Yo if anyone can help me here is my dilemma:
Every time I goto create game (multiplayer), then internet, it allows me to create a server, it welcomes me into the server, then it says i have an invalid cd key! I dont understand it as I never get it when i join servers....also another mini-problem, i have a few xfire friends who can host servers, but it wont let me connect to theirs unless its a sapp (dedicated), i keep getting retrying server.
If you can help with either 1 or both that would be awesome.

(btw if you wanna add me in xfire for some reason my names halo1war10rd)

your problem stems from the fact that you pirated the game, either purchase it or run a dedicated server.

first i meant halo custom edition not combat evolved, and second i hav the exact same version as one of my friends who is able to run it perfectly good, and he nvr has problems lol.
Thx for your answer though, ill try it.

If you haven't paid for Halo, Custom Edition or not, you've pirated it. CE Portable is not a legal version of the game.

As stated above, you must purchase your own copy of the game. This will fix your problems.

@ scott

ive said it wrong, we both did the exact same download from here in hce.halomaps.org
we both hav same cracks, and patches, same updates.....i didnt mean tht i got a copy of his game from HIM. and i did a tiny bit of research (lazy) and found all this stuff about ports and firewall etc. and i bought halo combat evolved from shop, cd, brand new, and i hav same problem in it, i cant host. so everyone stop telling me needing to purchase it pls.

If you were using a legit copy of the game, you wouldn't need cracks and you wouldn't get the invalid CD key message. You don't as far as the welcome message if your key is invalid.

know wat, thank u everyone for trying to help, but i think ill cancel this when i figure out how and try yahoo answers. they might b more informative.

So you have a pirate version of the game and do not have a legitimate version of Halo PC with the Key printed in the yellow box on the CD cover.
You have this problem precisely because you do not have have a the retail Halo PC version of the Game with a valid CD key. That is why it is telling you that you have an invalid key because you do.

Purchase the Halo PC game:
http://www.google.com/products?q=Halo+Combat+Evolved+%2F+PC+&show=dd

In order to install the Halo CE (Custom Edition) game you MUST own a copy of the Halo PC Retail version of the game and have the CD Product Key number which is printed on the yellow sticker labeled "Product Key". If you do not have the correct Halo PC CD Key you will not be able to install or run the game. Installing the Halo CE game will not affect or change your Halo PC Game they can both run on the same computer.

before i get rid of this thread or watever u wanna call it, (this is @ dennis-dont take it the wrong way dennis) i just wanted to say tht i hav already said tht i bought halo combat evolved brand new!!!!!! and ur wrong dennis, u can use a keygen to get cdkey for halo custom edition and it allows u to play it, so when u said MUST its not a must. looking forward 2 this thread or watever dissapearing because im already sick of ppl telling me something ive already done, also the big point, my cd key isnt invalid, it is from yellow sticker on back of disc case, and it was brand new at eb-games. tht is y i put this here, because i know my key is valid.

Say what you like but after admitting to using cracks and mentioning keygens (they're either not valid or blacklisted, so you know), nobody is going to believe you. Your jab about the keygen makes it pretty obvious that you've used one to produce a key and still believe that it's a valid key. The only reason it works in some servers is because they've disabled key checks.

If you purchased the game and have an actual key, download CE from this site and reinstall it without using cracks and your invalid key problem will be solved.

By the way, the sticker isn't on the back of the case. ":)"
Edited by Btcc22 on Dec 31, 2012 at 10:14 PM

I'm assuming that's the inlay from the large cardboard box copies.


Edited by Btcc22 on Dec 31, 2012 at 10:43 PM

Quite welcome. Remember the shiny side should be facing up. ;)
Edited by Btcc22 on Dec 31, 2012 at 10:52 PM

No sir I am not. In order to comply with the copyright and the legally binding end user license agreement you MUST own a copy of the Halo PC game in order to install and run the game. Halo Custom Edition is not totally free software which is why it requires you to own a copy of the Halo PC game and to use the Halo PC Game license key to play the game. If you use a key gen and do not own the Halo PC game you are very simply a software pirate and in violation of the copyright and the license agreement, you know, the one you agreed to when you installed the game.

This is not what you said earlier and I quote you "we both hav same cracks,". This implies that you do not have a licensed copy of the Halo PC game because you would have no reason to install a crack if you have a licensed product key.


So Let's start again: you are saying that you have a clean install of the Halo CE game installed as administrator using the retail Halo PC license key from the yellow sticker and you have applied the 1.09 update and and do not have any third party programs running. You have also NOT given your License Key to ANYONE else that has the Halo CE game and when you try to host an internet game locally it complains that you do not have a valid License key? Is that right?

This is the same for me. But yes I have the huge cardboard one

This is why you have to make your own case.2013
Edited by Banshee64 on Jan 1, 2013 at 03:33 PM

Yes that is right, and I'll just clear something up by saying that I merely got the crack in an attempt to fix my problem, I have since removed it as it was useless.
May I ask what programs you classify as "third party programs"?
(sorry for late reply I have been on holiday)
But yes, you have it all correct now, so whatever happens next I won't argue anymore.

Since you did use a crack you may have a corrupt registry tree for Halo CE and the invalid CD key is still recorded in the registry. You may need to completely uninstall and remove Halo CE from your computer and then check in the registry and manually remove the key: (assuming you have a 64 bit win 7 or Vista OS)
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Halo CE) then re install with the valid retail CD key.

I have looked up the problem, having a similar issue myself. Owning both an Xbox Live Gold account and both the original and Anniversary version of the game I think it is bs that we have to pay for another copy in order to play. Also as Halo Custom Edition is neither supported or run by Bungie, 343, Microsoft, or Gamespy, I am a little curious as to why this issue has not been taken out. On top of that, original cd keys have almost all been used before, and there's not really any such thing as an unopened Halo Combat Evolved. I have looked at multiple ways to get past the issue, one involves simply setting up a dedicated server. This is included in the installation files under haloceded.exe The only problem with this I have encountered is that the registry includes no init.txt, which is what you use to set up things such as server name and which maps/game types to use in the server, and when I created a new init.txt the software can't connect. If you look up how to set up a server for halo custom edition you can find instructions pretty easily. However, if someone could suggest a fix for the init.text issue? And btw the server should be able to run custom maps as long as they are designed for multiplayer.
Edited by Noble Six ROCKS on Oct 22, 2015 at 04:56 PM

Never go full retard

http://www.amazon.com/Halo-Combat-Evolved-PC/dp/B00009TW6R/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445602732&sr=8-1&keywords=halo+pc

Based on this ^ there are a few unopened ones for <$15 USD. That being said, I wouldn't pay $15 for an unopened 15 year old game, so just get a dedicated server running on your machine.

Go to xhalo.tk, download sapp (it comes with the 1.10 altered haloceded.exe), extract all the files inside into your root Halo CE directory, and then follow the setup instructions on the sapp site.

You may need to change your client halo port settings from 2302/2303 to 2303/2304 or something, so that if the server is running on your local machine they won't be conflicting. Otherwise players will join but you won't be able to, because your client/server are arm-wrestling for the same ports.

Good luck.

So:

Uninstall halo using this: http://www.revouninstaller.com/ (Use a tutorial if you don't know how)

Clean up your registry after using this: https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

Reboot and try again.

I'm trying to set up a server myself and I didn't know that about the ports. Thanks for alerting me.