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Here is an installer which install Games Explorer feature from Windows 7 to your Server 2008 R2 box.
Note: This installer includes Games Explorer feature, other “Games for Windows” components and Parental controls compatibility stack (Wpc.dll and essential WPC reg keys).Updated: 09-08-2011
File: games_explorer.7z (1.64 MB)
SHA1: d18b9e298f015ffd9a5a4fb369547cc6c17a1b6a
MD5: 8cbc0ac1f033dc92700a4aa18495e4d5
Download: 4shared.Note: Games Explorer will be fully functional on newly created user accounts only (except “Administrator” account). If your account was already created before the Games Explorer installation, please download the fix below and run it under the user account you want to use Games Explorer on.
[attachment=0:1mekb80a]games_explorer_activation.zip[/attachment:1mekb80a]
Enjoy!Avira reports trojan TR/Crypt.FKM.Gen in gameexplorer_setup.exe.
Edit: tried the installer, but no dice. I noticed it doesn’t set the owner on the keys it creates to SYSTEM, like the guide for R1 says; I changed that, but it didn’t make any difference. I also tried running Shell:Games and Shell:{games-guid}, but the first one just brought up the search window and the second did nothing.
@Indrek wrote:
Avira reports trojan TR/Crypt.FKM.Gen in gameexplorer_setup.exe.
Here is what VirusTotal says for gameexplorer_setup.exe:
A lot of them say “Suspicious”, “Possible Threat” or “Heuristic” – normally these come up when you modify a file so it works differently (example: No-CD Cracks) as they are not viruses but some code in them is close to that of a virus.
[attachment=0:ycuueeyz]gameexplorer.png[/attachment:ycuueeyz]
In this screenshot it shows that it is from Microsoft, but as it is modified or whatever, it comes up under AV heurisitcs.
That exe file is not mine. It’s taken from here and don’t worry, there really aren’t any viruses in that file…
you really got it working?…Well the archieve is broken and i cant test if its really working. New Upload would be nice=)
But thanks for your work=)Edit: Okay…the archieveis not broken…Winrar was just unable to unzip it…with 7zip it worked.
Installed the gameexplorer now. Seem to work. Warcraft 3 is already in the Folder with all the informations. UT3 is not in the game explorer so far..We’ll see.
Good Work:) Thank you@AsciiWolf wrote:
Well, I got it working! 🙂
So, I made an installer for it…
[attachment=0:3nunow15]games_explorer.7z[/attachment:3nunow15]
Enjoy!Great job again AsciiWolf! It works without any problems! :geek: I will add it to the manual as soon as my exams weeks are over! (maybe sooner) 🙂
@Arris wrote:
@AsciiWolf wrote:
Well, I got it working! 🙂
So, I made an installer for it…
[attachment=0:2wku2egz]games_explorer.7z[/attachment:2wku2egz]
Enjoy!Great job again AsciiWolf! It works without any problems! :geek: I will add it to the manual as soon as my exams weeks are over! (maybe sooner) 🙂
Well, it’s still buggy… 😕
It’ll not add all the games, but only some (e.g Bioshock is not added, but Mafia/Prince of Persia: SoT is added automatically without any problem).
(Looks like, it’s not reading any data from ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsGameExplorer)
The next thing, that isn’t working is Parental Control (or some components, that worked in R1 version of Game Explorer) – If I try to run some game, which use Parental Control (API), I get “Parental Control access denied” error message and then, game crashes… 🙁
edit: I found, I forgot to add some registry entries to the installer reg file. I’m working on it, new installer comming soon, stay tuned! 😉Ok, I made new installer!
This installer include some small bugfixes and include my own app for activating Games Explorer (writing user SID) instead of old and big gameexplorer_setup.exe.
It still has one ugly bug – It can’t read any data, made by game installers, from ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsGameExplorer.@AsciiWolf wrote:
Ok, I made new installer!
It still has one ugly bug – It can’t read any data, made by game installers, from ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsGameExplorer.Well, I made some progress in the way of solving this bug.
I found that the “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionGameUXGames” register dir, which is used (in combination with %ProgramData%MicrosoftWindowsGameExplorer) by GamesForWindows-compatible game installers, if you choose “Install game for all users” (a lot of installers do this automatically by default), is empty – if I copy a key of some game from my Win 7 VM, the game appears in the Games Explorer.
Does anybody know, how to fix it?Maybe you can play a bit with the Game Definition File Editor Tool (GDFMaker.exe) from the DXSDKUtilitiesbinx86 of the DirectX Software Development Kit to find out what exactly is happening when registering a new game into the Game Explorer. This way at least you won’t have to reinstall a game every time you want to test if Game Explorer is working.
You are making good progress in this Wish! Hope you ‘ll also be able to fix the last (but not least) bugs! :geek:
Good luck! 😉
@portalcake wrote:
Yeah, it sucks.
BTW, did you read about me getting the Win7 games to work in Windows Server 08 R2?Ye, good work! 😉
Well, I’m working on a new version of Games Explorer installer which contains a lot of new registry entries (which are missing in current installer). Stay Tuned!Well, I uploaded the new version of Games Explorer installer which contains a lot of small bugfixes, a lot of new registry entries (looks like all needed Games Explorer registry entries are now successfully ported) and one big bugfix – basic Windows Parental Controls support (Wpc.dll and Class reg entries for it), so you can now play games like Bioshock or Tinker without any problems…
Enjoy! 😉Hello, I found out that my installer of Games Explorer has a small bug…
It creates a GameUX reg folder (with name set from your profile ID) in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionGameUX but it doesn’t set correct permissions for it.
So you can’t add games to Games Explorer manually.
The solution for this issue is simple – add full (Read/Write) permissions for your user to your (your ID) folder.I used last week’s version of the installer and got the W7 games working per the instructions in the Wishlist thread. I added the permissions you described above. Couple of issues:
* After adding the Games item to the Start Menu, the installed W7 games do not appear. How do you add the individual games?
* Game animations only work on the Admin account. On regular user accts, they don’t work, and the option is disabled in the game’s Options dialog. Any fix?Well, I (again) uploaded a new version of my installer. It has some small bugfixes…
This is probably the final version of my Games Explorer installer!@deltatux wrote:
So after installing the Games Explorer, I don’t see any of my games. Do I need to add it manually? If so, how do I do so manually. If not, why is my screen blank atm?
Thanks,
deltatuxNo, you don’t need to add games manually anymore… Did you use my latest installer?
@deltatux wrote:
…
Hm, that’s really strange problem…
Can you please tell me names of all games which you have installed?
edit: You can add games manually by moving its shortcut icons to Games Explorer window.@deltatux wrote:
thanks for the response.
Yes I have (downloaded and installed it on the 26th) however my Games window is blank even though I’ve already got several games installed. How do I fix them without reinstalling everything :S?
Thanks,
deltatuxHey I am in the same boat as the picture denotes above, don’t know why for certain… Your initial post (before I made it down to the new wonderful powershell type installer (kudos BTW for all of those…) were a bit vague, apparently only for me on where to place the slic.dll’s at, the individual game folders or in their /en-US sub-directory…
These things always(only) happen to me it appears; ran the same procedure on another machine with Windows 7 installed that the feature had ALWAYS been broken no matter how many times I installed and removed it and it now it works with no issues, so I don’t know what went wrong with the Server R2 x64 install…
I currently am at the point where I re-ran the .bat, the default games are there (I likely will not install many – or ANY others…) but thought I would wait to hear back with any ideas of what might be going on and a definitive answer to a very tired man’s question regarding which folder the slic.dll’s go in, the game’s root, or the /en-US. (The Game Explorer opens but is empty as in the picture quoted above…)
I hate to post this at all for the thread is written well, same goes for the script and instructions; they have been proven time and time again. Merely correcting a problematic Win 7 non-functional Game Explorer should be enough for me to realize that…
Any help would be appreciated as I would love to put this to bed as I move forward (last on my list of little change overs in R2…)
Doh, why that didn’t occur to me is likly because I couldn’t see the forest for the trees in front of me!!!!
The only thing I might wonder – and assume is that I should have shortcuts in the Program Data – Start Menu Folder as well correct?
The reason I ask this is really unrelated, for I just noticed the other day that W7 has a mysterious way of adding Start Menu entries WITHOUT them ever being in the Program Data/Microsoft/Windows/Start Menu/Programs folder and that I found quite amazing how in fact that might work!
