Vista and NWN

NWN runs on Vista and Vista 64, it just can require some effort in some cases.

In case of any problems:

• Make sure to have compatibility mode switched on.
• Update to latest drivers, especially graphics card (video drivers).
• Run it as administrator

Instruction

(written by Jenlain)

Since it took some playing around with Vista/NWN to get it running, I am posting this up just a reference for anyone facing the same problem. Please bear in mind that I am not an IT whiz, but I can cook. So if you give me the recipe I can follow it.

My spec:

Vista 64 Home premium. SP1.

NVidia 9600M GT. 512mb.

A pair of Intel Core 2. 2.4Ghz

I got these edits from the Bioware Forum.

In nwconfig.ini

[Processor]

Type=Intel Pentium III

Vendor=Intel

NumCPUs=1

Speed=2394

NWN.ini

[Display Options]

Disable Intro Movies=1

NWNPlayer.ini

[Game Options]

Client CPU Affinity=-2

Compatibility mode

It needs to be run in compatibility mode (right click the file). If you do not have compatibility mode, I followed these instructions:

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/18239 ... emove.html

1. Open the Start Menu.

2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.

3. Click the Continue button for the UAC prompt.

4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AppCompat

NOTE: If AppCompat is not there, then right click on Windows and click on New and Key. Type AppCompat and press Enter.

5. To Remove the Compatiblity Tab -

A) In the right pane, right click on a empty area and click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value. (See screenshot above)

B) Type DisablePropPage and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

C) Right click on DisablePropPage and click on Modify.

D) Type 1 and click OK.

E) The registry will now look like this. (See screenshot below)

F) Go to step 7.

6. To Restore the Compatiblity Tab -

A) In the right pane, right click on DisablePropPage and click on Delete. (See screenshot above)

B) Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

7. Close regedit.

Running NWN with UAC and not as administrator

written by Gulni

This week I had to get NWN up and running on a Vista laptop.

There ain't no way I'm disabling UAC on it. And there ain't no way I'm giving my 5-yr-old the Administrator password. So... how to get NWN running? It needs run-as-admin...

Turns out there's a way, using the Microsoft "Application Compatibility Toolkit"; it's descibed here. I used that tool to set Run As Invoker plus XP2 compatibility mode on both nwmain.exe and nwtoolset.exe, and my kids can now launch nwn from restricted accounts without UAC popping up complaints all the time.

It's a bit convoluted to get it set up, but the result is completely transparent to the user once it's done. Works great so far.

Downgrades to XP

While NWN should be able to run on Vista, some other games may not. It is often desirable to install Windows XP in place of Vista.

"If you have a Windows XP CD and the copy of Vista is either Business or Ultimate, you can use the Vista activation code to activate XP. Make sure you have backed up any files you want to keep, and that you can get at XP drivers for your system. Install Windows XP using the XP disks, and using the product key that comes with those disks. Then, when asked to activate Windows, choose the 'activate by phone' option and call the toll-free number. You should tell the representative that you want to use your downgrade rights. I highly recommend this approach to anyone who is unfortunate enough to have acquired a computer with Windows Vista pre-installed." Fire Boar