New computer (again, I've spent at least £5000 on computers in the last few months. These things really aren't made to work are they?)
Halo 2 installed fine, 64 bit windows 7... I had it running on this before but it just doesn't want to start. I've already bypassed the Live gaming could not initialize error and now I get this:

Here are computer specs (I'm likely to be asked for them anyways)

It could be because I installed it to a secondary hard drive, Halo custom edition didn't seem to like that either but I don't see why...

I use C for my main OS (win 7) and programs and games that dont like D or G
I use D for my games
I use X for my work server stuffs :3
I use G for my other OS's

Edit: I'm actually getting something now! I get a black screen with no sound then a white screen then a "Halo 2 for Windows Vista is not responding" message
WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE!
Edited by CRXxSkillzxXRC on Nov 11, 2012 at 01:36 PM
Edited by CRXxSkillzxXRC on Nov 20, 2012 at 02:31 AM

Meeting eh? I see your game. Making us do all the work while you sit playing games.
Just kidding. Try another laptop?

Sorry lol

It's my personal one

From the second screenshot location (System) you provided click on Device Manager, then click the icon next to Display Adapters, now tell us what it says there as that is your video card(s) and it is important.

Some laptops have a hybrid setup where they have two GPUs (video cards), if this is the case your computer may be trying to use the weaker internal GPU which cannot run H2V.


Notice under Installed Memory (again from the System screenshot) it says you have 4GBs of RAM but you can only use 3.78GBs; this means that some of your memory is being used elsewhere, most likely by an onboard video card, in other words it looks like you have a weak video card, will know more when you let us know what card your system has. Never buy a laptop with any type of Intel graphics! Slow, so slow.


Also, I see your processor is only a Celeron. Celeron's are not very good processors, I hope you did not spend all that money just on this laptop because if so it was not worth it. You can usually pick up laptops with Celeron chips for $300 and up. Again, slow.


Make sure you download all of the Windows Updates. Update your Direct-X.

£5000 for fixing a laptop. With that money, you could get a gaming laptop (unnecessary, but shows that it's a lot of money used to fix your celeron laptop)

Most likely you have an intel integrated gpu. Try going to the intel website and downloading the latest drivers.
Edited by XlzQwerty1 on Nov 11, 2012 at 07:48 PM

Exactly, what I'm trying to say is that he should have gotten a new computer/laptop if he's spent that much money trying to fix old computers like a celeron.

I can never be bothered to get laptops fixed, usually it works out cheaper (and more time efficient) to get another. If I see a laptop I like, in the virtual basket it goes. It cost roughly the same as my last one but I preferred this one as it had more hard drive space and RAM.

@Kills Alone
I updated the display stuffs (looks like it was outdated, hopefully this gets the job done)
Edit: Now it's saying that some important files to run the game are missing. GOD DAMN HALO 2!
Edited by CRXxSkillzxXRC on Nov 12, 2012 at 10:43 AM

What files? Like missing .DLLs? Did you update Direct-X and run Windows Update?

I think the point everyone is missing is that not all games are created equal. Halo 2 yes, is a nearly 10 year old game, but that does not mean that it requires a lot less horsepower to get it running. I used to play a lot of games on my old AMD Sempron and even games like Prototype and a few emu's ran perfectly fine. but.....try to play Halo 2 on it, and the machine almost seizes completely.

As Kills stated, the Celeron and Intel integrated graphics are most likely the root cause. I wouldn't take integrated Intel anything even if you payed me. I installed Windows 7 on my daughters laptop, which is pretty much the same thing you got, except she has an Acer. She can't even play games like Minecraft, or those browser based games without the framerate dropping to like 4 or 5 frames per second, and at time it just freezes. If you want to get Halo 2 up and running, get a dual core, a little more ram, and a dedicated card. And don't listen to any of these idiots who say Live this, or Windows 7 compatibility that...their all idiots. I installed H2 on Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit and never had one single issue to this day.

excuse me, but they released a patch for windows 7 well after windows 7's release allowing halo 2(and other vista/xbox games) to be playable. most windows 7 systems after the patch has the compatibility, so yes, halo 2 was incompatible with most (including mine) windows 7 systems. also, it's "they're", thank you for calling us idiots :)

the patch should show up if you run an update scan, otherwise it's all over the internet and maybe on the official halo 2 support page. the multiplayer is still up, but barely anyone plays it and it tends to dissolve into battle rifle contests.
Edited by master noob on Nov 13, 2012 at 09:35 PM

I like how you keep repeating what I already suggested as if it were new information.

