wait, I noticed if I uninstalled my graphics driver it worked... but only
that one game. Everything else is messed up. Is there a way I can
"temporarily" disable the driver?
"gardenhose101" wrote:
> Hello,
> I have been using Age of Empires II Gold Edition for some time now and love
> it. The problem is that I recently got a new laptop and I tried to run the
> game and I kept getting the error message "Could not initialize graphics
> system. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with
> DirectDraw". This did not occur with my older laptop and it worked fine even
> though it had a poorer graphics card and processor.
> I tried reinstalling several times and running "dxdiag" in Run to no avail.
> I know I have Direct Draw installed on this laptop and have way more than
> enough on my system to run the game. I tried searching the internet for an
> answer and came across the Microsoft article
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242902 which would seemingly fix the problem.
> It didn't. I tried every example on there and none of them worked. I tried
> looking through the support section to try to find a way to contact someone
> about it. After about 5 hours of searching and much frustration I have come
> here. Hopefully someone will know what is going on. Here are the stats to my
> computer:
>
> System:
> Microsoft Windows XP
> Professional
> Version 2002
> Service Pack 2
>
> Manufactured and supported by:
> Toshiba
> Satellite
> Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU
> T7200 @ 2.00GHz
> 2.01 GHz. 2.00 GB of RAM
>
> Adapter Information:
> Manufacturer: NVIDIA
> Chip Type: GeForce Go 7900 GTX
> DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
> Memory Size: 512 MB
> Adapter String: GeForce Go 7900 GTX
> Bios Information: Version 5.71.22.08.21
>
> DirectX Features:
> DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
> DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
> Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled
> AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled
>
>
> I hope that is enough information to determine what is wrong. Thanks in
> advance
Re: Age of Empires II - Error Could not initialize graphics system
Hi gardenhose101,
Rolling back the video driver and then restoring it each time
you launch the game doesn't seem like a good idea. Let's
try using compatibility mode to force the screen resolution...
To run an installed program using Windows XP's Compatibility Mode,
first right click the program and "Send To..." / Desktop (create shortcut).
1.. Right click on the shortcut to the program.
2.. Click on Properties.
3.. Click on the Compatibility tab.
4.. Click on Run this program in compatibility mode and select one of these:
a.. Windows 95
b.. Windows 98
c.. Windows NT 4
d.. Windows 2000
5.. Under Display settings, check mark the mode that you think that is best:
a.. Run in 256 colors.
b.. Run in 640 X 480 screen resolution.
c.. Disable visual themes.
Click on Apply.Click on Ok.Double click on the program.
--
Cheers, *Windows_XP_MVP_Shell/User*
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
Visit my MSN Games and Windows Gaming Help Site: www.msce.mvps.org
MS Games Help and Support Center: http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
gardenhose101 Wrote:
=================
| wait, I noticed if I uninstalled my graphics driver it worked... but only
| that one game. Everything else is messed up. Is there a way I can
| "temporarily" disable the driver?
|
| "gardenhose101" wrote:
|
|| Hello,
|| I have been using Age of Empires II Gold Edition for some time now and love
|| it. The problem is that I recently got a new laptop and I tried to run the
|| game and I kept getting the error message "Could not initialize graphics
|| system. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with
|| DirectDraw". This did not occur with my older laptop and it worked fine even
|| though it had a poorer graphics card and processor.
|| I tried reinstalling several times and running "dxdiag" in Run to no avail.
|| I know I have Direct Draw installed on this laptop and have way more than
|| enough on my system to run the game. I tried searching the internet for an
|| answer and came across the Microsoft article
|| http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242902 which would seemingly fix the problem.
