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Just figured I’d pitch in my 2 cents on what games have worked for me on R2, and some workarounds as well. I havent found any games that dont work, so far, R2 has turned out to be a much better gaming machine for my laptop and i have even noticed that in some games my FPS is higher, probably due to how R2 utilizes system resources. But anyways, on to my list:
Final Fantasy VII (Not the Ultima Edition, which is the pirated version, although I suppose it would work too): works, you can try copying the Movies from each disc onto your hard drive and then editing your Registry to reflect the new location (There is also a tool called FF7MovieDir which can change the Registry location for you, i recomend it over manually changing, find it at http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=12305.0), a no-cd patch is also recommended. For increased performance and to play in windowed mode try Aali’s Custom Graphics Driver. You may also need to install the TrueMotion video codec, or just install the K-Lite Codec Pack. Also make sure to update to v1.02. Add ff7.exe and FF7Config.exe to DEP exceptions list.
Final Fantasy VIII: Works without issues, try copying the following files from each disc to hard drive (DISK1/DISK1.PAK, DISK2/DISK2.PAK, DISK3/DISK3.PAK, DISK4/DISK4.PAK, and FIELD.FI, FIELD.FL, FIELD.FS, FIELD2.FS,). No cd crack recomended, update to latest version, and Aali’s Custom Graphics Driver for increased performance and windowed mode. You can also try D3D Windower for windowed mode. You may also get an error like “cant find MIDI device” when starting FF8.exe or FF8Config.exe, i’m not sure how to solve this, but maybe a codec pack will do the job, otherwise the game should start fine with sound working.
Final Fantasy XIV Online: Working, no issues
Fallout/Fallout 2: Working, only issue I have found is that the colors are somewhat messed up/display incorrectly, there is a tool called w7ddpatcher, get it at http://vogons.zetafleet.com/download.php?id=7984&sid=26b2f272041debfdfff191865d415c76. this should correct the color issues, also the installer colors will display incorrectly, this will not prevent install, but you should be able to figure out how to get around this.
Fallout 3 and all downloadable content: Working, no issues
Fallout – New Vegas and all downloadable content: Working, no issues
Fallout Tactics : Brotherhood Of Steel: Working although you may have issues with discoloration, w7ddpatcher linked in this post might help
Age of Empires and Rise of Rome Expansion: Working, no issues, try using the w7ddpatcher linked above to correct color issues, and make sure to patch to latest version
Age of Empires II : Age of Kings, and Age of Empires II : The Conquerors Expansion: Working, no issues, also try using the w7ddpatcher listed above to correct color issues, and make sure to patch to latest version
Age of Empires 3 and Warchiefs/Asian Dynasties expansions: working, but make sure to install MSXML 3.0 Service Pack 3, then use Windows Update to update that, otherwise you will get an error during install. Also, patch to latest version. You may also find that you get no music playing ingame and at the menus (R2 only, Windows 7 isnt affected), try installing K-Lite Codec Pack to fix this
Age of Empires Online: Working, no issues
Grand theft Auto (Rockstar Classics version, free download): Working, download GTA 1 Launcher (http://gzwn.net/gta1launcher/) to fix issue with PLAYER_A.DAT file, otherwise game will crash everytime after first run
Grand Theft Auto 2 (Rockstar Classics version, free download): Working, go to http://www.win2008workstation.com/win2008/get-gta2-working-in-windows-server-2008 for DirectX Fix
Grand Theft Auto 3: Working, apply latest patch, get no cd patch, and copy Audio folder and all other files from the Audio disc to the install directory
Grand Theft Auto – Vice City: Working, apply latest patch and no cd patch, add to DEP exceptions list
Grand Theft Auto IV: Working (although the game is known to have many, many issues regardless of the OS it is running on)
Grand Theft Auto (IV) – Episodes From Liberty City: Working (although the game is known to have many, many issues regardless of the OS it is running on)
Dragon Age – Origins and Dragon Age Origins – Awakening, and all downloadable content: Working, no issues
Dragon Age 2 and all expansions/downloadable content: Working, no issues
