Age of empires II won't work via windows 10

I made copies of my hard drives, windows 7 update also disabled the game so buy a hard disk put 7 on it but don't update it and it will work in your system.  Windows 10 run on another hard drive just swap them out. I did get the first disk to work on 10 of the 3 disk set. I noticed improved graphics in the windows 10 installation. I really like installing ssd drives in old computers at they work wonders on the old slower and hot computers. If anyone finds a method for keeping the two hard drives in at the same time let me know. I Tried one multiboot program but it did not work.

I also have the steam version of AoE II with the expansions, have you or anyone managed to find a fix for this yet?  I have only just updated to windows 10 and as it was a Microsoft game did not think it wouldn't work !  Any help appreciated.

OK just after I posted this my husband found a solution on another forum site, for the Steam version of AoE II HD Edition.  It has worked for us so I hope this works for anyone else with the same problem.

Open up steam and find your game in your library

Right click on the game and go to properties

from properties go to Local Files

then click on Verify Integrity of Game Cache ....

this will take a few minutes to run, and you may get a error message at the end saying 1 file was unable to update, but don't worry about it, it still works.

Close this down then open up your game, you may find it stalls in the first screen and looks like its not working, but if you just click on the mouse (my mouse icon had vanished, but you can still just click it) it will go to the main game screen and should work as normal from there.

I know its not ideal but at least the game should now work.  I hope it works for you as it has done for us.

Hello, I know this is almost a year after the posted question, but I have found a fix for this problem. I have the CD version of AOE II Gold Edition. I first played it on another PC running windows 7. However, once I tried playing it on my new PC running Windows 10, it seized to work. I had to go through multiple steps to fix this issue. Many sources were used.

4% Installation Issue

The first problem I encountered was the game getting stuck at 4%. In order to fix this you must go to your PC where the CD can be found. Right click and copy the CD then proceed to paste it on your desktop. Now, open that file,  go to SYSTEM, then go to FONTS. Install every single font, even if it says it already exists. That should fix the 4% issue.

Patches

1)After the game is done downloading it wouldn't open at all for me, even as administrator. The first step is to download and install the first patch found on    http://aok.heavengames.com/blacksmith/showfile.php?fileid=11438   . Click the download button in red stating "Download file".

2)Once you have installed this, install the second patch found on    http://userpatch.aiscripters.net/   . I checked everything in the options given. A device such as WinRAR might be needed to open these files.

YOU MUST install the patches in the order given!!! -installing these patches in order should also fix the "empty error message with a red X" if you are experiencing this.

Compatibility

After the patches have been installed, right click the AOE II desktop icon (the one that shows up after installing the game), go to properties, and then compatibility. I have, "Run this program in compatibility mode for" : Windows XP (Service pack 2) enabled. I also have "Run this program as administrator" enabled. Click APPLY and OK. I did not reduce the color mode as it did not comply with my PC (it made the game look weird... do not change the resolution either.) The game should open now. It should start off in a small screen. You may change the screen size in the options located in the menu. Please note that once you click play, the game will automatically go to the screen option chosen (full screen for me on 1600x900). -you may play around with the compatibility options in order to suit your PC's needs-.

Please feel free to ask any questions relating this problem, sincerely Astefan Jamil.

Frustratingly I have the digital copy through steam and that still doesn't work.

There is not a fix from Microsoft on this issue, and they do not plan on providing one.

I called them, as I own the entire Age of Empires & Age of Mythology collection, and their official response is;

Microsoft security prevents Safedisc copy protection on the disc from running and is not supported in windows 10.

They recommend that you purchase the new Online version of the game.

The patch listed above does not apply to the windows 10 issue, and "gameJackal" costs more than the new game as well as opening your system to security threats, so there are no good options, we just got screwed by Microsoft.