Some problems with Windows7 and games

I just bought a new computer (HP Compaq DC5700) that's running Windows 7 Ultimate as the OS, and has a 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 processor and 3 GB RAM. I transferred some of the games I has on my old computer (Windows XP). Most work fine and some I used to play on the XP system do not run in Windows 7. Some have an intermittent crackling noise when performing certain actions, or have missing sounds. (I can play other sound apps with no problem). Also, the loaded Microsoft games don't run (except Chess Titans). I get the message "Executable for (game name) has stopped working. A problem has caused the program to stop working correctly." I tried the games feature on and off and also doing a sfc /scannow. These didn't help.

What's wrong with my new system and is there a fix?

 

Right-click on the main .exe of each game, and select properties. Then go to the Compatibility tab, set it to compatibility mode for XP SP3 (or XP SP2 if that doesn't help), and set it to always run As Administrator. If the game is being really ornery, uninstall, and make all these changes for the install files, then reinstall the game. Then make the same changes to the game's main exe again.

Picture shows where to put check marks.

 

I got as far as the compatibility tab, but everything was grayed out on all programs.

 

Huh.:confused. That's odd. Are you in a guest account on your computer?

 

How can I tell?

 

In the control panel, you can look up your account type under "user accounts". If you are the only one using the computer, it should say that your account is Administrator. That means you have admin rights within your account, but not over the entire computer.

The games that have the options grayed out, are they the ones you transferred from your XP computer to this new 7 computer? How did you move them over?

 

My account said I am the Owner/Administrator. The Microsoft games came already on the computer. The older games were transferred from the HD of the old computer by the tech from whom I purchased the new system.

 

Just copying a game over doesn't make it playable. It needs to be installed, so it can create its own registry entries, file paths, and all that good stuff it needs to run. Any game that was "transferred over" is suspect, and is unlikely to work properly.

If you're administrator/owner, then you have all privileges you need in your account to make the changes I talked bout earlier. If it doesn't let you, we need to find out why the game is refusing you. Are all the Microsoft games that came with the PC working properly or no?

Are the older games the ones with the options grayed out?

 

Some games that were transferred work, a lot of the older games don't work. When I click on their icons I get the message attached. The only Microsoft game that works that was already on the computer when purchased is Chess Titans, none of the others run (solitaire, Hearts, Minesweeper, etc.). It's mystifying why the chess games works and none of the others.

 

Sorry about vanishing like that. Car problems took over.

This might be the first time I've seen that error message for a game in Windows 7, which worries me. You don't say if you have a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 7, but if 64-bit, you may need to uninstall and reinstall your games to the 32-bit Program folder, "C:\Program Files (x86)". When something is installed there, Windows 7 know that it has to run that file in 32-bit compatibility mode, and does it automatically. (I'm unsure of the details on how, but I know that works and is a must with some older programs.

 

Okay, I copied one game to the x86 folder, but I still get the same message when I try to play it.

 

That path shows that you just copied to your desktop (or perhaps installed to the desktop?). Did you just copy the folders from one computer to the other? Do you still have the installer's for those files?

Not familiar with crazy8s, but you can try using the windows 7 compatibility center: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Default.aspx?type=Software

or ntcompatible's site: http://www.ntcompatible.com/compatdb/search

 

When I bought my new system, the tech at the shop transferred the files for me, so that's how they got on the new HD. I don't remember having to install them, just downloaded and ran. The Crazy 8s is an old DOS based game.

 

DOS game? Aha! Check this out. It's always served me well.

 

I found a solution - I had to copy the games folder from Program Files folder into the Program Files(x86) folder, then change the compatibility settings. They were set to run in Vista and I changed it to Windows 7 and they worked. Thanks for your suggestions, though.

 

Great! :highfive

Thanks for posting the solution, that's going to be very helpful for others in the same situation.