Age of Empires 2 on Windows 7 has color issues

Anonymous
2009-05-15T17:57:15+00:00

Hello, i want to run Age of Empires 2 on my Windows 7 rc computer. But there are color issuse when i run it, the grass aren't green and the water isent blue. How should i do to fix this? I have try to run it complatify with windows xp service pack 2, and installd some driexct 9 drivers. but not result to better colors. I hope someone have a good answer, because i love this game.

Frozzare, Scout in Sweden

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Gaming

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2009-05-29T12:28:55+00:00

Go into task manager select the processes tab and end explorer.exe then alt-tab back into age of empires

Note: this will make your task bar disapear and any open folders

To restart explorer open the task manager agian in the aplications tab hit new task and type explorer in the box

The colours change because of the Aero theme's poor handling of colours

Edit:

You can also make a batch file with the following lines and place it in the same location as your age of empires 2 executable

taskkill /F /IM Explorer.exe

age2_x1.exe

Start explorer.exe

Was this answer helpful?

200+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

201 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2011-04-25T16:01:40+00:00

    Thanks, Amakuni, the batch file idea works.

    For those who need further instructions on how to do this:

    1. Open Notepad and copy over the following three lines:

    taskkill /F /IM Explorer.exe

    age2_x1.exe

    Start explorer.exe

    Make sure there are no spaces at the start of any lines, or at the end.

    2. Save the file as 'Run.bat' (no quotes, you can change the name to what you want if you want).

    3. Move the file to the location of the game executable (usually somewhere like C:\Program Files\Age of Empires).

    4. Run the file you just made and it should work. After you exit the game, it should return Windows to normal.

    This solution was Amakuni's, not mine!

    Rifdhan

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2011-04-01T20:11:45+00:00

    This one worked great for me i found this after 20 mins of searching on Google for the solution, so sharing it with you guys to save you the trouble.

    There is another way to fix this issue. Works fine for me (Win7 32/ also tried 64Bit).

    Advantage is you dont have to run a tool, just add following to registry:

    32Bit Vista / Win7 Code:

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectDraw\Compatibility\aoe2x10cp]

    "Name"="age2_x1.exe"

    "ID"=hex:EC,33,74,3B

    "Flags"=hex:00,08,00,00

    64Bit Vista / Win7 Code:

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\DirectDraw\Compatibility\aoe2x10cp] "Name"="age2_x1.exe"

    "ID"=hex:EC,33,74,3B

    "Flags"=hex:00,08,00,00

    1. Just create a new text file . And while saving in front of save as type select All Files. And give name as "age2.reg".
    2. Copy and Paste the code for your OS (32Bit or 64Bit) in that file. Save it.
    3. Import the File to the registry by double clicking it. And select yes at both the message windows that appear.
    4. Remember to RESTART before starting the game.
    5. Voila DONE.  And nothing to do with explorer.exe or any windows file at all. This file just edits parameters of the game file which are reset once you reinstall.

    You also can do the registry changes manually, but its much more comfortable this way.

    Hope this helps someone else also.

    HF

    Thanks to BeyondGolem for this post

    Taken from http://www.voobly.com/forum/thread/5573 at the end of page

    Made some changes in the instructions to run the file so any newbie can do it.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2011-03-23T03:57:41+00:00

    Well...ending explorer.exe works for all, best I can tell. The .bat file workaround did not work for me: it did not recognize the required launch cd that was present. Tried a couple of permutations of that fix with no success. ending explorer.exe is kind of like cutting butter with a mallet, but it works. Still waiting for uber Hero to come up with universal fix for all AOE games on Win7.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2011-03-18T19:41:06+00:00

    If, like me, you don't want to clobber explorer, try opening Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Display\Screen Resolution (right click on desktop and select Screen Resolution) before running Age of Kings.

    I am not at all certain why this helps but it does.

    By the way, really impressed to see this many people still playing AOK.  Perhaps MS should concider re-releasing it for 64 bit systems....

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments