Windows 7 Starcraft Fix with Virtual PC 2007

[takanokage]

Hi everybody,

I checked several recipes for fixing the resolution/crashing issues when running Starcraft in Windows 7 - nothing worked , at least not completely. Using a batch file to close/restart the explorer fixed the resolution issue but the game continued to crash. Adjusting the scaling option in the NVidia control panel didn't work (the settings changes can't be saved somehow).
After a lot of trying i managed to make it work in Virtual PC 2007. On my computer (I didn't have time to reinstall the comp with the final release of Win7 so I'm still on the build 7100) i can't install the latest Virtual PC (the one in the Windows XP mode download page) and after installing Windows XP Mode and then Virtual PC 2007 there were no shortcuts in the start menu for starting XP Mode. Instead I had to create a new virtual PC for Windows XP and set the virtual HD to be the vhd file installed by the Windows XP Mode installer. Then I had a lot of trouble making the XP virtual machine start - you need to change the security permissions on the vhd file (give full admin rights and mark it read-write also) + start the XP virtual machine using administrative rights otherwise XP will not boot.

OK, i managed to make it work but, after installing Starcraft (+ BroodWar + the latest patch), the resolution problem (while in full screen) reappeared in a new form: the display remained at the native value (1280x1024) and the starcraft screen (640x480) was placed in the upper left corner on less then a quarter of the display area. This can be fixed by changing the settings of the XP virtual machine display to: Use guest operating system screen resolution. Doing this will also start the XP virtual machine always in full-screen without checking the additional display option for the full-screen.

Now everything works perfectly when playing Starcraft in Windows 7 build 7100. If you don't have Virtual PC 2007 but already have a final version of Windows 7 installed, no problem, I recommend installing Windows XP Mode and then Virtual PC from the Windows XP Mode download page (they are both on the same page here and free).

I hope this helps.
Good luck!

 

[squall leonhart]

XP Mode cannot run starcraft. Virtual PC can... which is odd.

 

[takanokage]

Actually

Actually Virtual PC can't run anything on its own. After installing Virtual PC you usually need to install an operating system using your purchased CD/DVD. For Windows 7 owners Microsoft gives for free a Windows XP license through the Windows XP Mode package. Installing XP Mode does nothing more than installing a virtual HDD (.vhd file) on which Windows XP is already installed.

I think Microsoft did this just because the "Run this program in compatibility mode for..." option doesn't really work - at least for me it didn't.

 

[squall leonhart]

....yes.. thank you for that piece of obviousness

I'm aware of what you need to do lol. but XPMODE is basically an install of VPC with XP preinstalled, so the fact XP mode cannot run the game, but VPC using XPMODES virtual install can is odd.

and actually, the Compatibility modes work fine, there is just more underlying issues preventing starcraft from working, than just OS compatibility.

 

[takanokage]

I imagined you might say that but i wasn't saying it for you; i found several threads elsewhere were people just didn't get it.

In truth I remember playing Starcraft on Windows 2k without any issues but i'm not sure if i ever played it on XP.

 

[squall leonhart]

It worked fine on XP, and mostly fine on Vista (bar the colour bug and the freezes that were fixed by the cpu polling adjustment.)

 

[squall leonhart]

Follow-Up.

the XPMODE VHD will work, however, Windows Virtual PC (VPC2009 update KB patch) only allows 16bpp and a single resolution, which is why the display mode switching error pops up.

Also, if you have WVPC installed, VPC 2007 sp1 will not work.

Secondly, there are several VPC 2007 updates, including a fix for more resolutions and networking issues, and a security update.

If you get errors that the virtual machine network service cannot be accessed, then go into your network devices properties and enable the Virtual Machine Network Services.