# Age of Empires 2: Could not initialize graphics system.



## mkeller (Dec 6, 2007)

Hello,

I'm trying to get Age of Empires 2 to work on my new laptop. Whenever and however I start it (yes, I've tried all the compatibility settings, etc.), the little loading screen comes up, and then a message box with the message:

_Could not initialize graphics system. Make sure that your video
card and driver are compatible with DirectDraw._

My laptop is a MSI GX610-TK53-2G Diamond, running Windows Vista with an ATI Radeon HD2600 graphics card. And yes, it supports DirectDraw - modern games work just fine. I'm thinking it's something else, that Age of Empires doesn't understand properly.

Would any of you know what? And how to make it run? Thanks for your help!


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## Tiber Septim (Feb 9, 2006)

Try adding the -nostartup parameter to the end of the shortcut. This will stop the opening video from being played.
Also, make sure that the game is set to run in 256 colors.
Try turning your resolution down to 800x600 before running the game.


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## RockmasteR (Aug 10, 2007)

Age of empires 2 is a pretty old game, so maybe the HD 2600 is too new to run the game. Is there an integrated Graphics in the laptop? cause if there is it maybe be able to solve the problem.


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## mkeller (Dec 6, 2007)

Tiber Septum: tried all that, but no luck. :sigh: And unfortunately, RockmasteR, there isn't an integrated card. At least as far as I know.

Could there be some other way of making it work? I read here that it can be caused by five-digit driver version numbers, at least on nVidia cards, and can be fixed by using DirectX Tweaker. Anyone know if such is the case with ATI cards?


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## Tiber Septim (Feb 9, 2006)

I don't think it's a driver problem, I literally just installed the game five minutes ago and it worked perfectly. I'm using the 180.84 drivers.

Okay, after much searching, few possible solutions.
1. Download the 2.0a patch here.
2.Compatibility mode to Win XP/sp2
Disable Visual theme
Disable Desktop Composition
Run as administrator 

If that doesn't work then Right-Click Desktop > Customize > Whatever it is to get into display properties (been a while since I've used Vista) > Advanced > Adapter > Properties. Then at the bottom of that screen choose 'Do not use this device - Disable'.
It may ask you to restart your PC.
Then try running the game. To play other games you may want to re-enable your graphics card.


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## thedors (Aug 3, 2011)

My fix is pretty much the same as above.

I had the above issue with AOEII:Age Of Kings. My brief spec is Windows 7 Ultimate (SP1 32bit) and an nVidia 8600 GT graphics card. I did the following (make sure you reboot after each install).:

Make sure you're running the latest AOEII:AOK patch (2.0a):

Download Details - Microsoft Download Center - DirectX End-User Runtime

Download and install latest DirectX:

Download Details - Microsoft Download Center - Age of Empires II Update v2.0a

Download and install latest nVidia driver suite. I let the software autodetect my card and reset all of my settings to default. I also installed the full software suite:

Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

Finally, right click the AOE shortcut and click properties. Click on the compatability tab and select the following:

- Run this program in compatabilty mode - Pick Windows XP Service Pack 2 (!!NOT 3!!)
- Disable Visual Themes
- Disable Desktop Composition
- Run this program as an Administrator

One of the above options may work on it's own but that's what I had to do to get it running and I tested it after each step.

Good luck!


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