Help wanted! Gears of War and Vista

PLEASE, if you have a solution, PLEASE help me!

so i got Gears of War couple days after it was released, i gota say i am very dissapointed with windows Vista, i regret so much getting it for my new laptop..so here is the story:

I customized my laptop for gaming: Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83 GHz each core, 2GB of Dual RAM, ATI Radeon X1400 for graphics plus a ultraSharp 1440x900 resolution...AND, Windows Vista...the game was installed(but strangely nothing new was added to my program menu nor any icon on my desktop) and the video settings of the game were all on low(by default) when i frist started playing, and so the graphic, of course, was bad as hell...and so based on the minimum system requirements of the game, there is no doubt that my laptop can rock this game, so i turned all the vedio settings to the highest...and that ****ed up...couple minutes after i start the game(not even playing yet), the game(or maybe the system) crashed... vista tells me that the game stops working for unknown reason...

I've asked quite some people, they all said it's due to either a game glitch(which i dont think so), or what i have been hearing ever since vista came out: vista cant handle intense graphics....i believe this is the problem but not sure, and i have been working on this day and night...so if you have a solution, please contact me kingdom8king@yahoo.com, Thank you so much.

PLEASE, if you have a solution, PLEASE help me!

so i got Gears of War couple days after it was released, i gota say i am very dissapointed with windows Vista, i regret so much getting it for my new laptop..so here is the story:

I customized my laptop for gaming: Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83 GHz each core, 2GB of Dual RAM, ATI Radeon X1400 for graphics plus a ultraSharp 1440x900 resolution...AND, Windows Vista...the game was installed(but strangely nothing new was added to my program menu nor any icon on my desktop) and the video settings of the game were all on low(by default) when i frist started playing, and so the graphic, of course, was bad as hell...and so based on the minimum system requirements of the game, there is no doubt that my laptop can rock this game, so i turned all the vedio settings to the highest...and that ****ed up...couple minutes after i start the game(not even playing yet), the game(or maybe the system) crashed... vista tells me that the game stops working for unknown reason...

I've asked quite some people, they all said it's due to either a game glitch(which i dont think so), or what i have been hearing ever since vista came out: vista cant handle intense graphics....i believe this is the problem but not sure, and i have been working on this day and night...so if you have a solution, please contact me kingdom8king@yahoo.com, Thank you so much.

kingdom8king

The lackluster graphics have nothing to do with the game or Windows Vista, it's your video card. The X1400 is by no means a top-of-the-line card, or even a mid-range card. You're going to need a better video card if you want to play this game at higher settings.

I had the exact same problem. HOwever while we wait for a patch just do the following.

Go to your drive (say C drive)../program files/microsoft games/gears of war/binaries/startup.exe.

Open the startup.exe in that file by running as administrator, right click the startup icon, and run as admin. and problems fixed!

[QUOTE="kingdom8king"]

PLEASE, if you have a solution, PLEASE help me!

so i got Gears of War couple days after it was released, i gota say i am very dissapointed with windows Vista, i regret so much getting it for my new laptop..so here is the story:

I customized my laptop for gaming: Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83 GHz each core, 2GB of Dual RAM, ATI Radeon X1400 for graphics plus a ultraSharp 1440x900 resolution...AND, Windows Vista...the game was installed(but strangely nothing new was added to my program menu nor any icon on my desktop) and the video settings of the game were all on low(by default) when i frist started playing, and so the graphic, of course, was bad as hell...and so based on the minimum system requirements of the game, there is no doubt that my laptop can rock this game, so i turned all the vedio settings to the highest...and that ****ed up...couple minutes after i start the game(not even playing yet), the game(or maybe the system) crashed... vista tells me that the game stops working for unknown reason...

I've asked quite some people, they all said it's due to either a game glitch(which i dont think so), or what i have been hearing ever since vista came out: vista cant handle intense graphics....i believe this is the problem but not sure, and i have been working on this day and night...so if you have a solution, please contact me kingdom8king@yahoo.com, Thank you so much.

GlenQuagmire

The lackluster graphics have nothing to do with the game or Windows Vista, it's your video card. The X1400 is by no means a top-of-the-line card, or even a mid-range card. You're going to need a better video card if you want to play this game at higher settings.

The only problem i have with Gears of War and Vista is that when you enter a new area the game gets a bit jumpy for a second, but i think that is a bug in the game and has nothing to do with Vista. Most of the time it is running at a solid 60 fps and under heavy firefights it usually doesn't go below 42 fps.

I customized my laptop for gaming: Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83 GHz each core, 2GB of Dual RAM, ATI Radeon X1400 for graphics plus a ultraSharp 1440x900 resolution.

kingdom8king

The others here are right; your old video card is definitely holding you back. Also, a writer on Gears' official boards says that the game has an odd bug that makes the game crash if you start if from the DVD autorun. Just exit out of the autorun menu, then restart the game from the Games Explorer and you should be fine. Also, after you accept the GFW Live update, make sure you close and restart the game or the update won't be applied.

I had exactly the same problem... I tried several guides which I found useless, and peoples comments were not very helpful.

However I have now solved this and am happily playing gears of war, and have made a simple guide for a quick and easy solution on how to solve this problem, by showing others the steps I took myself.

MY GUIDE URL - http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/gearsofwar/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-42051415&pid=942000

THE GUIDE MAY SEEM LONG HOWEVER IT'S ACTUALLY VERY SMALL, BUT IT'S BECAUSE THE FULL LENGTH OF TEXT IS THE SAME GUIDE REPEATED TWICE, (ONE FOR DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS, THE OTHER FOR A SHORT AND SIMPLE GUIDE)

I advise you to use the Link, as my guide there is more user-friendly, but if for whatever reason you cannot access the link, heres my guide cut and pasted for your convinience...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

First of all the reason why I dedicated this guide, is because I myself had this problem, I tried several guides which I personally found quite misleading, and unfortunately after hours of trying to install the "driver 8.3 etc..." I failed. I took the game back but then later built up my confidence and got it again, using my own knowledge along with the knowledge of several guides on how to tackle this issue. I believe that the authors of the guides I previously saw made the situation extremely complex, but I'm here to clarify the situation with this simple guide which is the solution!

Follow these steps... If you have any question PLEASE do ask, I understand how frustrating reading a 20 minute guide is after you've just spent your cash on such a great game which your so excited to play!

*I did these steps myself and they worked unlike all the other guides/methods I tried, I did the following with -Windows vista-" I will make this guide very simple and straight forward to prevent confusion.

*********************************************************************************************************

This Guide is for ATI, but can be used in a similar way for Geforce users. By simply replacing everything to do with ATI with Geforce I imagin, but I'm not 100% sure.

The guide is split up into two catagories the 1st one is - A complete guide with more detail (which is still moderatly quick) and the 2nd is - the same guide, just with less detail. It's up to you but I strongly advise you chose the 1st to be sure and secure.

------------------------------------------------------Complete guide-----------------------------------------------------------------------

5 simple steps...

Before doing any of the either guides, I advise uninstalling Gears of war if already installed, I say this because I installed the driver 1st and then installed Gears of war, so having gears of war installed 1st and then installing the driver hasn't been tested

STEP 1 - Download these two things before we start, to make things easier, I took the liberty of personally scanning the 1 of the 2 downloads which is unofficial and found no virus's etc.

Download 1 -http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745Scroll down the page and click on "Download Europe" Or "Download America" Depending where your from. (and extract and run the installsheild and make sure you install from the desktop client etc...)

And then download this...

Download 2 - http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspxDownload The top option under the title of your PC (E.g I chose the top download under Vista 32 bit because its my system, this option was called "ATI Catalyst 8.3 display driver for windows vista (32 bit)). But ONLY leave this client on your desktop, But don't actually install it yet.

Once you've clicked on your correct download source on the next page it will have a small table of available versions of the download, once again click the top one, which should have under the "package includes" colomn a discription which amongst other things will have this description -

Display Driver
Catalyst Control Center
WDM Drivers (there should be a box here sorry)

STEP 2 -

After having installed the Drivercleaner programme fully, and just having the ATI driver client ready to install from your desktop. You must now do the following...

Go on "Device manager" located through this path...

For Vista users...

My computer >right click on this screen >Properties > Device manager > Expand "Display adapters" >And then delete/remove the driver, Mine was a "Radeon X1300" And I had to remove to in my case, but for you it may be different, as long as you remove whatever is in the drop-down of the "Display adapters catagory, it may ask you after you click to remove/uninstall the driver if you want to uninstall the software, click no. You will know if the driver is gone, by not being able to see the "display adapters" tab any more.

For Windows XP users...

Access the Device manager VIA the control panel, and follow the above instructions ^

STEP 3 - *SAFE MODE*

Now restart your PC in "safe mode", do this by restarting your PC as usual but when your PC says "shutting down" Hold the F8 keyfrom the time it's shutting down until the time its loading up, and still continue this (basically hold it until you see the options in the reboot for "Safe mode" and then chose Safe mode). When your PC starts up the desktop, you may get an icon telling you it's installing the sufficient drivers, if this is the case wait for it to finish (don't worry we're now going to get rid of it so we can install the new one). Once it's done its thing, repeat STEP 2 in the Device manager.