Duke Nukem 3D: Working, use eDuke32 to run the game since the executable is 16 bit, also can try DOSBox
Duke Nukem Forever (vaporware for 12 years, lol): Working, no issues
Star Wars Rogue Squadron 3D: Working, no issues, except that the 16 bit installer doesnt seem to run on 64 bit Windows (the game itself is 32, only the installer is 16 bit). Go to http://www.markusegger.at/Software/Games.aspx to download a tool that will create a 32 bit MSI installer that will let you install the game. Also update to 1.3 and apply no cd patch
Call of Duty Black Ops (Steam and retail): Working, no issues
Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (Steam and retail): Working, no issues
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Steam and Retail): Working, no issues
Portal 2 (Steam and retail): Working, no issues
Civilization 4 and all expansions: Working, no issues
Civilization 5 (Game Of The Year edition) plus all downloadable content (Steam and retail): Working, no issues
Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale (Steam and retail): Working, no issues
Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited: Working, no issues
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm: Working, no issues
Warcraft III plus Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne expansions: Working, no issues
Battlefield 3: Working, no issues
Command and Conquer: Tiberian Twilight: Working, no issues
Command and Conquer: The first Decade (which is a compilation of most of the the C and C games): Some of the games have issues running on 64 bit Windows, apply all official patches. Also, apply all unofficial patches that are available (Google to find them), w7ddpatcher can also fix any discoloration issues
The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind plus Bloodmoon and Tribunal expansions: Working, no issues
The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion and all downloadable content: Working, no issues
The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim (Steam and retail): Working, no issues
Mass Effect 2: Working, no issues
Neverwinter Nights plus Hordes Of The Underdark, Shadows Of Undrentide, And Kingmaker expansions: Working, no issues
Neverwinter Nights 2 plus Storm Of Zehir, Mask Of The Betrayer, and Mysteries Of Westgate expansions: Working, no issues
Baldur’s Gate plus Tales Of The Sword Coast expansion: Working, no issues
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter: Working, no issues
SimCity 4 Deluxe edition (plus Rush Hour): Working, no issues
Splinter Cell (original): Working, no issues
Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow: Working no issues
Splinter Cell Chaos Theory: Working, no issues
Well, that’s it for now, if anyone has any questions on what i’ve posted (or disputes to any of my claims), then just post and i’ll try to answer.
I do ask that these games be added to the list with notes, if some of them arent already there. i didnt check the list, this is just an incomplete list of games that i have found to run on R2. I have all of them installed and working properly, have tested as much as i can.
Will update this list if necessary.
I am thinking of trying to install Kasperky Pure 2012 instead of AVG. is it compatible? if not, is there a workaround?
Thanks!
i just finished using CZ to make a backup of my laptop’s HD. too bad i didnt use it to do the same thing with the external HDD that crashed 🙁 . in any case, CZ is good, but only for whole disk backups. you have to backup an entire drive (or an entire partition) or nothing at all. plus it wont let you mount it as a virtual drive so you can pluck individual files/folders off of it. i plan to use CZ probably on a weekly basis. but i also need something that can mirror both Windows and Linux as well as the boot sectors, with options both incrementally and differentially, on a daily basis that i would perform just before sleeping at night. System Restore is ok but only for Windows, plus it has a few major flaws that i dont like, and the version for R2 cant be accessed outside of Windows, like from the Windows install/repair discs. have also looked into the Acronis version that was created for Linux, cant find a cracked copy anywhere though. and am stumped as to where to look for an open source equivalent that has everything i need for daily backups. As for Windows Server Backup, i’m not sure if i’ll be utilizing it or not. Any advice?
