[mattkowalski]

Just been conversing with EA technical support again, and mentioned this thread to them.

There seems to be no common thread in the system specs of the four people here with this issue! We're using a mixture of Intel and AMD processors, a mixture of ATi and NVidia graphics cards, and now different sound cards.

I think the DWM errors are a definite clue, because games shouldn't leave errors there. To anyone who's not having these skirmish/multiplayer crashes, do you get DWM errors in the application event log?

[mattkowalski]

Yay progess!!!!!

EA replied about 15 mins after I told them that reinstalling the game hadn't worked. They suggested creating a new admin user account, logging into it, and installing the game again (having uninstalled it and deleted its folder). I played it from the newly created user account, and it worked! I turned all the settings up to what I usually play the game at, and it still worked!

I haven't had time to try it again back in my own user account, but the problem's definitely related to the user accounts!

[chrisbirch]

Matt

Good news!

Could you take me through the steps that you went through to get it working.

When you say set up a new Vista admin account - did you then re-install the game using this account? Then once installed you started a new player account (profile?) within C&C3 or EA link account? I'm a little confused but looking forward to playing the game properly!

Thanks

[chrisbirch]

Ok - I too have now got the game working thanks to Matt's recommendation regarding setting up a new Admin account. I have tried reverting back to my normal Admin account but this doesn't work.

It therefore seems as if I will need to continue by Campaign in the original Vista admin account and play Skirish mode and multiplayer in the new admin account.

Unless of course it is possible to copy over save files from one Vista account to another.

Great work Matt

Chris

[mattkowalski]

Yeah... I couldn't get my original account working either with the game. I'm trying to find out from EA what stuff's kept by the game on a per-user basis. There's a folder of stuff in C:\Users\(Account name)\AppData\Roaming, and also C:\Users\(Account name)\Saved Games.

I tried moving the folder of stuff from the roaming folder of the new account, to the roaming folder of my original account, and also deleting the folder in the saved games folder. Didn't get my original account working, which suggests that Vista's got some more per-user data somewhere else.

I'm just glad it's not an incurable hardware problem!

[P2iM-0]

WOW, Excellent so great to hear that it's a "simple" fix. Yes the game's save data is stored in C:\Users\{USERNAME}\AppData\Roaming\Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars\
If you simply copy that directory and change the username to your new administrator account you'll have the same settings in your new account.

Very interesting that this is a user/permissions based problem!

[mattkowalski]

P2iM-0, on Apr 12 2007, 08:16 PM, said:

WOW, Excellent so great to hear that it's a "simple" fix. Very interesting that this is a user/permissions based problem!

It'd be nice to get my original account working with it, but I guess this will do for now! I'm continuing to discuss it with EA's technical support, so will let you all know what I find out.

I'm sure it'll be the subject of a patch!

[P2iM-0]

Matt,
In my process of 5/6 or so reinstalls the only thing I had to do to retain my save games and original user profile was copy the Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars folder in the "roaming" directory.
All user settings, including video/audio/etc, as well as save games are included in that folder. Give it a shot.

Also, I got the game working just by creating a new user account, logging into that account, then playing the game. I didn't bother re-installing. I am curious, though, if I reinstall the game through the new user account will I be able to play the game through my current user account? I realize it's much less of a hassle than having to switch back and forth from XP, but IMHO there shouldn't be any hassle for a game whether I want to play Campaign or Skirmish...

Either way, thanks Matt, and EA Support!

[mattkowalski]

My only other thought is that CnC3 doesn't like something we both have running/installed on our main accounts. I can't think what tho, because I'm guessing CnC3 was the first thing you installed when you did reinstalled vista.

[mattkowalski]

Well, EA technical support have given up on me, saying it should be working, and 'can't suggest anything else at this time'...

I guess I'll have to keep a second account, or possibly look into a dual-boot setup with XP.

Seems a bit strange, as they previously suggested something as specific as creating a new user account - which implies they have a handle on the problem.

[prince627]

I'm not understanding why everyone else CC3 is crashes. I've been playing the game for awhile and haven't had any troubles. Played the missions and skirmishes.

my hardware is:

AMD athlon 64 x2 processor 5000+
2GB ram (upgrade to 3GB)
ATI x1650pro 512mb

mattkowalski, on Apr 4 2007, 11:51 AM, said:

Hey,

I hope this is a known issue with an easy solution!

Whenever I try and start a skirmish/multiplayer game, it fails to load. As soon as I've selected the skirmish/multiplayer options, and clicked start, the options disappear, and I'm left with the main menu background and no loading screen. After a while, the Vista "Command and Conquer 3 has stopped working" message is displayed.

The strange thing is, campaign missions and the tutorial levels all load and play fine - which I guess would at least partially point the finger away from a hardware problem.

For the record though I'm using Vista Home Premium and my hardware is;

AMD Athlon 64 3400+
1024Mb DDR2 RAM
ATi X800 Platinum Edition
Creative Audigy 2 ZS (Although I've tried a different sound card too)


Cheers for any help

[Raingod]

Hello,

Did a search on Google and came across this message board about this exact problem.

I recently installed Vista Ultimate and after reinstalling twice i finally got things working good. So far I've had a lot of luck with Vista, I haven't gotten to many problems. The biggest one is with C&C3, was working flawlessly under XP but under Vista Skirmish and Multilayer don't work, the game just crashes.

Here are my system specs.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Recent upgrade from a single core 3500+)
2 GB of Dual Channel PC3200
ATI Radeon X1950Pro 256
Creative Audigy 2 ZS

It's not like I'm running the bare minimum for the game, under XP and single player in Vista i can run at 1680x1050 with everything max out with no slowdowns. The EA devs had plenty of time to test this game out on Vista so i don't see why they don't know what is causing this problem since it seems quite a few people have it.

[chrisbirch]

Raingod, on Apr 25 2007, 12:56 AM, said:

Hello,

Did a search on Google and came across this message board about this exact problem.

I recently installed Vista Ultimate and after reinstalling twice i finally got things working good. So far I've had a lot of luck with Vista, I haven't gotten to many problems. The biggest one is with C&C3, was working flawlessly under XP but under Vista Skirmish and Multilayer don't work, the game just crashes.

Here are my system specs.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Recent upgrade from a single core 3500+)
2 GB of Dual Channel PC3200
ATI Radeon X1950Pro 256
Creative Audigy 2 ZS

It's not like I'm running the bare minimum for the game, under XP and single player in Vista i can run at 1680x1050 with everything max out with no slowdowns. The EA devs had plenty of time to test this game out on Vista so i don't see why they don't know what is causing this problem since it seems quite a few people have it.

Have you tried installing the game in a separate new admin account as suggested above. It worked for both Matt and I.

Chris

[Raingod]

No, i haven't tried that yet, but gona. But to me thats not fixing the problem, i might as well go back to XP and play it on it.

[Ten In 2010]

To the guys who got the game working, could you possibly go into detail about what you did? I tried making a new admin account, but my game still crashes.

[Raingod]

Well i did a new admin account and was able to run the game fine, didn't have to reinstall it. I hope EA fixes this problem fast or atless figures out the real reason why its happening.

[EnigmaAF]

Hey folks,

Just to let you know, I am having the same exact problem, but with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

I am getting this error first:
A request to disable the Desktop Window Manager was made by process (XR_3DA.exe)

Then this error:
The Desktop Window Manager was unable to start because composition was disabled by a running application

At this point windows closes stalker...

I have a WinVista Home Premium, Dual Core Intel Pent 4 3.2GHz, 2gig ram, ATI X850, SB Audigy 2 ZS. This seems very similar to the majority of the folks having this problem. I still think it is just a permissions or video settings issue.

The game worked like a charm for me until tonight. The only thing I changed was to un-overclock my vid card. Then I increased the texture quality and lighting settings in the game. After that I killed the windows indexing service. One of those three things are what caused this problem for me. As a sidenote, I am running the game as Administrator. I'm going to try some troubleshooting and see if I can find a fix. Maybe between the two games we can find a similarity to pin down the problem.

"Adapt and Overcome"
EnigmaAF

[EnigmaAF]

Hey folks,

Changed the graphics settings in STALKER back down, (shadows, viewing distance, TEXTURE QUALITY). Guess what... It works now! I think I saw in someone elses post something about texture settings. I'm thinking that texture settings may have something to do with it, or at least a change in graphics setting from within the game prior to the problem we are having. Is there any chance all of you made some change to graphics setting prior to having this problem? Also, another thing to note, I am still getting the "A request to disable the Desktop Window Manager was made by process (XR_3DA.exe)" error four or five times while the game is loading textures, but not the "The Desktop Window Manager was unable to start because composition was disabled by a running application" error.

Hope this helps someone!

"Adapt and Overcome"
EnigmaAF

[Andyespo]

I am having the same problem as all of you. I installed C&C 3 and it loads fine until I attempt to play a skirmish and missions it crashes. Has anyone found a solution to this problem?
My specs are

Toshiba P105
Pentium Dual Core processor 1.6 ghz

[Raingod]

Hello, does anyone know if theres been any progress done on fixing this problem?