Schrullenhaft

From my experience, after the license activation the game is still running. This is the case when you originally tried to uninstall the game and couldn't uninstall the .exe. It was still running. On the 'Processes' tab, under the 'Background processes' section (all on the same scroll-able list) look for the 'CM Final Blitzkrieg.exe (32 bit)'. It should be there. Make sure you're scrolling down the list (which on most computers should be pretty lengthy). The bottom portion will typically be the 'Windows processes' section and the game will NOT appear within there. End the game process and try to re-launch CMFB and it should hopefully come up. Or, as you experienced earlier, rebooting your computer (which shuts down CMFB) and then attempting to launch the game should also work. When the game is running normally (full screen, etc.), then the Task Manager will show it under the 'Apps' section of the Processes tab.

To my knowledge the licensing process is NOT dependent on any of the Windows 10 Privacy settings. Turning off all of these options should NOT block the licensing process (which I assume communicates via an HTTP/HTTPS port through any firewall/security-software). As far as I'm aware, once you get a 'success' message on activation, then you're good to go (licensing-wise). The only thing to change that status would be significant hardware changes (motherboard, CPU, maybe videocard, etc.) or reinstalling Windows, especially 'from scratch' (i.e. - reformatted and a fresh install, etc.). The copy-protection system does not make any contact with any server after the license activation process. The most common culprits for when a game won't launch tends to be security software, particularly 'active' software that can block processes it doesn't recognize (an intentional feature of these security programs). Windows Defender doesn't have a feature like this, though it could potentially quarantine the game executables during a scan (this is where an exception could be helpful).

Launching the 'Activate New Products' shortcut (with a CMFB copy that is already activated fully) results in the license dialog box coming up. It has to be closed to go away (so it shouldn't be 'flashing' and going away). I believe I have the game set to use 'Run as administrator' via the shortcut options so I get a confirmation dialog to run the game and then a blank/black window and then finally the license dialog box comes up (in its own window). The 'Activate New Products' shortcut is actually launching the game, but with the "-showui" command line option tacked on. This brings up the licensing dialog box. I wish there was a command line option to show what has already been activated (with some sort of confirmation that the activation is still good and hasn't been invalidated).

Actually, I was able to activate the base game license key after activating the 4.0 Upgrade first. However, after the initial license activation and closing the dialog box, I had to kill the 'CM Final Blitzkrieg (32 bit)' (I believe it was in the 'Background process' portion of the Processes tab and NOT in the 'Apps' section). Launching the executable again, with a right-click and selecting 'Run as administrator' brought up the license dialog again and I entered the base game license key. The game would NOT launch until I did 'Run as administrator' at this point. However after the activations, the game would run without 'Run as administrator'. If you look in your CMFB directory, there should be an 'Activate New Products' shortcut. Try that and see if it comes up. I would assume that if the game itself is not launching, then it is likely that this shortcut won't work either. Copying the file around shouldn't "contaminate" it or anything, unless there is something really wrong with the file system on one of your drives. If you want, I can get the details on each of the file sizes (later tonight). In fact there are utilities where you can generate a checksum that should confirm the validity of a file (i.e. - that it isn't corrupt). Typically if there is something wrong with the files, then the installation may not go correctly (terminate early, give a system error or file read error, etc.).