Update at 3:38 PM: I also just noticed that the drive isnt showing up in the BIOS either. i keep a slew of USB bootable recovery softwares on hand that i use for everything from data recovery, secure data wipe methods that use NSA/CIA-style methods such as 32 passes overwrite method, 2056 bit encryption of *sensitive* data that could get me into legal trouble, hacking, etc. none of those tools are able to detect the drive. how in hell am i supposed to recover data from a drive that cant be seen on any machine or any OS, but yet supposedly the drive isnt damaged. on a side note, linux is suddenly failing to detect the drive at all. this has me stumped, and yet i cant afford to lose alot of the data. in any case, much of the data is of a highly illegal nature, so i suppose if i cant recover it then it least my conscience will be clear knowing that it’s gone forever 😈 😆
The problem just got bigger. i tried using 2 freewares, Find and Mount, and TestDisk to recover the drive’s partition. when TestDisk was done it asked me to reboot. so i did. but now the drive doesnt even show in Disk Management or Computer. i didnt tell TD to format the drive, only to recover the partition. it made it bootable or something, i think. but theres no bootable info on the drive, only stored data files. And now i have no way of knowing if the data is even on the drive since it wont show up anywhere, on any computer that i’ve tried (2 so far). have also tried accessing it from the Live Linux USB key, it acts as if it’s trying to access the drive but after 10 mins of activity nothing shows up, but still shows me that it’s mounted. it wont let me view the drive contents, only that it’s mounted and about 60% full, which sounds about right since i had occupied a little less than 600 gigs of data on it. is this drive a goner, or this there a chance that i can at least recover the data before throwing the HDD away, short of taking it to a data recovery pro? i wont be storing anything else important on it even if i’m able to fix it, dont think i can trust it. in any case, i just got this drive from Target a few weeks ago. when he knocked the cord out i check the usb port to see if it was damaged, it doesnt seem to be, and all other devices plugged into that port operate fine. i even took it to a friend (the laptop) and he thoroughly tested the port with software and many devicesm, final conclusion is it’s not damaged. as for the hdd, nothing showed for him either, he says theres a 50/50 chance he can recover the large majority of the data at no cost to me, and also a chance that nothing will work. so i’ve left it with him for now. have also tried plugging the drive into the other ports, now nothing. and have also tried using a different cord, even though the old one doesnt look damaged. the hdd shows no external signs of damage and it didnt even move when the accident happened. any advice?
To Rainwulf: no offense intended, but if you had bothered to read my posts carefully then you would have noticed that i explicitly stated that i installing the BT stack BEFORE installing the BT drivers……………..
Just figured i would provide an update on this, after installing the Bluetooth stack and running the BT drivers from the ASUS provided disc (i used the provided autoinstaller, not manual installation by running the files individually) that i modded and reburned, they installed correctly. It seems to be working ok but i suspect that i’m still missing a few features. I called both ASUS and Intel, they both state that they cant (translate: wont) help me because i’m running an unsupported OS.
I say this because when i download the updated BT drivers from ASUS support site and try to install them, the latest one labelled as Intel fails with the same error you see in my first post.
But when I install from the disc on 7 and then try to run the updated drivers on ASUS site, they install fine.
I would also like to note that there are 3 packages contained on the disc, one is from Azurewave/Atheros. that is the Bluetooth Suite itself, installs correctly on both r2 and 7. there are also 2 other files under the Intel folder, one folder is labelled “Intel BT”, and the other is labelled “Intel BT 3.0 HS”, which means high-speed 3.0. i can manually install both of those under 7 and they both show under Control Panel as being installed. When I go to the Program Files/Program Files (x86) directories, respectively, both can be found. But under R2 only the 3.0 HS one is installable, the IntelBT one from my first post is the one that gives the error.
Also, the updated Intel from ASUS is the non-HS 3.0 one. have also tried the generic non-HS 3.0 from Intel, it also fails. But i cant seem to find a direct link on the Intel site for the 3.0 HS, can anyone try to find a link for that?
i really dont think that the package is corrupted, as the installer seems to be implying, i think R2 is the cause.
And to halladayrules, i tried all your advice, none worked. 2 questions though. one is regarding the MOBO drivers. i see a folder on the disc labelled “Chipset” by Intel with a folder within Intel labelled “INFUpdate”. is that the MOBO driver? i dont think it is, intel makes my processor but ASUS makes my MOBO. i cant find anything else on the disc that seems to be related to the MOBO. where can i find my MOBO drivers, the ASUS site doesnt seem to have them available for download (maybe i’m just looking in the wrong areas)?
Also, how can i trick drivers into thinking i’m running 7? i know one method is to mod the actual driver files themselves, which is essentially what i did by modding a few .ini files on the disc to trick it into not checking my OS Version. But i have also heard about some registry entries somewhere, and theoretically if you change those to 7 values then………..well, you get my point. but that just seems a bit dangerous. have also tried Orca numerous times with various drivers/software, with some success.