I am certain I will have it up and running in 30 or so seconds, thanks for taking time to answer a question that should never have come from a 30 year veteran… (showing my age; and stupidity as well – makes one wonder how I’ve done this so long1)
Thanks again!
@CAP’N’CRUNCH wrote:
The reason I ask this is really unrelated, for I just noticed the other day that W7 has a mysterious way of adding Start Menu entries WITHOUT them ever being in the Program Data/Microsoft/Windows/Start Menu/Programs folder and that I found quite amazing how in fact that might work!
Start menu shortcuts are aggregated from two locations – the one you mentioned, plus %AppData%MicrosoftWindowsStart MenuPrograms. The first one holds shortcuts that are available to all users, the second one is your personal shortcuts.
I knew that; (“that” being it HAD to be somewhere else…) was the reason, just never found the damn folder! Had looked elsewhere though…
I recall when the switch came long ago away from the simple XP – root/Documents And Settings/Start Menu folder hierarchy – man it took asking someone (as I did here…) to figure out what happened to the start menu in Vistax64 (before I immediately dumped that slow bloatware release for WS08x64, albeit with the same file structure…)
An old dog new tricks they say. Really, I suppose with 30 years doing this I should be some sort of Admiral, but I find with everything in life that I merely brush off, ignore, or simply “selectively forget” those things that matter least to me; or perhaps I simply am incapable of retention of too many things these days…
Thanks so much for posting that for me, I know I will not selectively forget that, but at my age, perhaps memory-loss might set in and kill the information…
Cheers! As I expected, Game Explorer, the cheesy MS games and everything but the “Sniper” is as it would be in Win7 (save the Superfetch and a few other more bloated features…) I think I should post on one of my blogs a much more direct route to installing the bid sniper (not that I would ever use Microsoft’s anyway…) as the link provided here has instructions that no offense to the writer for I am sure he/she easily understands them, they truly are complete gibberish and if you followed them literally with no interpretation, it is impossible for what is posted there to work…
Heck, use something like Harvex (NO, NO affiliation…) if you are an eBay freak anyway!
Thanks go out to the entire community here, you have all been a great resource that I have not given enough thanks to, but MANY, MANY referrals… 🙂
@yumeyao wrote:
Bug report:
I want to customize startmenu to show “games” as a menu, but it doesn’t display there. any1 knows how?Did you restart your PC after installing Games Explorer?
A new version of my Games Explorer installer was released!
This version of Games Explorer installer only includes two new files (well, also includes one new unnecessary reg. key in user_gamesexplorer.reg): “filesSystem32wbemen-USWgxInstalledGame.mfl” and “filesSysWOW64wbemen-USWgxInstalledGame.mfl” which were missing in previous versions of this installer.
Note: If you have previously installed Games Explorer, you don’t need to reinstall it. Just download this new package and manually copy these two files.@AsciiWolf wrote:
A new version of my Games Explorer installer was released!
This version of Games Explorer installer only includes two new files (well, also includes one new unnecessary reg. key in user_gamesexplorer.reg): “filesSystem32wbemen-USWgxInstalledGame.mfl” and “filesSysWOW64wbemen-USWgxInstalledGame.mfl” which were missing in previous versions of this installer.
Note: If you have previously installed Games Explorer, you don’t need to reinstall it. Just download this new package and manually copy these two files.Thanx Asciiwolf !
😉 😉
ExpertUser
Another new (and finally last, I hope) version of my Games Explorer installer was released!
I found that some registry entries were still missing, so I added them…
If you have previous version installed, just apply the “gamesexplorer.reg” regfile.Has anyone tried porting the Game Explorer from Vista to Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, and Windows 7? The reason I as is the Vista Game Explorer has some really nice configuration features left out of the Windows 7 game explorer which also peeved a lot of Vista Consumers that bought Windows 7 as well…
❓
@Fullmetal99012 wrote:
When I run it without admin, it fails with cannot create directory. when i run it with admin, it fails with, cannot find files
I found that as well.
Right click on the blue powershell icon in the to the left of the taskbar and select “run as administrator”, change directory to where you unpacked the files, it should look like this:
Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
PS C:Windowssystem32>then…
cd 'C:UsersYourUserDesktopgames'That is if you saved it to a directory called “games” on your desktop.