STEP 4 *SAFE MODE*

Now run the driver cleaner we installed earlier (the message it gives is fine) (still on safe mode!) and go to Tools > Cab cleanerjust to make sure (it probably won't do anything which is normal) now...

1 - Check the box saying "Select multiple cleaning filters" and if your using an ATI driver select these options to add to the list...

1.ATI

2.ATI CCC

3. ATI Uninstall utility

Now click "start" and if you want, you can click the "Show details" button to see its progress. Once its finished (which shouldn't take long) we now do the last step...

STEP 5*SAFE MODE*

Now we're going to install the new ATI driver, using the desktop client which we downloaded in STEP 1. open the ATI client on your desktop (if your a vista user, right-click run as administrator) and go through the short steps of installing it as it instructs you,

(I personally chose not to instal the "Earthsim" add-on, and did a custom-install to remove the "Earthsim" add-on again and "Steam" company games add-on, but this is optional)

Once the instillation is complete, it may ask you to restart your PC (this time just let it restart in normal mode, by simply not holding F8 This time)

NOW INSTALL GEARS OF WAR

Congratulations! You now have the latest driver allowing you to play Gears of Wars!

----------------------------------------------------Less detailed guide----------------------------------------------------------------------

STEP 1 - Download these things (both safe to download)

Download 1 -http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745 = The driver cleaner (scroll down and click either the Europe or American download)

Download 2 - http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx = Click the top option under the catagory of your PC (mine being Vista) and then download the top option again in the table which should have - "Display Driver - Catalyst Control Center - WDM Drivers" (Amongst other possible things).

STEP 2

Leave the ATI Driver installshield on your desktop but don't run it yet, but install the drivercleaner programme properly. Then go on...

Device managerand expand the "Display adapters" section, and remove/uninstall the driver/s from this, but when it asks you (or if it asks) if you would like to delete the software click "No"

STEP 3 *SAFE MODE*

Now reboot your PC in safe mode (see step 2in the complete guide for instructions if nessesary)and if it automatically begins to install a driver, let it continue until it finish's. Then repeat STEP 2.

STEP 4 *SAFE MODE*

Now run the driver cleaner we installed earlier (the message it gives is fine) (still on safe mode!) and go to Tools > Cab cleanerjust to make sure (it probably won't do anything which is normal) now...

1 - Check the box saying "Select multiple cleaning filters" and if your using an ATI driver select these options to add to the list... ATI - ATI CCC - ATI Uninstall Utility. Then click "Start".

Once it's finished exit this and run the ATI Install clienton your desktop, after you've followed the steps and have installed this. Then restart your PC again in but this time in normal mode (it will do this automatically, just don't hold F8 ;D).

STEP 5

NOW INSTALL GEARS OF WAR

And congratulations! Once you computer restarts it will have the new driver installed

I give permission for anyone to freely use this guide wherever they see fit, as long as it helps in someway! I would appreciate infact if you could spread this guide, because I know the frustration of this scenario and understand the feeling of disappointment as a passionate gamer!

Thanks

If you have any questions please email atritzier@hotmail.co.ukand I should reply hopefully. I'd love to help

God bless

The reasons behind the problem...

The problem is the user install's Gears of war, and before playing the game are asked to install an ATI driver (or the game has been reported to crash within a matter of seconds, including mine before I knew how to solve the problem) people claim that this driver doesn't actually exist as among the driver downloads from the official website, this driver isn't included - "Catalyst version 8.411.0.0" However this is a misconception. It's not actually refering to the driver I think. But this alone has caused tremendous problems and confusion for alot of users!

Anyway... When you install the new driver and after being asked, reboot your PC, you try to run gears of war, only to get the same message you got before saying you haven't got the driver which you had installed, and even if your convinced you've downloaded the driver (like I was) and start the game, within about a minute, the game will crash and close down, and so the games automatic instillation is flawed. To download any driver, you must 1st remove your existing driver (however the driver tool gears of war gives you doesn't infact properly and fully uninstall your existing driver) Which is why in this guide we use the "Drivercleaner" program.

Heres a small example from links, showing other gamers who including myself, had this same problem.

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7813_102-0.html?forumID=69&threadID=277235&messageID=2662803

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080310175214AA0JUFl

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/answers2/frontend.php/question?qid=20071230145338AAiaPct

http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadid=91058&enterthread=y

Quotes...

"Wow, I can't even play it. It wants an ATi Driver that doesn't exist."

From http://gearsofwar.filefront.com/news/Do_you_have_Gears_for_PC_yet;36074

"When i try to play gears of war 2 messages come up saying i need to install "ATI Catalyst driver revision 8.411.0.0". "i installed it and it still says the same message

what to i do??"

Fromhttp://forums.cnet.com/5208-7813_102-0.html?forumID=69&threadID=277235&messageID=2662803