Games are showing missing dll files in windows 7 ultimate x64

Soumya Somani · 19 May 2014

So i got a new lenovo z580 running windows 8 x64. I decided to upgrade it to windows 8.1. That did not work properly so i decided to do a factory reset. After the factory reset the games started showing many problems while running them.
So, I then decided to do a clean install of windows. I had a windows 7 (x64) disk and so i installed it. But, still i had the same problems while running games. Dirt 3 showed missing OpenAl32.dll file. I downloaded the file and copied it into the installation directory. But, the game crashed on startup. I had a similar problem with Driver San Francisco and many other games.
My laptop specs are :
CPU : Intel Core i3 3110M @ 2.4GHz
RAM : 4GB DDR3 @ 645MHz
GPU : nVidia GeForce GT635M @ 2GB DDR3
HDD : Seagate 1TB HDD
How do i get rid of this problem? Thanks in advance..!!! :)

Boozad · 19 May 2014

Try repairing the games through Steam before downloading files to add to the installation folder. If that doesn't work, uninstall the games and re download through Steam.

Soumya Somani · 19 May 2014

I have the original DVD's of the games so buying them again through steam is not an option....

badger906 · 19 May 2014

you need steam to run games like dirt 3. and once you have the licence you can download them via steam without the disk.

Boozad · 19 May 2014

How are you running the games without Steam? As badger said they need to be activated through Steam with the key provided in the packaging. Once registered you can download it as many times as you need to, as long as it's to your account.

tgm1024 · 19 May 2014

Boozad said:

How are you running the games without Steam? As badger said they need to be activated through Steam with the key provided in the packaging. Once registered you can download it as many times as you need to, as long as it's to your account.

Can he a have pre-steam version of the game on CD/DVD? That's the case with many of us who had trouble running the original Crazy Machines 2 on Win 7 (in my case 64bit ultimate like the OP). Even though that's sold through Steam, the exact same version is what I have on CD from the pre-steam era.

I discussed the solution here.

The problem manifested itself in a few misleading ways.

Someone please CMIIW, but AIUI, 32 bit drivers cannot just be plopped directly into locations on a 64bit system, they need to be installed. The Win 7system will then use the WoW64 subsystem (a sort of 1:1 glue/compatibility layer, or "wrapper") to access them properly (address mapping, etc.).

Boozad · 19 May 2014

tgm1024 said:

Can he a have pre-steam version of the game on CD/DVD?

To my knowledge, no. Games like DiRT3 are new enough to have had to have been activated through Steam following installation to even be able to play them. The easy solution for the OP if he has genuine copies is to uninstall the games, install Steam and register the games through there. Then download them through Steam and off you go. It's that simple.

tgm1024 · 19 May 2014

So I'm assuming then that he can have a DVD version that *is* a steam program? That seems weird---I had thought steam was download only.

Boozad · 19 May 2014

No, boxed games come with a code printed on them that you have to register through Steam. You can either install the game from the disk and register post installation, or enter the product key into Steam and then download it once it's added to your library. Either way, there's no playing a legitimate copy of DiRT3 without using Steam.

badger906 · 19 May 2014

exactly! hence me questioning in a subtle way the legality of the OPs games!

no new game comes vendor free, be it steam, uplay or origin, all games are run through a vendors client where a serial is input before installation. even with the disk it will still need validating via the vendor before its installed.