|| It didn't. I tried every example on there and none of them worked. I tried
|| looking through the support section to try to find a way to contact someone
|| about it. After about 5 hours of searching and much frustration I have come
|| here. Hopefully someone will know what is going on. Here are the stats to my
|| computer:
||
|| System:
|| Microsoft Windows XP
|| Professional
|| Version 2002
|| Service Pack 2
||
|| Manufactured and supported by:
|| Toshiba
|| Satellite
|| Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU
|| T7200 @ 2.00GHz
|| 2.01 GHz. 2.00 GB of RAM
||
|| Adapter Information:
|| Manufacturer: NVIDIA
|| Chip Type: GeForce Go 7900 GTX
|| DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
|| Memory Size: 512 MB
|| Adapter String: GeForce Go 7900 GTX
|| Bios Information: Version 5.71.22.08.21
||
|| DirectX Features:
|| DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
|| DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
|| Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled
|| AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled
||
||
|| I hope that is enough information to determine what is wrong. Thanks in
|| advance
Re: Age of Empires II - Error Could not initialize graphics system
Well I tried over 32 different combinations (all of them) of compatibility
modes and not one worked. Notably, the ones for Windows 95 and 98 crashed,
and the Windows NT constantly had an error message to insert the CD, and
Windows 2000 just had the error message "could not initialize graphics
system...".
I was wondering if there was a log file that I could create/find that could
record the errors that the game experiences and lists what files are causing
it. Almost all the other games I have have them but I haven't been able to
find one for Age of Empires II. I would imagine that it would be a lot easier
to determine what exactly is triggering the error message.
"Jimmy S." wrote:
> Hi gardenhose101,
>
> Rolling back the video driver and then restoring it each time
> you launch the game doesn't seem like a good idea. Let's
> try using compatibility mode to force the screen resolution...
>
> To run an installed program using Windows XP's Compatibility Mode,
> first right click the program and "Send To..." / Desktop (create shortcut).
>
> 1.. Right click on the shortcut to the program.
> 2.. Click on Properties.
> 3.. Click on the Compatibility tab.
> 4.. Click on Run this program in compatibility mode and select one of these:
> a.. Windows 95
> b.. Windows 98
> c.. Windows NT 4
> d.. Windows 2000
> 5.. Under Display settings, check mark the mode that you think that is best:
> a.. Run in 256 colors.
> b.. Run in 640 X 480 screen resolution.
> c.. Disable visual themes.
>
> Click on Apply.Click on Ok.Double click on the program.
>
> --
> Cheers, *Windows_XP_MVP_Shell/User*
> Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
>
> Visit my MSN Games and Windows Gaming Help Site: www.msce.mvps.org
> MS Games Help and Support Center: http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gms
> My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
> _________________________________________________________
>
>
>
> gardenhose101 Wrote:
> =================
> | wait, I noticed if I uninstalled my graphics driver it worked... but only
> | that one game. Everything else is messed up. Is there a way I can
> | "temporarily" disable the driver?
> |
> | "gardenhose101" wrote:
> |
> || Hello,
> || I have been using Age of Empires II Gold Edition for some time now and love
> || it. The problem is that I recently got a new laptop and I tried to run the
> || game and I kept getting the error message "Could not initialize graphics
> || system. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with
> || DirectDraw". This did not occur with my older laptop and it worked fine even
> || though it had a poorer graphics card and processor.
> || I tried reinstalling several times and running "dxdiag" in Run to no avail.
> || I know I have Direct Draw installed on this laptop and have way more than
> || enough on my system to run the game. I tried searching the internet for an
> || answer and came across the Microsoft article
> || http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242902 which would seemingly fix the problem.
> || It didn't. I tried every example on there and none of them worked. I tried
> || looking through the support section to try to find a way to contact someone
> || about it. After about 5 hours of searching and much frustration I have come
> || here. Hopefully someone will know what is going on. Here are the stats to my
> || computer:
> ||
> || System:
> || Microsoft Windows XP
> || Professional
> || Version 2002
> || Service Pack 2
> ||
> || Manufactured and supported by:
> || Toshiba
> || Satellite
> || Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU
> || T7200 @ 2.00GHz
> || 2.01 GHz. 2.00 GB of RAM
> ||
> || Adapter Information:
> || Manufacturer: NVIDIA
> || Chip Type: GeForce Go 7900 GTX
> || DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
> || Memory Size: 512 MB
> || Adapter String: GeForce Go 7900 GTX
> || Bios Information: Version 5.71.22.08.21
> ||
> || DirectX Features:
> || DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
> || DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
> || Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled
> || AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled
> ||
> ||
> || I hope that is enough information to determine what is wrong. Thanks in
> || advance
>
>
>
Re: Age of Empires II - Error Could not initialize graphics system
Hi gardenhose101,
Since the problem has been narrowed down to the video
driver, it may be necessary to lower your video settings
in the game until you can test the next driver which will
be released by Nvidia for your Toshiba laptop.