Sardaukar - a CMBN 3.12 full install probably will NOT take a CMBN (1.0 Engine) license key. It most likely needs the 2.0 Upgrade license key to run (in addition to the 3.0, CF & MG license keys). As for CMRT, are you installing to a custom directory or the default location ? If you're using a custom directory, is the 4.0 Upgrade being pointed to the exact directory that the CMRT executable is in ? If Windows is not reinstalled (especially 'from scratch') and no major hardware changes have been made to the system, then a license key should remain activated on a computer. The CMRT 1.03 should remain activated ('Base Game' license key), so a reinstallation should have worked. Did you uninstall and possibly delete the original directory that CMRT was installed to ? There will be the main game directory and there will also be a directory within your User folder's Documents folder that holds scenarios, campaigns and config files. These should NOT prevent the running of CMRT to my knowledge. Have you tried running the game by right-clicking and selecting "Run as administrator" from the popup menu ? Also, after activating the license keys and exiting, check to see if the game executable is running in the background (Ctrl-Alt-Del > Task Manager > Process tab > look for 'CM Red Thunder (32 bit)' in the Background processes and end it if you see it). Also, if you have security software installed you may want to temporarily disable it during installation, activation and initial running of the game (in case it is interfering at any time). Once the game is running as you expect it to, then re-enable the security software and possibly add an exception within in it for the CM games.

With the 'Classic Shell Start Menu' (4.3.1) installed (and no other options installed for Classic Shell), I was able to install and activate CMFB 2.02 (4.0 Engine) to the 'C:\SIMS\BF\CMFB\Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg' directory. Since this computer has Avast installed, I temporarily disabled it during installation and activation. I activated the 4.0 Upgrade license key first (a mix up - I had intended to license with the Base Game license key first). I exited from the 'success' dialog box and attempted to run the game again, but it wouldn't. I had to launch the Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del > Task Manager) and in the Processes tab I had to end the 'CM Final Blitzkrieg (32 bit)' application (I think it was listed as a 'Background process' rather than an App). I was then able to launch the game again (using 'Run as administrator' - it didn't seem to want to run otherwise) and the license dialog box came up and I provided the Base Game license key. With a successful activation of that license key I exited from the Success dialog box (rather than clicking 'Play') and made sure that the CM Final Blitzkrieg executable wasn't running in the Task Manager. The next launch the game came up fine. After exiting CMFB I re-enabled the Avast software and the game continued to launch fine and didn't seem to require the 'Run as administrator' option. This particular PC has a GeForce RTX 2070 Super with the 445.87 driver (nothing setup for CM within the 3D Settings for Nvidia), running Windows 10 Pro v. 1909 with the latest updates. The CMFB installer (a .rar compressed file) was extracted with 7zip. The computer uses an 'Administrator' account that is local (not an MS online account, though that shouldn't be an issue to my knowledge). So with your setup being 'virgin', I'm not sure what to suggest if you've been able to successfully activate both the 4.0 Upgrade and Base Game license keys (for CMFB) and 'Run as administrator' doesn't seem to help. The 'Activate New Products' shortcut found in your CMFB directory can be used to activate the second license key, rather than running the game executable again (although that is what the 'Activate New Products' shortcut is actually doing). Make sure that 'CM Final Blitzkrieg (32 bit)' isn't running in the background as that will prevent the game from launching (in a visible manner). It shouldn't be necessary, but if you want to add an exception within Windows Defender it can be done. Again this should only have an effect when Defender does a scan of the system.

Classic Shell or Open Shell is a piece of software that you install, it isn't a feature of Windows 10 that you change (i.e. - it's not built into Windows 10 to change as an option). It does more than simply change the visual aspects of the Start Menu, depending on what you install. It's unlikely to be the cause of the problem, but I wanted to see how it might interact with the installation and launching of files in case there is some unknown issue. Can you ask which exact one he installed and if he installed just the Classic Start Menu ? Windows Defender rarely causes any sort of problem. It is typically a 'passive scanner', so it usually doesn't interfere with any active processes like CM or other programs. During a scan it CAN possibly flag/quarantine files, but that isn't what is occurring here.

Which exact 'Windows 7 UI' are you using, is it the latest (last) version of Classic Shell (4.3.1) or is it Open Shell (current 'fork' of Classic Shell - 4.4.142 being the latest) ? I will try to recreate what you're experiencing, though this system already has Avast installed. Classic Shell stopped development back in August/December 2017. I don't know if there are any sort of issues between it and the latest releases of Windows 10. Do you just have a 'SIMS' directory on the root of the drive (i.e. - C:\SIMS) and then 'CMFB', etc. as a subdirectory (i.e. - C:\SIMS\CMFB) ? Do you know if the game installs a subdirectory below what you specify (such as C:\SIMS\CMFB\Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg) ?