A quick “ls” will show you if you are in the right place:
PS C:UsersYourUserDesktopgames> ls
Directory: C:UsersYourUserDesktopgames
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
----
----
d---- 13/09/2010 17:21 files
-a--- 13/09/2010 17:19 1609 install.cmd
-a--- 13/09/2010 17:17 1016 user_install.cmd
PS C:UsersYourUserDesktopgames>@AsciiWolf wrote:
Or instead of using PowerShell, you can use the Command Line (right click on the Command Line in the Start Menu -> Run as Administrator).
That is how I did it but for the ease of giving an example, having the link on the taskbar and using the unix subsystem I thought that using powershell was the better option
OK, this is the only part so far that I’ve been having problems on. The Games Explorer installs just fine on Server 2008 R2, but the individual programs themselves do not run. I am not sure what exactly I am doing wrong, as I followed the guides a couple of times.
For the interim, the only way I’m able to run FreeCell, Solitaire, etc. on my R2 machine is by way of running a version of Windows 7 in VMware and running the games via Unity.
Edit: Read the Win7Games thread again, this is a known issue if 32-bit games are being used. It appears I will need to build and fire up a Windows 7 x64 machine and recover the necessary games from it.
Update: I found an old x64 RC1 copy, the games from there (FreeCell, Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Purble Place) work.
@MasterCATZ wrote:
THANK YOU SOOOO Much
Finally got Just Cause 2 Working
24 Gig RAM 2 Tb Free HDD space and It kept saying no Space 😛
You need at least 48GB of video ram available with 1 TB of memory and a petabyte of free hard drive space to run Just Cause 2, everyone whose anyone knows this. 😛
Thank you, worked wonderfully to get Just Cause 2 working. Fantastic! Framerate is in the gutter for some reason, but I blame that on the AMD driver version I’m using, going to try going to 10.7; which is, incidentally, the last ATI/AMD driver that will work on Server 2008 R2, so don’t try using any Radeon HD6000 cards since they require driver 11.0 or later.
EDIT: Yay, AMD drivers broke themselves, even when I try to revert. Joy. Screw it, I can get the student discount on 7 Pro.
Oh, and lively community you have here.
@sevenalive wrote:
Are these files from Windows 7 SP1? if not can you update your download.
I allready updated the installer with files from SP1. 😉
The Games Explorer installer was updated!
No files were added or changed, only the install.cmd script was modified.This code was added to the install.cmd script to make the *.mof and *.mfl files to be imported:
pushd %SystemRoot%System32wbem
"%SystemRoot%System32wbemmofcomp.exe" "WgxInstalledGame.mof">nul
popd
pushd %SystemRoot%System32wbemen-US
"%SystemRoot%System32wbemmofcomp.exe" "WgxInstalledGame.mfl">nul
popd
pushd %SystemRoot%SysWOW64wbem
"%SystemRoot%SysWOW64wbemmofcomp.exe" "WgxInstalledGame.mof">nul
popd
pushd %SystemRoot%SysWOW64wbemen-US
"%SystemRoot%SysWOW64wbemmofcomp.exe" "WgxInstalledGame.mfl">nul
popd
If you have Games Explorer allready installed, open the Administrator Command Prompt (Start, Run, “runas /user:Administrator cmd”, enter) and manually paste the code there.
I’m getting an error when trying to run Games Explorer. I downloaded the install file by AsciiWolf, and the file for activating it on previously existing user accounts. but when i try to run the 2nd file (activation.cmd) it prompts me for my password, i type it in, and it says sucessful or whatever. I then type in Games Explorer in the search bar of the Start menu and Windows says “Windows cant open GamesExplorer.lnk” . did i do something wrong? how do i resolve this? also, how do i get the Games link to appear in the start menu (without having to type it in)? i mean like, in win7, there was a games link in the menu, and you could use the Add Features option in Control Panel to add it to the start menu (or rewmove it). but 2008 r2 appears to have no such option. thanks for any help!
