How to: Play Diablo 2 on Windows Vista!

[yo1mcool]

After some problems running Diablo 2 with my new computer, I emailed the Blizz Tech team about Vista...

If any of you guys have Vista and cant get Diablo 2 to start up or run, try this.

Right click on the short cut, and click on Properties.

When that window pops up, go to the Compatibility Tab. (The middle one of the five)

Once in there, choose these options:

(Run in 256 Colors, Run this program as an administrator)

If this method does not fix your problem (it fixed mine), please read this email that I received from Blizzard with additional ways to fix it.

Good Luck!

Greetings,

Thank you for emailing the Blizzard technical support department in
regards to your issue. If you are running Microsoft Windows Vista and are
having problems running Diablo II, we have some troubleshooting steps
that will assist in getting the game up and running.

If at any point you receive an error message from Windows stating "This
program has known compatibility issues," please first make sure the
game is fully patched to the most recent version. You can patch the game
by connecting to Battle.net for the auto-patch or you can download and
run the stand-alone patch from the Diablo II Patch Page at
http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=mdt0387p. If the patch does not
correct the problem, please reinstall the game per the instructions
below.

Now, run a thorough scandisk and defrag of your hard drive(s). You
will probably find it helpful to disable your screen saver and power
management features before you scandisk or defrag. Sometimes Windows will
restart the defragmentation and/or scandisk if your screen saver or
power management kicks in. The following webpage has instructions on how to
complete this: http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=mgi0559p.

Now reinstall Diablo II and download and install the latest Diablo II
patch from http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=mdt0387p.

If you are still encountering problems please test the game after
trying each of the steps below. Each solution listed has been reported to
solve these problems for other customers.

- Make sure the latest video drivers you are using are compatible with
the latest version of DirectX or you could experience video problems.
Contact your video card manufacturer to ensure compatibility if you
cannot find the information on the page you downloaded your video drivers
from. Make sure you have the latest version of DirectX from
http://www.microsoft.com/directx/hom...ds/default.asp.

- Make sure you have the latest drivers for your Video and Sound cards.
You'll want to check with your computer manufacturer or the Video/Sound
card manufacturer's website for the current drivers that match the
model of card you have in your system. A list of manufacturers with contact
information can be found at
http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=msi02054p.

- Download and install the latest chipset drivers for your motherboard.
Check the motherboard manufacturer's website for updated chipset
drivers, first. If you can't find updated drivers at the manufacturer's
website, the next two most common locations for chipset drivers are
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2 and
http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/

- Before starting the game, make sure there are no other programs
running in the background. Instructions for how to shutdown all background
applications can be found at
http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=agn0558p.

- Our games run in 640 x 480 with 256 colors. Try setting your desktop
to this resolution on going to the Compatibility tab before starting
the game. Vista users may find they cannot set this resolution, so they
can skip this step. If you are not sure how to do this please contact
Microsoft for further assistance.

- Make sure all Power Management settings are disabled or turned off.
If you have a screen saver, set it to "None" before playing the game.

We only offer support for the game if played on an Administrator
account. Please make sure the game is running in administrator mode. In
order to set the game as Administrator Mode, please follow the steps below:

1. Right click on the Diablo II icon.
2. Select "Run as Administrator"

If you have additional permissions questions, you should refer to your
Windows help files or documentation.

If that does not allow you to run the game, please make sure you set
the game to Windows XP SP 2 compatibility mode.

1. Right click on the Diablo II icon.
2. Select "Properties"
3. Click on the "Compatibility" tab
4. Select "Windows XP SP2"
5. Click "OK"

In some instances we have found disabling the User Account Control
(UAC) has also alleviated some of the strict permissions Vista has.

NOTE: Disabling the UAC can open your computer up to potential
security risks. Please be advised if you are not comfortable disabling this
we recommend you contact Microsoft for further options.

To disable the UAC:

1. Click "Start"
2. Click "Control Panel"
3. Click "User Accounts"
4. Under the User Accounts screen click on "User Accounts" (this is a
second time you'll see this option)
5. Click on "Turn User Account Control on or off"
6. Uncheck "Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your
computer.
7. Click "OK"
8. Click "Restart Now"

Please let me know if any of this helps.


Regards,
Peter N.
Technical support
Blizzard Entertainment

http://www.blizzard.com/support

[Arsenic]

There's another way.