Sardaukar - Are you able to run games and get the Activation screen or do you not even get to this point when running the games ? How are you installing CMBN (what installers are you using) ? What exactly happens when you attempt to run CMBN (or CMRT) ? When was the last time these games were working for you, strictly BEFORE the 4.0 Upgrade or has the 4.0 Upgrade worked at some point in the past ? Was this on the current computer or a different one ? Is your current computer a laptop or a desktop ? Have you used the 'Activate New Products' shortcut (either on the desktop or in the Start Menu folder for each game) ?

Erwin - the GeForce RTX 2070 Super can use the previous driver linked (the 445.87). Your current driver is 442.59. I'm currently running the 441.28 on my RTX 2070 Super and it works fine with the entire CM series. So my assumption is that a driver upgrade wouldn't fix the problem (but you can install the latest anyway). The 'DistributedCOM warnings (Event ID 10016)' are probably not anything to worry about from what little I've read about them. I've gotten them running several CM games (I assume they're related to the games). The relevant error does seem to be the 'Event ID 1000 Task (100)' errors that you're seeing in the Application portion of the Event Viewer. Unfortunately these are pretty generic errors that don't give much info. I've just gotten one running CMFI (fully upgraded), but it ran fine. In the Event Viewer, if you look below the listing of errors to see the details about a highlighted error you may see the 'Exception Code'. In my case it was a '0xc0000005', which is also a very broad error (but nothing was happening wrong that I could see with CMFI). Do you know what software is loading up on boot with your current Windows 10 computer ? We have seen problems in the past with the Nahimic audio software (that came on some MSI laptops in the past and may come with a number of motherboards).

Sardaukar - Do you install CMBN with the '4.0 Upgrade' all-in-one installer (which should be linked to your purchase of the 4.0 Upgrade for CMBN) ? That greatly simplifies the process and nothing additional needs to be installed (including the 4.02 patch). Do you know if your purchase of CMBN was when it was at the Engine 3.0 level (a purchase sometime late in 2014 or later) ? If your purchase was before that, then you would need the 3.0 Upgrade in addition to the 4.0 Upgrade. With a purchase of CMBN in late 2014 it should be at the Engine 3.0 level and the basic CMBN license key should 'cover' for the 3.0 Upgrade. If your purchase of CMBN was before then AND your purchase of the 4.0 Upgrade was ONLY the 4.0 Upgrade (and not a combo of the 3.0/4.0 Upgrade), then you will possibly need to contact the Helpdesk and see what can be done to acquire the CMBN 3.0 + 4.0 Upgrade Bundle (US$15), with a possible credit of your purchase of the 4.0 Upgrade. For CMRT, assuming a successful activation, then you may need to add an exception within your security software for the new game executable. Some security programs may recognize that the executable is different and possibly block it.

civdiv - what video card are you using ? Is this a laptop or a desktop computer ? If you're using a GeForce, then set 'Antialiasing - FXAA' to OFF in the Nvidia control panel (3D Settings > Manage 3D settings.