For now i’m going to try not to worry about BT very much since it seems to be working, but i would like to try to dig up some answers anyway. also, if anyone can take a look at the file i uploaded in the first post then it would be appreciated. there seems to be be something in that file that implies that a file couldnt be “RegServer” during the install process.
if anyone has any feedback then reply soon.
Thanks for the advice, man. I already have a cracked copy of VMware Workstation 7, so I passed on the MegaUpload link you provided. I pirate all my software, especially after buying Vista Ultimate RTM a few years back and discovering how horrible of an OS it was. I kinda felt like i got screwed over. Ever since then I’ve been pirating everything I can find, also I dont make alot of money ATM so that gives me yet another reason, lol. I did buy a student-licensed copy of 7 ultimate while i was enrolled in business admin/management at University of Phoenix, but that was way back when 7 was first released and there were no stable working cracks for it. and besides that it only cost $30. cant beat that deal at any rate. then I found Server on DreamSpark for free.
But I have heard that Hyper-V is one of the best things about 2008 R2 from a few other ppl from are currently running it as their main OS. I asked them and they said that they are not members of this forum/site and in fact have never heard of it. All of them have jobs in the IT sector.
In your post you also state that Hyper-V has known incompatibility issues with the ITB and 3D graphics rendering. Can you provide documentation (hyperlinks) that back this up (especially the 1st comment)? Not saying I dont believe you, I just would like to read up on it. Tried searching Google but nothing specific there. I did notice that while playing Grand Theft Auto IV in online multiplayer (and single player campaign mode) as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops, my graphics would stop and go every now and then, like for instance things would be just fine, then a slight pause, then back to normal again. I think the formal term for it in gaming communities is called frame breaks or tearing or something like that. I play in windowed mode as often as I can so that might have been part of it. But GTAIV was running great before I installed the Hyper-V role. On a side note though, I have also played World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV Online and several others, all are still performing the same as before. But my system responsiveness/performance didnt seem to decrease any after installing the role, I couldnt find any noticeable difference.
What is the difference between the Hyper-V Role and the Hyper-V Feature? seems kinda redundant to me…………….
Would also like to get your take on Windows 8 Server/ Windows Server 8. has microsoft officially named it yet? how similiar/different will it be to Win8? I’ve tried the Win8 developers preview in a VM, it’s ok but needs alot of impovement before MS unleashes it upon the masses. I have heard that the Server version of 8 will include Hyper-V.
And the last thing i’d like to mention is that I feel i shouldnt have to do all this tinkering and modding etc just to get features like Bluetooth working correctly, whereas in 7 they work out of the box without all the extra effort. On the other hand doing such things are part of the joy of being a true hacker (NOT cracker!), they love to fix stuff. Thats part of the reason why i’ve been test-drive Linux and FreeBSD. Do you have any experience with either?
I have been considering installing win8 Enterprise Edition x64 as my main OS instead of Server, it’s still 7 and has all of the features of the other 7 editions, plus all vista/7 apps should work flawlessly on it without modding. And i would also have stuff like Windows Media Center and all the other 7 features that you guys have been trying to get working under Server for yrs, sometimes unsuccessfully i would like to note (not downing the hard work/efforts of anyone here so dont take that comment personally). I’m still trying to think of good reasons for not falling back on 7 as i’ve done many times in the past, but i keep finding one thing after another that doesnt function correctly under Server. I first got the idea of running Server a few yrs back from a friend who’s really into the tech scene, ever since then i’ve been jumping back and forth between Server and Vista/7. The one thing about Server that has really impressed me though, is the performance increase of Server over 7. I can honestly say it’s real, my system just seems a bit more responsive and stable with Server. So while i’m contemplating jumping ship again, i really dont want to.
I just keep thinking though that i should just run 7 as my main OS on the laptop/netbook, and install Server on a desktop which is never meant to leave home and is always connected to the Internet (dont have one yet, i prefer laptops over desktops). AFter all, MS never designed Server to be ran on machines that are portable. It just seems that I should only use Server for a few specific tasks that it’s intended for, instead of trying to use it as main. Have also considered running 7 as main and keeping R2 in a VM for tasks that 7 isnt well suited to (and the same would apply to 8/8 Server). But i just cant seem to get over the reponsiveness and customization that Server provides.