--
Cheers, *Windows_XP_MVP_Shell/User*
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
Visit my MSN Games and Windows Gaming Help Site: www.msce.mvps.org
MS Games Help and Support Center: http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
gardenhose101 Wrote:
=================
| Well I tried over 32 different combinations (all of them) of compatibility
| modes and not one worked. Notably, the ones for Windows 95 and 98 crashed,
| and the Windows NT constantly had an error message to insert the CD, and
| Windows 2000 just had the error message "could not initialize graphics
| system...".
|
| I was wondering if there was a log file that I could create/find that could
| record the errors that the game experiences and lists what files are causing
| it. Almost all the other games I have have them but I haven't been able to
| find one for Age of Empires II. I would imagine that it would be a lot easier
| to determine what exactly is triggering the error message.
| "Jimmy S." wrote:
|
|| Hi gardenhose101,
||
|| Rolling back the video driver and then restoring it each time
|| you launch the game doesn't seem like a good idea. Let's
|| try using compatibility mode to force the screen resolution...
||
|| To run an installed program using Windows XP's Compatibility Mode,
|| first right click the program and "Send To..." / Desktop (create shortcut).
||
|| 1.. Right click on the shortcut to the program.
|| 2.. Click on Properties.
|| 3.. Click on the Compatibility tab.
|| 4.. Click on Run this program in compatibility mode and select one of these:
|| a.. Windows 95
|| b.. Windows 98
|| c.. Windows NT 4
|| d.. Windows 2000
|| 5.. Under Display settings, check mark the mode that you think that is best:
|| a.. Run in 256 colors.
|| b.. Run in 640 X 480 screen resolution.
|| c.. Disable visual themes.
||
|| Click on Apply.Click on Ok.Double click on the program.
||
|| --
|| Cheers, *Windows_XP_MVP_Shell/User*
|| Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
||
|| Visit my MSN Games and Windows Gaming Help Site: www.msce.mvps.org
|| MS Games Help and Support Center: http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gms
|| My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
|| _________________________________________________________
||
||
||
|| gardenhose101 Wrote:
|| =================
||| wait, I noticed if I uninstalled my graphics driver it worked... but only
||| that one game. Everything else is messed up. Is there a way I can
||| "temporarily" disable the driver?
|||
||| "gardenhose101" wrote:
|||
|||| Hello,
|||| I have been using Age of Empires II Gold Edition for some time now and love
|||| it. The problem is that I recently got a new laptop and I tried to run the
|||| game and I kept getting the error message "Could not initialize graphics
|||| system. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with
|||| DirectDraw". This did not occur with my older laptop and it worked fine even
|||| though it had a poorer graphics card and processor.
|||| I tried reinstalling several times and running "dxdiag" in Run to no avail.
|||| I know I have Direct Draw installed on this laptop and have way more than
|||| enough on my system to run the game. I tried searching the internet for an
|||| answer and came across the Microsoft article
|||| http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242902 which would seemingly fix the problem.
|||| It didn't. I tried every example on there and none of them worked. I tried
|||| looking through the support section to try to find a way to contact someone
|||| about it. After about 5 hours of searching and much frustration I have come
|||| here. Hopefully someone will know what is going on. Here are the stats to my
|||| computer:
||||
|||| System:
|||| Microsoft Windows XP
|||| Professional
|||| Version 2002
|||| Service Pack 2
||||
|||| Manufactured and supported by:
|||| Toshiba
|||| Satellite
|||| Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU
|||| T7200 @ 2.00GHz
|||| 2.01 GHz. 2.00 GB of RAM
||||
|||| Adapter Information:
|||| Manufacturer: NVIDIA
|||| Chip Type: GeForce Go 7900 GTX
|||| DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
|||| Memory Size: 512 MB
|||| Adapter String: GeForce Go 7900 GTX
|||| Bios Information: Version 5.71.22.08.21
||||
|||| DirectX Features:
|||| DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
|||| DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
|||| Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled
|||| AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled
||||
||||
|||| I hope that is enough information to determine what is wrong. Thanks in
|||| advance
Re: Age of Empires II - Error Could not initialize graphics system
Hi matt k,
Updating video card drivers can solve most gaming issues. Here's some
simple abc's to always keep in mind. a. Shut off download accelerators,
firewalls and antivirus programs when downloading or installing updates;
b. Search for game patches at the game's site or at www.downloads.com
c. Make sure you meet the game's minimum video and system requirements.