With the CM2 copy-protection system you CANNOT 'deactivate' an installation. Each license key comes with 4 activations, so this installation could have been the 4th one, especially since you saw a success dialog that showed the game was activated. So I can only assume that the activations actually worked here. Your GeForce GTX 660 Ti should work fine with the game. The latest driver for Windows 10 64-bit is 445.87. You can check your current version by going to the Start Menu and right-clicking and selecting 'Device Manager' in the menu that pops up. In here click on the arrow/carat next to'Display adapters' and your GeForce GTX 660 Ti should show up in the listing. Double-click or right-click on this listing (and select 'Properties' from the popup menu) and go to the Driver tab. Look for the 'Driver version' and the number will tell you the version (in a round-about way). In my case I have the '26.21.14.4128' driver. This is the 441.28 version. Assuming you've actually been successful in activating the 'base game' and the '4.0 Upgrade' for CMBS, the primary issue is that CMBS will not even start. Open up the File Manager and browse to the location of the game (usually 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Battlefront\Combat Mission Black Sea'). In here find the 'CM Black Sea.exe' and right-click it and select 'Run as administrtor' from the popup menu and see if it reacts any differently this time (running the direct executable rather than a shortcut). If it still doesn't show up after several minutes, perform the Ctrl-Alt-Del and again look for the 'CM Black Sea.exe' in the program listing. End the program if you find it. Right-click on the Start Menu and go to 'Event Viewer'. In here go to 'Windows logs' and then 'Application' and look for any 'errors' within the recent few minutes to see if something is happening. Also look in the 'System' section logs. Hopefully something will stand out that may indicate the source of the problem.

The 2.02 patch is for users who have purchased the 4.0 Upgrade for CMRT. If you haven't purchased this upgrade, then you'll need to downgrade by reapplying the 1.03 patch. The new module, Fire and Rubble will require the 4.0 Upgrade (as far as I'm aware).

If you attempt to run the game (CMFB) does it popup with the activation screen or does nothing happen ? Usually I start with running the game initially and activating with either the base game or 4.0 Upgrade license key and then close that down. I then run the 'Activate Modules' shortcut (wherever you find it) and activate the next license key, shut it down and repeat the process until I have activated all of the necessary/desired license keys. I don't know if you can use the 'Activate Modules' shortcut to activate all licenses for a game. You can check to see if CMFB is somehow already running by Ctrl-Alt-Del and starting the Task Manager and look for the CMFB executable (possibly named 'CM Forgotten Battles.exe', but I'm not sure). If it is running, then 'end process' on it and then attempt to launch it again and see if the activation window comes up or not. It shouldn't matter what order you perform the activations, just completing the necessary ones at some point before attempting to run the game. When you successfully activate a license key you should get a display with 'green boxes' that list the successfully activated license keys and what they match to (i.e. - '4.0 Upgrade', 'CMBS Battle Pack', etc.). With CMBS, using the 4.0 Upgrade installer, activating with the base game license key and then (via the 'Activate Modules' shortcut) activating the 4.0 Upgrade license key should have gotten you running (assuming each was successful). You can reverse this order and initially activate with the 4.0 Upgrade and you should get the same results. The Battle Pack license key will just give you access to the those scenarios and campaigns (that will otherwise be 'greyed out' in the listings). If you don't have any security software beyond what Windows 10 has built-in (Windows Defender), then you can add an exception via these instructions. I assume they're up-to-date enough. Most people haven't needed to add exceptions with Windows Defender and CM to my knowledge. I personally use the free version of Avast. There's nothing special about it (and it can occasionally be annoying), but it gets the job done generally. Though I haven't seen it be necessary lately, you can attempt to run the CM games by right-clicking on their icons and selecting 'Run as administrator' from the popup menu. What video card and driver do you have installed on your new computer ? Most of the time the drivers that may be provided by Microsoft/Windows will usually work for CM. The Intel integrated video can be problematic however, but that usually results in graphical problems rather than complete failure of the games to run. On laptops you may have both Intel integrated video and either a Radeon or GeForce as the 'dedicated' video. With these configurations the default video is the Intel and you may have to 'force' the game to run on the dedicated video (usually by either some control panel option where the game is configured for certain run-time options). If you've purchased the base games at the time of release/pre-release, then those specific downloads will be much earlier versions. For CMBS, CMRT and CMFB those will be Engine 3.0 for their base games. CMSF2 will be Engine 4.0, while CMBN will be Engine 1.0 and CMFI will be Engine 2.0. You will NOT need the CMBN 2.0 Upgrade license key to my knowledge. These should be the license keys you need to activate if you have EVERYTHING: CMSF2: Base game Base game (old, CMSF1 - if this is an 'upgrade' purchase) Marines module (new) Marines module (old, CMSF1 - if an 'upgrade' purchase) British Forces (new) British Forces (old, CMSF1 - if an 'upgrade' purchase) NATO (new) NATO (old, CMSF1 - if an 'upgrade' purchase) CMBN: 4.0 Upgrade 3.0 Upgrade Commonwealth Market-Garden Vehicle Pack Battle Pack CMRT: 4.0 Upgrade Base game CMFB: 4.0 Upgrade Base game CMBS: 4.0 Upgrade Base game Battle Pack CMFI: 4.0 Upgrade 3.0 Upgrade Gustav Line Rome to Victory

