Game not starting in Windows 10

[wardepotdavid]

Hi all

I bought a new gaming laptop running windows 10 recently and found in my email my old download links from purchasing some of the CM games (not all unfortunately). I downloaded CMA and all the patches and also CMSF NATO. I installed all and applied patches and when I try to run either game my mouse pointer thinks for around 5 seconds and then nothing. I have tried running as administrator and also running in compatibility mode in various windows versions but nothing works.

What have I missed? 

[rocketman]

Do you by any chance have a MSI laptop? In that case exit the Nahimic sound control app and CM should launch. I'm trying to get around this problem myself.

[wardepotdavid]

Its as ASUS ROG laptop

[SgtHatred]

On 3/23/2016 at 3:23 PM, wardepotdavid said:

Its as ASUS ROG laptop

New asus machines will come with Sonic Studio. Close it before playing Combat Mission.

[rocketman]

So it seems we have two different manufacturers who both have sound programs that crashes CM. Maybe that is cause enough to look at the bug (one wasn't). I have reported to Nahimic, but no response so far.

[wardepotdavid]

No mine has SmartAudio and I did End Process on that and it made no difference. Thanks for the ideas though.

[Schrullenhaft]

CMSF and CMA use eLicense for copy-protection. I wonder if you need to set a DEP exception as mentioned in this Knowledebase article. You may also want to set exceptions/white-list for the game executables with your anti-virus/security software in case it may be interfering too (this includes the module executables for CMSF).

[wardepotdavid]

Thanks for the ideas. I followed the knowledgebase article and it made no difference. I then checked Task Manager for security and with it being a brand new laptop it only has some antimalware program which I ended and that didnt help either. Not sure what else to try.

[Schrullenhaft]

I assume that this ASUS ROG laptop has a Nvidia graphics chip, is that correct ? If so, then I suggest going to the Nvidia Control Panel and within the '3D Settings' > 'Manage 3D settings' > 'Program Settings' tab, add the executables for each of the games. With these added (the specific settings can make certain performance/image-quality differences, but aren't necessary for the games to run), hopefully the games will now attempt to start on the Nvidia graphics rather than the Intel integrated video (of the CPU).

You can get to the Control Panel in Windows 10 by pressing the 'Windows key' + x and then releasing, then right-click the Start button in the lower left and it should popup a menu with Control Panel as one of the options.

[wardepotdavid]

Yes it is and I've tried all that as well and tried it again just now from your suggestion and it made no difference.

[Schrullenhaft]

You mention that you downloaded 'CMSF NATO'. Did you install the CMSF base game too or just the NATO module ? If it is just the NATO module, then that is NOT enough to play the game and you will need the base game in order to play it (along with the 1.21 patch that needs to be applied BEFORE the NATO module is installed).

Did you ever get the license dialog boxes to come up when you launched CMA or CMSF ?

I assume that the 'antimalware' program that you ended was Windows Defender. There was no other security/anti-virus program pre-loaded on the ASUS laptop ?

What do you have listed in the Startup tab of the Task Manager ? I'm not aware of anything in particular that would cause problems with CMA and CMSF, so this will likely be a process of elimination (assuming any of these might be the cause).

[wardepotdavid]

Yes I downloaded and installed CMSF NATO and CMA but CMA is the one I have been trying to load. I understand what you are saying re NATO but CMA is a stand alone product.

Yes I did get licence information I had to enter to download those but they are years old.

It does not display as Windows Defender in Task list but just antimalware so hard to tell.

Startup tab only has: ASUSWSLoader.exe, Conexant High Definition Audio Filter Agent, Evernote Clipper, iTunesHelper, Java Update Scheduler, Logitech Download Assistance, Microsoft OneDrive, NVIDIA Backend, NVIDIA Capture Server Proxy, SmartAudio CPL 32bit

[Schrullenhaft]

When you launch either CMA or CMSF you will be presented with a dialog box to activate the license key for that installation (and use one of two activations available for that license key). The license key entered on the website at the time of downloading doesn't really do anything other than get you access to the download (and no activation is used at that time). If the dialog box never comes up, you don't have an opportunity to activate the license key and the game will not run. Most of the time the game and the license key activation screen are blocked by security/anti-virus software and/or the DEP (Data Execution Prevention) settings.

During the activation process (once the key is confirmed and an activation logged as being in use) a file is downloaded called 'Runservice.exe' and that is installed to your Windows directory and registry settings are added to have it launch automatically. If this file is blocked or doesn't get installed, then the game can't run.

I'm fairly certain that the 'antimalware' file is Windows Defender, which comes with Windows. It usually doesn't interfere, to my knowledge, with any of the Battlefront games.

The 'ASUSWSLoader.exe' is the ASUS Webstorage app for web-based backup and sync'ing. I don't think it would interfere, but you could temporarily disable it and see if it changes anything.

The 'Conexant High Definition Audio Filter Agent' is for your sound card/chip. I'm not absolutely certain it is necessary for operation, so you may also want to experiment with temporarily disabling it.

Evernote Clipper appears to be a Chrome extension for clipping/bookmarking web pages/content to an Evernote account. I don't imagine that this would be a culprit, but you could temporarily disable it too.

iTunesHelper is applet used in conjunction with iTunes that monitors for the connection of an iPod or iPhone for iTunes. It hasn't interfered in the past to my knowledge with any Battlefront games.

Java Update Scheduler is just the Java utility that automatically notifies you of a Java update and possibly downloads it for you. It hasn't interfered in the past, so it should be fine.

Logitech Download Assistance is an update utility for Logitech accessories (mouse, keyboard, webcam, etc.). I don't think it would interfere, but you could temporarily disable it too.

Microsoft OneDrive is Microsoft's cloud storage app. I haven't seen it interfere to my knowledge so it should generally be fine.

NVIDIA Backend is part of the GeForce Experience app installed with GeForce drivers. I believe it is used for update notification, etc. I don't think that this would interfere, but it may be worth temporarily disabling.

NVIDIA Capture Server Proxy is Nvidia's 'Shadowcopy' video capture software for gaming that comes with the GeForce Experience app. I don't think it would interfere, but it may be worth temporarily disabling.

SmartAudio CPL 32bit appears to be an audio control panel that loads up in the lower right tray for quick access to some of your audio card/chip properties. It may be worth disabling this since it MIGHT be somewhat similar to some audio control apps that are causing problems with the newer CMx2 games.

[wardepotdavid]

Thanks mate. Give me a week to go back and test all these you suggested and I'll get back to you.