Vista 64bit and online gaming problem

[ender1598]

This'll be a somewhat long post only because I've tried and troubleshot but yet have no fix for this problem. Just a week ago I helped a friend of mine put together a new computer. He went all out and got niiiiice system with these specs:

Intel Duo Core processor... can't remember exactly which speed
Asus SLI motherboard
EVGA nVidia 8800 with 320MB ram
2 gigs of corsair ram
320 gig SATA drive
DVD R/W
750 watt power supply
22 inch widescreen LCD
Vista 64bit home premium

He also got a dlink router for his home network... before he'd been plugged straight in. There were only a few games he really played a lot. World of Warcraft, C&C Generals, Star Wars: Empire at War, and Rome Total War. Once we got Vista installed I copied his WoW folder from the old computer across the network to the new one and it worked just fine. I left that night assuming everything was working as it should.

Unfortunately I was back again last because it seems WoW is the *only* game of those 4 mentioned that will work in online play. Generals will not connect when you do online play, Empire at War will not connect, and Rome will not connect. At first I thought it was the router doing some wackiness but the games worked fine on the old computer. Then I thought it was maybe the Vista built in firewall. I disabled it completely but still the online play would not work. Then I thought maybe the games were acting buggy in 64 bit and multiplay was not possible. He told me that he had a friend over and they played Generals in LAN mode and there was no problem.

I've downloaded and installed all the latest patches for all the games but that didn't help. I also tried changing the properties for all of the executables to compatiblity mode for WinXP Service Pack 2 and that didn't help. I tried adding the check box for running as administrator also. I tried changing the network settings within the game into all kinds of combinations but still no connecting to the outside world. The only common thread I could find with these three games is they use the Gamespy servers to some extent or another. He does not have the Gamespy Arcade program installed for using multiplayer but is instead using the ingame browser like on his old computer.

After much troubleshooting and googling and hair pulling I'm posting here to see if anyone has a clue as to why the games will not work with online play. Thanks for the help.


Cliff Notes:
New 64bit computer with 64bit Vista
WoW works with online play but Generals, Empire at War, and Rome Total War do not
Old computer still plays online through new router
Disabled Vista firewall
LAN gaming works with Generals
Tried compatibility mode and administrator mode
Unworking games use Gamespy... is this the cause somehow?

 

[jtzako]

Are any of those games installed in the \Program Files\ folder? If so, that could be an issue. That folder is locked down in Vista and may be preventing something from happening that those games require.

Beyond that my only guess would be the Vista firewall or an "anti cheater" app those games use that isnt compatible with Vista.

 

[Tytalus]

You mention the processor, but you aren't specific on which one. If you have a Core2Duo processor I'm surprised you can even get Generals to RUN... go search for a Generals Core2Duo hang/free/will-not-run on Google and see what you get.

Also, stating that your friend can get a LAN game to work with it doesn't mean you can. You need to check that out before you continue, otherwise you are making an assumption based on someone else's hardware.... that can't be good!

 

[HotShotMedic]

did you 'copy' the games over from the old computer or re-install them on the new build? i suggest a complete reinstall of games on the new pc.

 

[ender1598]

You mention the processor, but you aren't specific on which one. If you have a Core2Duo processor I'm surprised you can even get Generals to RUN... go search for a Generals Core2Duo hang/free/will-not-run on Google and see what you get.

Also, stating that your friend can get a LAN game to work with it doesn't mean you can. You need to check that out before you continue, otherwise you are making an assumption based on someone else's hardware.... that can't be good!

I saw many of those threads when searching about this problem and I guess I'm a bit surprised that the game is running fine considering all the problems others are having. But he was able to get a LAN game running between him and another person running I believe XP. He's got no reason to lie but I can't easily test it unless I get this other guy over at the same time. The fact that he can play single player and on a LAN game but not through the online service is what boggles my mind about this problem.

did you 'copy' the games over from the old computer or re-install them on the new build? i suggest a complete reinstall of games on the new pc.

The only game "copied" over was World of Warcraft simply because it's made to be copyable and playable without any problems. All the other games were fresh installs onto the Vista system.