For R2V you will need the 4.0 Upgrade. R2V does NOT come with the 4.0 Upgrade. If you purchased the 'Big Bundle' Upgrade for 4.0, then you would have CMFI's 4.0 Upgrade. I'm currently running Windows 10 v. 1909 and it works with all of the CM games at this point. So I don't believe it is an OS-compatibility issue that you're running into. When you activated CMBS, did you use the 4.0 Upgrade license key ? I believe you'll need the 'base game', 4.0 Upgrade and Battle Pack license keys in order to get CMBS fully running. If you install the 4.0 Upgrade installation and don't use that license key, then the game won't run to my knowledge. With the other games you'll likely need the 3.0 and 4.0 license keys to get the games running at a minimum (unless your purchase of the 'base game' was at the 3.0 or 4.0 engine release - then that base game license key and possibly the 4.0 Upgrade if it was originally a 3.0 engine purchase). You may also want to add exceptions within your security software for the game executables and their directories (however your security software handles that). It seems rare that security software will interfere, but it is always a possibility (especially when new 'signature files' or updated executables are released for the security program).

Is this CMFI 1.20 installation on your new computer ? If so, then I can only guess that you somehow got an installation of CMFI with the 3.0 Upgrade with Gustav Line rather than the 4.0 Upgrade (though that only seems to be up to v. 1.12). The current CMFI 4.0 Upgrade download IS version 2.10 and it DOES have the R2V content in it. If you're presented with a 'folder' icon on the download page, you'll need to click on the icon to open it up since a folder may indicate more than one file. You can click on the checkbox in the upper left of those folder icons (multiple ones, if desired) and when you click the 'download' button in the lower right you will download a compressed file (.zip usually) with the filename of 'Files.zip'. This .zip file will have folders within it of each of the separate downloads, requiring multiple extractions to get the installers. If you click on the folder icon until there is only one icon (a graphic of a 'zipper'), then clicking download on this file will get you just that file with its unique filename.

If you intend to install R2V, then you'll need to purchase the 4.0 Upgrade for CMFI. I haven't performed a full install of CMFI since CMFI-R2V came out, but I assume that the latest installer (the '4.0 Upgrade - FULL') should have the R2V content now. I'm not sure where the '1.2' version comes from unless it is Gustav Line on Engine 3. CMA's latest version is 1.03. There is no upgrade to newer engines and it is technically 'pre-1.0' (CMBN being the 1.0 baseline). CMBN is up to 4.02 right now, which the latest FULL installer should be at. Although with some of the Tac-AI bugs people seem to be playing all sorts of versions now.

Do you have DropBox or some other method of transferring the file ? I can take a look and see if it loads on any of my installs. My guess is that if everything matches up (game and version), then it is likely file corruption of some sort.

