# Red Alert 2 not working on Windows 7 or Virtual Machine XP



## bushkanaka86 (May 13, 2009)

I bought Command & Conquer - The First Decade so that I could enjoy playing all the old C&C games that I loved. Once I installed the games on my Windows 7 laptop, I could only get some of the games to work. One of the ones that doesn't work is Red Alert 2. 

*Problem:*

When the game starts, you can hear sound but the screen is black so you can't see the video. Also, the menu doesn't appear fully. If I minimize the game and open it again, the menu appears but when I click a button, I have to minimize again for the menu to update.

*Things I have tried:*

-Changing Compatibility to multiple versions of Windows
-Running as administrator
-Setting graphics power settings to "Maximum Performance"
-Installing Oracle VirtualBox and installing Windows XP. (I get the same problem in Windows XP.)

-I checked my video driver and as far as I can tell, it is up to date.


Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

What specs?
Does it meet the minimum requirements of the game, use the Game-O-Meter to make sure> Go to You Gamers


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## Ooudestomp (Nov 4, 2010)

Red alert 2 is quite a problematic game for playing on Vista/Windows 7, I had the very same problem. Most of the problems are due to it not liking 64bit.

Things I tried:
Installing it to My documents instead of Local Disk>Program files
Changing the name of the .exe to start the game
Go onto the disk, and select windows Sp2 mode for all the .exe's on the disk, then install the game again.

Post back if it works/does not work.


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## bushkanaka86 (May 13, 2009)

Well, I tried your suggestions and they didn't seem to work. I installed the game, then changed every .exe on the disk (Autorun & setup) to run as Windows XP SP2. I told the game to install under C:\Users\<username>\Command&Conquer. Then I tried changing the names of the files "game.exe" and "RA2.exe" but when I changed them, the game wouldn't start. I would try to open them and nothing would happen. I also tried to run them both as Windows XP SP2.

After all of that, same problem. I also tried to do the same on my Windows XP Virtual Machine (with using compatibility Windows 2000 instead), it didn't work.

Any more ideas?


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## Ooudestomp (Nov 4, 2010)

Try using this patch:
Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 1.006 patch - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

It is from Westwood Studios.


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## bushkanaka86 (May 13, 2009)

My game is already up to date. When I start it, it says it is version 1.006 which is the same as the patch you linked.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

you still havent told us the specs of your computer.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Update your chipset drivers and install DirectX 9.0c.


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## bushkanaka86 (May 13, 2009)

I am not sure which specs you would like so I attached my dxdiag as a text file. Also, here are some specs:

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
Processor: Intel Core i3-2310M @ 2.10 Ghz
Ram: DDRIII 4.00 GB
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GT 520M DDRIII 1 GB
Directx Version: 11


I will look into updating my chipset driver but if I am using Directx 11, do I really need Directx 9.0c?


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

Try running the game under Windows 98.


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## bushkanaka86 (May 13, 2009)

I have tried running compatibility under Windows XP SP2, Windows 2000, and Windows 98/ME. they all seem to give the same result.

Once I start the game, the opening movie is black although I can hear sound, then the menu shows up but when I click a button it won't update the screen unless I minimize then open it again. If I do that enough so that I can start the Campaign, then the game actually works. 

I can play the levels and the in game videos work. However, the opening and closing videos for each level will just be black with audio. Also, the in game menu works like the main menu does.

So while it is playable, it is annoying and I would very much like to see the videos if possible. I have searched other sites for answers and have seen many people saying RA2 works fine for them on Windows 7 so I don't know why I can't get it.

Any more ideas would be appreciated! Thanks!


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Have you installed the latest chipset drivers and DX9 yet?

Have you tried running the game in windowed mode? Hit Alt-Enter to toggle between window and fullscreen.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

It should work as I can run every game on the first decade on my Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit. Follow koala's advice and see if it works.


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## bushkanaka86 (May 13, 2009)

I checked my manufactor's website as well as Intel and as far as I can tell, my chipset is up to date. I will install DirectX 9.0c but do I have to remove DirectX 11 to do that or can I have both?


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

bushkanaka86 said:


> I checked my manufactor's website as well as Intel and as far as I can tell, my chipset is up to date. I will install DirectX 9.0c but do I have to remove DirectX 11 to do that or can I have both?


No you don't. You can have both!


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

the card will only use dx9 on xp where as it can use either on windows 7


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## bushkanaka86 (May 13, 2009)

I downloaded directx 9.0c from this link: Download DirectX 9.0c (Jun 10) - FileHippo.com

Then I installed it. I tried running the game right after but it had the same result. Is there a way to tell the program to only use directx 9.0c instead of 11 or should it do that automatically?

Also, I have tried Alt+Enter to go to windowed mode but nothing happens.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

All games will use the directx that is required of it and nothing more. Since Red Alert 2 is so old I think it uses Directx 7 or 8. Directx 11 is part of Windows 7 so I'm guessing it does get upgraded every once in a while by windows update but it would hard to find out which ones do update it as they vague in details.


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## bushkanaka86 (May 13, 2009)

So I am not sure what to do now. I want to make sure I have followed all of the advice given so far though:

-Tried Compatibility as both Windows XP SP2 and Windows 98/ME
-I tried installing the game to My Documents and changing the .exe file names. (The game wouldn't start when I did that.)
-Checked my chipset drivers and as far as I can tell, they are up to date.
-Downloaded Directx 9.0c, extracted it and installed it.
-Tried to run the game in windowed mode but Alt+Enter didn't seem to do anything.


I can't tell if installing Directx 9.0c did anything or not. I still feel like if I have Directx 11 that the game will choose to run off of that then the earlier version. 

Does anyone have any more ideas? 

(If you want to see which directx file I downloaded, scroll up to the link. Also, if you scroll up, my dxdiag was uploaded.)

If no one has another idea, I may just call it quits. The menu is annoying, but I can actually play the game, I just can't see any of the videos in the game.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

The game plays right?

Run these files in WIndows 98 compatibility.

right click on
Ra2.exe
game.exe
mph.exe
mphmd.exe
RA2MD.exe
YURI.exe

Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge in Windows Vista


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Red Alert does not support DX11, DX10 and DX11 are suppose to be backwards compatible but we find some older games that need the older DX9 files to run.

What resolution monitor are you using, try lowering the resolution to 800x600 see it that makes a difference.


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## bushkanaka86 (May 13, 2009)

My screen resolution is 1366x768 and I tried lowering it to 800x600 with no effect. I also tried everything on that website you linked McNinja but none of that seemed to help either.

*sigh* oh well.

Thanks for trying.


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## flacking (Dec 18, 2011)

I have exactly the same problem as you man. Don't know whats going on. Tried everything too.


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## QQkachoo (Jan 26, 2012)

I've had the same problem on 3 different computers, but each time all I had to do was change the Compatibility mode (to either Vista or 7) and download the updates for it.


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