Before you update your drivers, I recommend that you update DirectX
from: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx
Here are the steps I recommend you use to update your driver:
1. To identify the make and model of your card, right click your
Desktop, choose Properties / Settings / Advanced / Adapter.
2. Download the latest video driver for your card online, using
http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/Video.html#drivers
to find the website to download from. I also have advanced
video driver and direct X troubleshooting steps on that page.
3. Save the .exe driver (or extract the zip file) to a folder
in My Documents named after the driver version number.
4. Restart the computer in Safe Mode by pressing the F8 key
about once every second as it's rebooting to pick Safe Mode.
5. Click Start / (settings) Control Panel / System / Hardware
Device Manager / expand +Display Adapters / right click on
the adapter, pick "Uninstall", and click No if asked to reboot.
6. Use Control Panel / Add-Remove programs to uninstall the
previous driver (exe)software which may have been installed.
7. Restart the computer in Safe Mode by pressing the F8 key
about once every second as it's rebooting to pick Safe Mode.
8. If the driver is NOT a (.exe)program file, GO TO step 11.
9. When Windows prompts you to install the video adapter, click
"Cancel" and Double click the driver program to begin installation.
* Even if not prompted, doubleclick the driver and install it.
10. After you reboot, go to Control Panel / Display / Settings and
choose 32 bit Color Quality, and 800x600 or higher Resolution.
That's it! Scroll down to the Troubleshooter if you have problems.
11. When Windows prompts you to install the video adapter, click
"Install from a list or specific location", click the "Browse" button,
browse to the My documents folder where you saved the driver,
and finally click on one of the driver files to begin installation.
** If you are not prompted, or if the driver was updated automatically:
Click Start / (settings) Control Panel / System / Hardware Device Manager
expand +Display Adapters / right click on the adapter, pick "Update Driver"
to start the Update Wizard, choose the "Install from a list..." option:
Browse to My Documents\ folder with the driver in it
Click OK and click Next to begin the update.
12. After you reboot, go to Control Panel / Display / Settings and
choose 32 bit Color Quality, and 800x600 or higher Resolution.
That's it! Try the advice in the Troubleshooter if you have problems.
TROUBLESHOOTING:
Test your drivers using DXDiag: Click Start / Run / type: DXDIAG
Click the "Test" buttons in the Display, Sound, Music & Network Tabs;
If any of the Display options are Disabled and you cannot Enable them,
your most likely solution would be to update your Chipset Drivers as per
my website: http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/Video.html#v11
Your program might not support dual monitors, or "dual head" video cards
You can disable the extra video output in your display properties control
panel. Click Start>Settings>Control Panel>Display>Settings>Advanced.
Along with your Video card, Sound Cards, Motherboard Chipsets,
and Video Monitors may also require updated drivers. Even your
motherboard's BIOS may need to be updated for compatibility with
your Video card. These steps are listed at: http://NibblesNbitsVideo.tk
Perhaps the old Video drivers did not completely uninstall. If that's the
case, use these utility to completely uninstall the drivers and go to step
7:
nvidia: http://content.guru3d.com/index.php?...atorrip&menu=0
or for all cards including nvidia use: http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/
The latest video drivers sometime don't work with a particular game.
(Check the Video suggestions in the readme.txt file in your game folder/CD)
If there's no suggestions, try an older (WHQL) driver, and/or if you still
experience problems try a Beta driver, or even an Omega driver instead:
BETA Drivers: http://download.guru3d.com/
OMEGA Drivers: http://www.omegadrivers.net
There you have it, if you have any questions feel free to post them! :-)
Cheers, *Windows_XP_MVP_Shell/User*
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
Visit my MSN Zone.com and Gaming Help Site: http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits
MS Games Help and Support Center: http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
matt k Wrote:
=================
| how would you go about reinstalling the graphics driver once you have
| unistalled because my brother has kindly done that for me to get on age
| of empires but neither me nor him know how to get it back again