Any advice/opinions?
Lastly,what is the main difference between 7 enterprise and 2008 r2? at first glance them seem very similiar. Which purposes are each best suited to?
Well, thats all for now reply soon!
It’s not possible to open an .exe file with Orca, MSI only. However, if all you have is the lone setup.exe file, there may possibly be an .msi file contained WITHIN the .exe. you can use a program like 7-zip, winrar, or Universal Extractor to extract the contents of the exe to a folder to see if you find one. Also, when you run the exe it may extract the file’s contents to a Temporary directory somewhere on your HDD, usually under your User folder in AppData, I think. However, youve stated that the install fails, and when you click ok after the error message the installer will usually delete the temp files it created. So what you have to do is find the temp directory the files were extracted to, and then copy the contents of the folder to somewhere else on the HDD. But you must do this right after you get the error, but before you click on the dialog to confirm the error. by not giving it a chance to roll back, you can then see if temp directory has an msi file. if so, open with orca, go to the LaunchConditions tab, and see if theres anything within that prevents the prog from installing on Server. Ive done that a few times in the past month with drivers and such, and it worked for me. I will note, however, that I dont use ATI/Radeon, only NVIDIA, as i believe NVIDIA to be far superior. I like to play alot of older legacy games that were created way back in the 90s for systems like Win98, and in my experience ATI/Radeon cant run many of them well. In any case, hope this helps.
Sorry for taking so long to get back with a prompt response, but i’ve had some really pressing issues that just couldnt be put off any longer and they took awhile to resolve. In the meantime, my dad bought me a new laptop as a late birthday gift, so I now only use the netbook when my other PC runs low on battery, which doesnt take very long. I am, however, upgrading the ram to 2 gigs, just placed my order online and it should arrive any day now.
ExpertUser: Thanks for the tool you linked, it’s definitely a keeper. i did use it on the netbook but it still showed the driver as being not loaded. So I gave up in frustration and reinstalled Windows, along with all the drivers. I then reinstalled AVG after that and the SD cards still loaded properly. I do think i found the reason why, although I’m not 100% sure on this, but I think that they failed to recognize because i wasnt safely ejecting them after use. when i used the safe eject feature, Windows read my cards each and every time without exception. when they werent properly ejected, any card i put in after that did nothing. as for the driver suddenly not being loaded by the kernel, i’m not sure why that would have been the case.
As for the 64 bit thing, I dont think thats an issue, my previous x64 installs on other machines have never had problems recognizing sd cards and usb drives, except in cases where the device itself was faulty.
HalladayRules: I have read some of your posts here and saw that your name is Steve. Well, so is mine. Nice to be acquainted with you. But getting on with it, do you know of any commercially available apps that do what SuperFetch does, but in a more efficient manner, and/or also arent explicitly dependent upon support in the Kernel? I have used the Converter linked on the main page of this site to build in some new features, and the SuperFetch service is now running, but when i go to the Properties tab of a usb flash drive the ReadyBoost tab doesnt show up. what am I doing wrong? I watched your video(s) in the last post and I kind of understand the points you are trying to make. But I still have no way of knowing if the SuperFetch cache is populating, if at all, or why the ReadyBoost tab doesnt appear. I rebooted promptly after making the changes in the Converter. And I don’t quite get the concept of how to enable boot optimization like your video shows, much less how to perform a proper benchmark to see if it’s actually working or not.
ExpertUser: I am extremely eager (and impatient) to get this issue resolved, so I have also posted a similar topic to the SevenForums.com forums. I understand you are trying to help, and I appreciate your assistance.
That’s all for now!
Cant remember how i solved this issue, but i think it had something to do with rebooting, reinstaling the newest version of the Windows Update agent, and trying again. found the solution on the Microsoft TechNet forums or somewhere similar. it worked the 2nd time around.
I forgot to respond to this long ago, but I did manage to find a version that worked correctly under R2. when i originally made the 1st post i was still running 2008 32 bit (not r2), i then switched to R2 when i discovered that this netbook’s processor supports a 64 bit OS. i then discovered that the 7 version of the driver installs and works fine under R2, but found a more recent version so i’m using that instead.
