Hello,
I really hate to post another FF7 "Help Me!" topic, but I *really* do need help. For the past four weeks I've been trying to get FF7 to work on Windows 2000. I've read numerous forums, newsgroups, Web sites, and even IRC. I'm about to go NuTzZ! :isee:
I managed to get FF7 running to the point where it loads and plays the intro movie. But when the group gets off the train and Cloud has the fight the two blue policemen, that's where the problem starts.
As soon as Cloud is hit by one of the men or Cloud is about to hit one of the men, the game crashes; it goes back to the Desktop with no error dialog box or anything.
I know that I have to use the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) in order to make FF7 work on Windows 2000. And I've tried, tried, and tried! Either I'm doing something wrong, or I'm missing some knowledge to get ACT running properly.
As far as I understand, there are three solutions to get FF7 working on Windows 2000:
1) AppFix
2) QFixApp
3) AppCompat
I've tried all (details below).
AppFix - I ran C:\Program Files\ACT\Applications\AppFix.exe and it copied some files somewhere and popped up the command prompt and immediately closed it (it was like for one second, I couldn't see what happened). I then ran FF7 and it crashed during the fight sequence. I tried rebooting and running FF7; it crashed during the fight sequence, too.
QFixApp - I ran QFixApp and chose ff7.exe. First, I selected all the checkboxes and ran FF7. It crashed during the fight sequence. And second, I selected only 'CheckWriteFileBuffer.dll' and 'VirtualRegistry.dll' (as specified by 'Check Exisiting Fixes...'). It crashed during the fight sequence as well.
AppCompat - I ran AppCompat and chose ff7.exe. I selected 'Windows 98' and experimented with the check boxes. I couldn't even get FF7 to run this time. As soon as I clicked OK, I got the following two error dialog boxes:
Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library
MSVCRT.DLL for Win32
Error: MSVCRT.DLL is not compatible with Win32s.
--AND--
ff7.exe - Application Error
The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000142). Click on OK to terminate the application.
I've tried several dozen times now, failing each time during the fight sequence. I've read all that I could find. Please help! I would *REALLY* appreciate any help to fix this issue.
Computer Specifications:
Windows 2000 SP3
450 MHz (Intel)
128 MB SDRAM
8MB VIDEO CARD (ATI RAGE PRO TURBO 2X)
Note: I've been running FF7 with 'Software Rendering' mode. Even though I have a 3D video card, it does not recognize it since ATI cards have a problem with 8-bit palletized textures. I tried applying the Riva patches from Eidos' Web site, and even though FF7Config accepts Direct3D support, when I run FF7 I experience a fatal crash (Windows 2000 blue screen of death, power down, and automatic reboot). But I don't mind that I am unable to use hardware acceleration. I only care that I can play FF7 on Windows 2000 and get passed the first fight sequence!