Everyone should know that Celeron CPUs and Intel GPUs are bottom of the barrel thus games will run slower on them.

But my point was that he may have two GPUs and to test his system with other games to see how it works out; he has not responded to either request so we cannot know more, we can only make assumptions and educated guesses. He did update his display drivers but we still do not know what type of GPU it is.

TwinReaper is correct; if he just got this new system there is the possibility that he can take it back or get some type of upgraded hardware if it is not giving enough gaming power but first we need more information.



@OP: Like I said (and you may have already done), run Windows Update which should update your Direct-X and GPU as well.

You can usually get a newer graphics driver from the manufacturer, usually a newer driver then what Windows Update provides.

Then tell us what files are missing. And tell us if any other games can run and how well. If you want to test another game try an FPS as they usually push a system harder. If you can run any newer FPS games then H2V such as Crysis then that would tell us a lot about your system.

He heh I'm back! (Holiday in Tenerife, amazing)
Ran windows update and all that, same problem. Then 2 hours later my Windows 7 got corrupted. YEY!
So I re installed it and went out and bought a few new games off of ebay (AC3, Hitman Absolution) and after my V+C, headed down to GAME and got Sleeping dogs. All fantastic games, running at perfect speed even if I'm rendering videos in the background (which was quite a challenge for my old laptop)
When I fish out Halo 2 from my games box under my coffee table I will reinstall and see if anything has changed.
Edit: I miss my old laptop :'(
Edited by CRXxSkillzxXRC on Nov 19, 2012 at 10:38 PM

That I shall try when I get back from work, I did have it befre on my old one but I totally forgot about that. I'm reinstalling Halo 2 now and will be back at about 4pm (or 10 am on halomaps, don't know what time zone that is)

Many laptops have multiple GPUs, I already explained that. It makes sense for a laptop to have different GPUs as the lower end GPU reqires less power, but I'm not here to inform you, I'm here to help the OP.


@CRXxSkillzxXRC

The secondary HDD is not a problem unless its an external drive. I've had H2V installed on internal C, D, E, and F drives.

Okay so the other (and newer) games worked; that tells us a lot more. It tells us that the hardware is not the issue, unless of course there are two GPUs.

Obviously you need to update the Live software, I mean seriously how could you play on Live without doing so, but you do that when you launch H2V, it should attempt to connect to Live and then tell you you need an update, it might repeat the process a few times and it might help to run H2V as an Admin when trying to update it.

I've had a few H2V installs on Windows 7 go fine, others required Windows Update to complete. Meanwhile on Windows 8 it did not require Windows Update although it did say the software might be incompatible yet it updated and ran without any issues.

Well I'm back early, so if the GWFL thing don't work then I'll try it on Windows 7's ugly younger sister

Windows 8 is a solid OS. Just because it is different and takes getting used to, does not make it "an ugly younger sister". I actually prefer the stability and scalability of windows 8 over Windows 7.

As for Tiel, Kills does IT for a living, I think he has you beat with the hardware aspect of the issues the OP is facing if he is facing any....we still don't know. Starting a flame war with him over the hardware is not helping the OP get answers to his questions. As for GPU swapping, fail. Most modern laptops have integrated GPU on the board, and a secondary "actual card". My old Dell Inspiron from 5 years ago had it, the only problem is, that the laptop market is limited in upgrade options.

That being said, it does not break the bank to get an updated rig with moderate specs, as long as you know how to get more bang out of your buck via proper cooling and overclocking. For 3 hundred bucks, I could build a nice low-end gaming rig with an octo-core AM1, a GTX 550 and 8 gig of ram. From the sounds of the OP, he is looking simply for a mobile alternative to get his gaming fix.

OP, have you tried what Kills said? have you ran H2V as "Admin"? Also, do you have UAC turned off?
Edited by Twinreaper on Nov 21, 2012 at 07:49 PM

Ok, it's been a while but that's because everytime I updated my computer it wouldn't start again but it's all good now. I re installed windows and all my GWFL games and Halo 2 starts up fine but is presenting me with a new problem now:

But I'm signed in on live fine: