Running Original Age of Empires 2 on Windows 7

Hello there! I've recently gotten back into Age of Empires 2 and wanted to run the original disc version I have on my Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit install. However, when I went to run the game, it showed it running in Task Manager then it closed. After some trial and error, I figured it out, and I thought I should post it here to anyone having trouble with the originals.

Age of Kings: Base Game Just as you normally would, install the game from disc, but don't click play if it offers.

Instead, we must set compatibility settings. On 64 bit machines: Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II

On 32 bit machines: Navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II

Other scenarios: Navigate to where you chose to install Age of Empires

Find the empires2.exe file, and right click. Go to the compatibility tab. Now, click the check box that says "Run this program in compatibility mode for:", and select Windows 2000. This game was first released in 1999, so Windows 2000 is an ideal choice for compatibility. Next, click the box that says "Run in 640x480 screen resolution". After, check the box that says "Disable visual themes". Finally, click the box that says "Run this program as administrator".

On some computers, a graphic card driver setting creates pillarboxes around the game. To overcome this, find the display settings in your graphic card settings, and you are looking for an option along the lines of Maintain aspect ratio, keep aspect ratio, or scaling mode. You want to set this to full or full panel, depending on what your specific settings have. For example, how I do this on my computer is go to my AMD Radeon settings, click the Display tab, go to the drop-down menu for Scaling Mode, and click "Full Panel". That's it.

To start the game, you must kill the explorer.exe process, or the Windows File Manager. But doing it manually is inefficient, and kind of annoying, so I have written a batch script you can use to start it. You should be able to place it anywhere you wish.

On 64 Bit Machines: @echo off cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe echo Starting Age of Empires 2! Have Fun! empires2.exe start explorer.exe

On 32 Bit Machines: @echo off cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe echo Starting Age of Empires 2! Have Fun! empires2.exe start explorer.exe

Other Scenarios @echo off Replace this line with the root directory of where your install is taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe echo Starting Age of Empires 2! Have Fun! empires2.exe start explorer.exe

Now, the game should launch. Since this is a first time install, it will ask you to accept the game's EULA, but due to the ludicrously low screen resolution, you might not even be able to see the accept button. No problem! Hit tab until you are not highlighting any of the visible options in the center or top of the dialog. Then, hit tab another 3 times, and hit enter or space. This should now accept the EULA, and launch the game. Now (If you own it), we can install the expansion of Age of Kings, The Conquerors.

The Conquerors Expansion: Just as you normally would, install the game from disc, but don't click play if it offers.

Instead, we must set compatibility settings. On 64 bit machines: Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II\age2_x1

On 32 bit machines: Navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II\age2_x1

Other scenarios: Navigate to where you chose to install Age of Empires, and go the age2_x1 folder

Find the age2_x1.exe file, and right click. Go to the compatibility tab. Now, click the check box that says "Run this program in compatibility mode for:", and select Windows 2000. This game was first released in 1999, so Windows 2000 is an ideal choice for compatibility. Next, click the box that says "Run in 640x480 screen resolution". After, check the box that says "Disable visual themes". Finally, click the box that says "Run this program as administrator".

On some computers, a graphic card driver setting creates pillarboxes around the game. To overcome this, find the display settings in your graphic card settings, and you are looking for an option along the lines of Maintain aspect ratio, keep aspect ratio, or scaling mode. You want to set this to full or full panel, depending on what your specific settings have. For example, how I do this on my computer is go to my AMD Radeon settings, click the Display tab, go to the drop-down menu for Scaling Mode, and click "Full Panel". That's it.

To start the game, you must kill the explorer.exe process, or the Windows File Manager. But doing it manually is inefficient, and kind of annoying, so I have written a batch script you can use to start it. You should be able to place it anywhere you wish.

On 64 Bit Machines: @echo off cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II\age2_x1 taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe echo Starting Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors! Have Fun! age2_x1.exe start explorer.exe

On 32 Bit Machines: @echo off cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II\age2_x1 taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe echo Starting Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors! Have Fun! age2_x1.exe start explorer.exe

Other Scenarios @echo off Replace this line with the root directory of where your install is, and go to age2_x1 taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe echo Starting Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors! Have Fun! age2_x1.exe start explorer.exe

Now, the game should launch. Since this is a first time install, it will ask you to accept the game's EULA, but due to the ludicrously low screen resolution, you might not even be able to see the accept button. No problem! Hit tab until you are not highlighting any of the visible options in the center or top of the dialog. Then, hit tab another 3 times, and hit enter or space. This should now accept the EULA, and launch the game.

I hope this guide helps anyone else that was having this issue. Have fun!