Ok, so i'm using the loader thingy that is supposed to make it possible to load vista programs in XP, however it fails. this loader and more information about it is available at http://united-underground.com/?p=15 I seem to be gettin an error many get ERROR: Failed to load the executable: E ["] as i look at the task manager i see a process going by the executable name i entered before, ie Startup.exe the command i used was Loader.exe E:\Startup.exe what might be going bad i wonder? ok i'll be real with it, i got my halo 2 as an image file from a certain site. As my defense i'll say that it was to see if i could get it to run on my XP machine, cos i have no intention whatsoever of installing Vista on my comp. I might even go buy it if i like it enough. So, i wonder, has anyone got a version like mine to work?
And more, has anyone had these problems with a bought version. If it's caused by that i'll go and by an 'official' version and post my results.
BTW i don't know if this is a sort of crack? if it falls to that category then i'm sorry, the loader only gives the DLL features required for vista programs to work in XP. i wouldn't see this as a crack, as it only provides functions needed by vista programs for XP. again, i'm sorry if this violates the forum rules, however this case is not as clear as it would seem. and more, this loader doesn't do anything about the activation required by halo 2. i don't want any tips about how to go around that, only if anyone has got halo 2 to work on XP.
Well, i don't seem to get that much attention, but anyways. I have now downloaded the source code for the WoWLoader (Windows on Windows loader) and I'm currently using visual studio 2003 to debug the code. It indeed is not a crack of any sort, it only injects the needed DLL codes for the various files that might need them, eg Halo 2 installer. I debugged it to where the error was originally created, and the error message displayed in the console did not quite reflect to what i saw in the code. For some reason, the ::CreateRemoteThread function fails. I'm unable to debug that function because it's some windows internal function. The function get's passed the following arguments 0x00000fd0 as process handle, NULL as lpThreadAttributes, 0 as swStackSize, 0x7c80ae4b as lpStartAddress, lpParameter 0x01120000, dwCreationFlags 0 and lpThredId get's a NULL After the function fails, the program returns to main, and sees that the instance of CLoader, loader, has returned false from the function Load. It then shows the message i told earlier and ends the program. i wonder, what might be going on? Last night i tried to use all possible versions of WoWLoader packs that might make it work, and 1 did work for a while. I had halo 2 start on xp, although it freezed on the first screen after a short while. I tried to work around that by installing the redist packages on the halo 2 CD, and that made it do the same thing as before. I'll try uninstalling some stuff and reinstalling it bit by bit. btw, the 1 i found working is behind this link http://marquiskarabas.googlepages.com/easyinstructions-halo2onxp
hmm, Halo 2 does not use directx 10 and i can't install directx 10 since i don't have vista(or can i?)
vista just sucks, nothing works on it, it crashes alot and it's very very slow. so unless i'd buy new top notch hardware, it won't run smoothly. i don't want to be a paying beta tester for microsoft and i don't want vista. and if you think that vista is in some way good, i suggest that you read a bit more about the downsides ppl are posting on the internet. I have heard that some guys can't even install their motherboard chipset drivers or vista won't boot, now how good is that? isn't there anyone who has got this to work?
Out with the old, in with the new. But if you're this serious about sticking to the primitive XP, then... well, i have some files that can help you get halo compatibillity with XP.