***EDIT***: I do see a Games folder in the menu after I click All Programs, but it’s not the same Games folder link that you see in win7. within the folder there is a shortcut called Games Explorer, but NOTHING happens when I click it, not even a “Windows cant open this file” error, which immediately tells me that it’s not the same one i clicked before that gave the error.
***2nd edit***: silly me, i simply had to reboot and problem solved.
Ok I have one. I have successfully installed the games explorer and can launch the application, I have also installed the Windows 7 games, but they do not show up in the games explorer. Any help would be appreciated.
To add, I found another problem, if I am in administrator I can add things to the games explorer, but it seems for some reason when I am in my account I cannot.
(EDIT) The only way I found around this was to wipe my machine, and re-install, and before you setup a personal account, install the games explorer and activate it. Then create your account and continue from there.
@AsciiWolf, I suggest you repack these installers in one, if you would plz. Thank you for this stuff.
@Arris, could you host all installers from the tutorial at your server, because from time to time a few of them are no longer available at mirrorcreator.@Indrek wrote:
Avira reports trojan TR/Crypt.FKM.Gen in gameexplorer_setup.exe.
Edit: tried the installer, but no dice. I noticed it doesn’t set the owner on the keys it creates to SYSTEM, like the guide for R1 says; I changed that, but it didn’t make any difference. I also tried running Shell:Games and Shell:{games-guid}, but the first one just brought up the search window and the second did nothing.
My latest Eset Endpoint Security detects nothing after thorough scanning. It’s not unusual for some antiviruses to show alerts since the package has to modify system files and reg entries in order to integrate gameexplorer and gameux in windows server.
@AsciiWolf wrote:Here is an installer which install Games Explorer feature from Windows 7 to your Server 2008 R2 box.
Note: This installer includes Games Explorer feature, other “Games for Windows” components and Parental controls compatibility stack (Wpc.dll and essential WPC reg keys).Updated: 09-08-2011
File: games_explorer.7z (1.64 MB)
SHA1: d18b9e298f015ffd9a5a4fb369547cc6c17a1b6a
MD5: 8cbc0ac1f033dc92700a4aa18495e4d5
Download: 4shared.Note: Games Explorer will be fully functional on newly created user accounts only (except “Administrator” account). If your account was already created before the Games Explorer installation, please download the fix below and run it under the user account you want to use Games Explorer on.
[attachment=0:3fhmfp45]games_explorer_activation.zip[/attachment:3fhmfp45]
Enjoy!It is very helpful, thanks for the installer. I ran them in this order:
1. Download: 4shared.
2. [attachment=0:3fhmfp45]games_explorer_activation.zip[/attachment:3fhmfp45]
Enjoy!Now I got gameux.dll and games explorer and the Games folder available in my start menu:
I haven’t tested for any games to show up as I don’t have any games installed at the moment, but it looks ok. However, when running games_explorer_activation, although finishes successfully it nonetheless shows this:
RUNAS ERROR: Unable to run – C:ProgramDataset_permissions.cmd
@Portal2Two wrote:
@Arris, could you host all installers from the tutorial at your server, because from time to time a few of them are no longer available at mirrorcreator.
Unfortunately the images used in the various manuals are already using quite a lot of bandwidth (all 3 manuals + forum in total an average of 90GB/month). If I would host the files on my own server, I would cross the 100GB bandwidth limit in a few days. Therefore I think, although it is less convenient than having direct links, mirrorcreator is a good solution because the files are spread over multiple file hosters so in case it has been removed from one file hosting, you can still download it via another one. Hope you understand! 🙂
@Arris wrote:
@Portal2Two wrote:
@Arris, could you host all installers from the tutorial at your server, because from time to time a few of them are no longer available at mirrorcreator.
Unfortunately the images used in the various manuals are already using quite a lot of bandwidth (all 3 manuals + forum in total an average of 90GB/month). If I would host the files on my own server, I would cross the 100GB bandwidth limit in a few days. Therefore I think, although it is less convenient than having direct links, mirrorcreator is a good solution because the files are spread over multiple file hosters so in case it has been removed from one file hosting, you can still download it via another one. Hope you understand! 🙂
Arris, I see. Thanks for your reply. How about bootres.zip (7 bootscreen) whose link is missing? How so, is it entirely down to MS copyright why it was removed? Then how come other files like logon and games are still up?
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