Howto: Getting Homeworld 2 to run on Vista (64bit works also)

By Annatar11 on July 9, 2009 2:32:53 PM from

Well, there's been a lot of talk on these boards recently about Homeworld/Homeworld 2, so out of nostalgia and disbelief that Homeworld 2 supposedly doesn't work on Vista, I decided to reinstall it. Of course, the patched version didn't work and all the mods need it, so that wasn't fun.

After a bit of digging around the 'net, I figured out how to make HW2 run with no problems on Vista/Vista 64.

The reason it doesn't work isn't some compatibility thing, it's Vista's own DEP (Data Execution Prevention) halting the executable from running. DEP is designed as a security measure to stop programs from accessing certain things and in certain ways, so there must be something in HW2 that it doesn't like. Unfortunately, it's not possible to add HW2 to the DEP exceptions list (I tried, it says DEP is required to be on for the executable), so the solution is to turn off DEP entirely:

1. Click Start
2. Click All Programs
3. Click Accessories
4. Right Click on Command Prompt
5. Left click on Run as Administrator
6. Click the Allow button if it asks you for permission
7. Type or copy and paste this into the command prompt window:

bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff

8. Hit enter and you should see the confirmation: Operation Completed Successfully
9. Reboot and DEP should be off.

After you do this (do be sure to reboot), you'll find that HW2 runs pretty flawlessly.

Of course, at some point you'll probably want to turn DEP back on, so:

bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx optin

Now, it's pretty hard to mess up your PC if you follow this exactly, but I'm not responsible if you do This isn't a "known fix to get HW2 working", it's just a way to disable DEP and it worked for my installation of HW2 and in theory should work for everyone.

+527 Karma | 18 Replies

All-freaking-right! That worked perfectly! Here ya go

ok i have tried disabling DEP and it didnt work, i've even tried disabling UAC and nothing, ive tried all the compatibility modes and boxes and also tried running it as admin, i updated my video car and still no luck, i used to play hw2 all the time on this same laptop when i had xp. but i got the vista upgrade and now i cant play hw2 anymore, it installed without problems, but when i click to open the game, the screen goes black like its attempting to run the game, but then it closes quickly.

please, oh please help me solve this problem im dying to play it.

p.s. ive even tryied the directx and still nothing,

my email is [email protected].

please someone help, im desperate.

YAY!! More karma for Annatar11, shouldn't that be enough .

Worked perfectly, thank you! I foresee some nice lan sessions this weekend with my friends.

Joshyboya try updating your HW2 to 1.1 (and eventually 1.2 Community patch) and setting your graphic card to render in OpenGL instead of D3D (from the control panel), mine runs fine.

For the records, I have an nvidia card (9800GX2).

I've heard of possible issues trying to run HW2 with an ATI, but I can't tell.

ok were in the control panel do i go? to change it to opengl?

i know its not my ati card because it worked under xp, all i did was update from xp to vista and i even updated the driver because of hw2 but no luck still, ive tried disabling dep and uac but nothing.

me love you long time anny!

So much that you double posted?

@joshyboya: Does it still throw the same error as before you had DEP disabled?

it doesnt show a error at all, when i click to open the game, the screen goes black and then closes. so it seems like it tries to play but gets closed or something. idk. dep made no difference to how its acting. i even tries turning off all my pograms and non important sys files etc, but still nothing. please any ideas????

OK I WENT IN SEARCH OF ERROR LOG FILES ON MY SYSTEM AND FOUND THE ERROR I HAVE FOR HOMEWORLD 2. HERE IT IS....

Log Name:      Application
Source:        Application Error
Date:          7/27/2009 12:46:10 AM
Event ID:      1000
Task Category: (100)
Level:         Error

Description:
Faulting application Homeworld2.exe, version 0.0.0.0, time stamp 0x00000000, faulting module Homeworld2.exe, version 0.0.0.0, time stamp 0x00000000, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x00000110, process id 0x14c0, application start time 0x01ca0e75293eab51.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
    <Provider Name="Application Error" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>100</Task>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2009-07-27T04:46:10.000Z" />
    <EventRecordID>915</EventRecordID>
    <Channel>Application</Channel>
    <Computer>jb-PC</Computer>
    <Security />
</System>
<EventData>
    <Data>Homeworld2.exe</Data>
    <Data>0.0.0.0</Data>
    <Data>00000000</Data>
    <Data>Homeworld2.exe</Data>
    <Data>0.0.0.0</Data>
    <Data>00000000</Data>
    <Data>c0000005</Data>
    <Data>00000110</Data>
    <Data>14c0</Data>
    <Data>01ca0e75293eab51</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

super thank you for this one. it worked.

no the double post was the fail of the forum , as usual.

also , play this homeworld 2 mod :

http://www.moddb.com/mods/battlestar-galactica-fleet-commander

Hah. I had no trouble running Homeworld 2 even with the Complex mod on Vista. Then I got greedy and tried the FX mod and DEP comes back to haunt me. Damn you, DEP!

Is that any good? I still need to try the Warlords mod (the Star Wars one).

I remember when i disabled Windows Vista Aero. I got terrible performance lol

Oh and warlords mod was pretty. But I didnt like it. My favourites gotta be the FX mod and the Gundam mod.

Alright now, just 1 small question that I didn't quite understand during your explanation.

So once we install the game and apply the update to it 1.1

And then after we turn off the DEP and reboot, and this is the part I don't quite get.

Do we run the game once with the DEP off and then if we turn the DEP on after we close the game the first time and reboot after turning the DEP back on, will the game work just like it did with the DEP off with mods added to it, with it back on. Or must we always run HM2 with the DEP off.

Also do you have to apply the mods before you turn the dep off or could you do it at any time of the day after you complete the process, cause I want to add the point defence mod, Wich is required for true HW2 play >>

KodeEgret@hotmail, if anyone can answer this for me.

You do the steps to disable DEP. Reboot your computer,

then DEP should be off.

Now just leave your computer how it is, DEP will be disabled until you choose to enable it again.

So basically just keep DEP off. and forget about it.

So what you telling me is that to have run HM2 DEP must be off even if you played HM2 with off once and turned it back on after the second time you started the game>

what does DEP stand for and what does it do???

Quoting elias001,

reply 17

what does DEP stand for and what does it do???

Keep in mind I am not a vista user, that said.

I am guessing the DEP is a security thing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Execution_Prevention

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Howto: Getting Homeworld 2 to run on Vista (64bit works also)