Go to your game folder. (Default would be C:/Program Files/Diablo II/)
Run diablo2.exe. It will load for about 2 seconds and then stop.
Run game.exe. It will load again for about 2 seconds and then stop.
Then run D2VidTst (Video Test file). This will start testing your video card / screen / whatever and after about 10 seconds - Diablo2 will start and you can start playing.

Also, d2loader doesn't work with vista. The program needs to be rewritten.

[EvilArchy]

Vista sucks anyway. If you can't get d2 to run on vista... uNiNsT4LL ViS7a aSaPPrZzzZz!!1

[demonater10]

I have an easier solution, don't use vista.

[iGuard]

hmm does multitool work or am i screwed?
i havent got vista in the mail yet, but its coming

[Coldstone]

hmm does multitool work or am i screwed?
i havent got vista in the mail yet, but its coming

As multitool is just an Installer for D2Loader, you cant play, if D2Loader doesnt work.

[King Of Kings]

hmm does multitool work or am i screwed?
i havent got vista in the mail yet, but its coming

Screwed man, guess you have to find teh disc and not use loader w/ like modified .dll's so you can run 2 d2's. Thats why you might have to use Onlyer's to play 2cdkeys. But it'll be updated for Vista, eventually.

[Coldstone]

If you have quite some memory in your PC, you could try to do it differently by using VirtualPC or something similar to generate a virtual machine and install WinXP under it, but somehow i doubt this is really an optimal solution

[dehnar]

Yarly...i have a few harddrives... i swapout for 98/xp/vista all the time. depending on what im doing. i dont even put my comver back on anymore because i just take it right back off again to swap harddrives. Lol.

[JamesgelFtW]

vista isnt bad its just that you have to get used to it. Sure you cant use multitool now but im sure you will be able to later on when they make one for it. As for exerything else it is a pretty good system now that i have it.

[vlcmskater]

Yea other than the few screw ups that vista has now when it gets on track it will be **** loads better than xp but now it still has major bugs drawing people away from it.

Also I get a *** error telling me that I don't have the disc in the drive I have 2 cd drives one dvd one cd and I put it in both still no luck.

[demonater10]

I know this thread is old and quite possibly should have been stickied, but booting to xp on dual boot is much easier and ensures that there will be no such issues.

Case closed.

[Forsaken]

funny i havent really had any problems with vista at all.

[SuperJ24]

funny i havent really had any problems with vista at all.

after using vista for a week now, i havnt either, getting ready to load up diablo on here, but wanted to read this thread first.

[Zerrin]

I run vista on all of my computers. I dont see what the big deal is. Sure, you need a powerful computer because it's a power hog but if you dont have a powerful computer in the first place you shouldn't be gaming. I love vista! It's not much different than XP but hey I get Direct X 10 and it has a sleeker look. I'm sure soon games will be only utilizing Direct X 10 and you will have to switch over.

Yeah, it has compatability issues with older games but thats typically easy to by pass because companies have patched thier games to be compatible with vista. Or you can make games run as if you have windows XP.

In all truth it has few problems. Most of these problems are with older games and are easily remedied and others are massive problems (can't detect cds and such) but they will fix it and what then? People will switch and games will be more focused on utilizing Direct X 10. Vista is the future people get ready to switch.

P.S. And to you Mac users just go shove it. You buy them cause they are "easier" but in truth they are proprietary and only compatible with mostly other apple products. When it comes to a upgrade, good luck with that.

[Forsaken]

I run vista on all of my computers. I dont see what the big deal is. Sure, you need a powerful computer because it's a power hog but if you dont have a powerful computer in the first place you shouldn't be gaming. I love vista! It's not much different than XP but hey I get Direct X 10 and it has a sleeker look. I'm sure soon games will be only utilizing Direct X 10 and you will have to switch over.

Yeah, it has compatability issues with older games but thats typically easy to by pass because companies have patched thier games to be compatible with vista. Or you can make games run as if you have windows XP.

In all truth it has few problems. Most of these problems are with older games and are easily remedied and others are massive problems (can't detect cds and such) but they will fix it and what then? People will switch and games will be more focused on utilizing Direct X 10. Vista is the future people get ready to switch.

P.S. And to you Mac users just go shove it. You buy them cause they are "easier" but in truth they are proprietary and only compatible with mostly other apple products. When it comes to a upgrade, good luck with that.

i only got 1 game out of like 40 that wont play under vista and that's railroad tycoon 3 tried eveything i've ever thought up and most what other people have thought up and still nothin hehe