If you purchased the '4.0 Upgrade' for most of your games, then use those downloads to install the game (the 'FULL' installers). Only CMSF2 came out with the 4.0 Engine, all other games needed an upgrade to get to 4.0, so the 'base game' installs will be the previous or earlier versions of the engine (CMBN = 1.x, CMFI = 2.x, CMRT = 3.x, CMBS = 3.x, CMFB = 3.x). For CMFB the 4.0 Engine is the 2.x version of the game. CMSF and CMA both use eLicense and I would HIGHLY suggest unlicensing those games (but, if you have CMSF2, then you really don't need CMSF1) from your previous computers/installs. The licenses for those games come with two activations each, so unlicensing them frees up that activation allowing it to be used elsewhere. The current copy-protection system typically has 4 activations per license key and you have to contact the Helpdesk if you run out of activations for a license key (where they will add an activation to that license key).

Yes, you can move your installers to different computers to install and activate for each computer. You do NOT need to download the installer on each computer, simply copying the files from one download should be sufficient.

The copy-protection system for CM games since CMBN does NOT have an unlicensing mechanism (eLicense) like the original CMSF had. So you don't need to 'decommision' your previous installs. The 'all-in-one' installers for your games will usually be found with the links in the purchases of the '4.0 Upgrade' (or 3.0 Upgrade if you only had that Upgrade version). If you made purchases of any of the games after the 4.0 Upgrade, then those links should also have the 'all-in-one' installers. To get to the downloads go to http://www.battlefront.com and click the 'Login' button in the upper right. This will be the 'store account' login, which may differ from your Forum account (it should be the email address at the time of purchase). Hopefully you haven't used multiple email accounts in the past when making your purchases. Otherwise you may need to remember these other accounts in order to find all of your downloads. Once logged in you'll be at the 'My Account' page. Click the 'My Orders' link and you should be presented will a listing of all of the purchases that this account has made. Unfortunately you won't see what exactly was purchased with each order in this list. You'll have to guess when you purchased the games and then click on the 'Click to view' link at the right side of the order. This will show you the details of the order and also provide the initial links to those downloads. Within the 'Order Content' section of each order should be a listing of each item purchased at that time and a link within each listing that should take you to the 'Sharefile' download. Also within this listing will be the license key ('Activation Code(s)'). Within the downloads, if you're presented with a folder icon for the download, you may want to click on that to 'drill down' to a listing of the individual downloads within that folder. You will want the 'Windows FULL...' download for each game. Putting a 'checkmark' in the upper left of the folder icons will download that entire folder. With the 'folder' downloads the default filename will often be 'Files.zip', so you may want to pay attention if you download multiple files like this and possibly rename them during the initial download process (to identify them correctly later). With the .zip compressed files the Windows Explorer decompression capability should typically work. However you may want to install 7-zip or some other compression/decompression utility. Occasionally some people have run into problems properly decompressing some of the files. With the 4.0 Upgrade installs you will need the license keys for each of the modules, packs and the 4.0 and 3.0 Upgrades (unless your base game purchase was of a 4.0 version). After entering the initial license key you will need to use the 'Activate Modules' shortcut that may be in the Battlefront folder in your Windows 10 Start Menu. Pay close attention to the 'success' dialog box at the end and what the text is in the 'green boxes' that tell you what is currently activated.

Are you both on the same version of this CM game ? Are you playing the same CM game ? What size is the .ema file ? If you're not playing the same game and version, then the file may fail to show up in the game. If there is file corruption, then the .ema file may not be recognized as an CM file.

CMBN 1.x will NOT work with Windows 10. The copy-proctection system used with the 1.x versions is what is incompatible (and the source of the error message that you're getting). If, for some reason, you're using individual installers, then at a minimum you will need the 2.0 Upgrade installed before you can actually activate any license keys.

If you have the 3.0 Upgrade, download the 'all-in-one' ('FULL') installer (should be available from the link provided with the 3.0 Upgrade purchase). "Invisible men" indicate that you have forgotten to apply one of the patches that was necessary (and you end up missing a .BRZ data file). I'm thinking that this might be the 1.11 patch or something to that effect.