Shogun 2 crashing at start up / pirated copy [SOLVED]

[drbob271]

A few days ago I decided I wanted to play some Shogun 2 again as it has been awhile. I downloaded Steam and Shogun 2 via Steam and got a message upon trying to launch the game that Shogun 2 couldn't launch because the game was pirated (it isn't) or has cheats activated (it doesn't). I tried the obvious things and checked the forums and couldn't get it to work. Almost downloaded an actual pirated copy, but ended up getting it to work with help from Sega support UK.

These first set of steps didn't work for me but I'll post them anyway in case they are relevant. If you want to skip ahead to the part that solved it for me scroll down to the bold face text.

"Please refer to the following article from Steam’s Knowledgebase and follow thoroughly all the steps mentioned:

<https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3134-TIAL-4638>

Once that's done, start steam again and reverify your game cache as shown here:
1. Load Steam
2. From the Library section, right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu.
3. Select the Local files tab and click the ‘VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAMECACHE…’ button.
4. Steam will verify the game's files - this process may take several minutes.
5. Once the process is completed, the Check Window will automatically exit.
6. We recommend verifying your cache twice to make sure all files are fully downloaded

Important: Please ensure you have all the available updates from Windows Update <http://update.microsoft.com/> for your system.

Please let us know how you get on.

Best Regards,

Vincent
SEGA Customer Support"

Again, the above didn't work for me but you might want to try it anyway.

From the following step 3, specifically running Steam in administrator mode, seemed to work. Though I've posted all the steps in case one of the other steps played a part in solving the problem.

"In order to troubleshoot the issue, please follow these steps and try running the game after each one:

1) Use the secondary installer for Visual C++ and rename the ClientRegistry.blob file:
- Navigate to the following folder: C:\Program files\Steam\steamapps\common\total war shogun 2\redist
- Inside the "redist" folder, double click on the "vcredist_x86" executable
- When installation is finished, and after making sure that Steam is not running (if it is open, use the top menu: "Steam" -> "Exit"), navigate to its installation path: C:\Program files\Steam
- Right-click the file named "ClientRegistry.blob" and select "Rename". Change the name of this file to "ClientRegistryOld.blob"

2) Uninstall C++ 2005 and reinstall it, as it might have become corrupt:

- Click on Start -> Control Panel
Windows Vista / 7: Select “Programs and features” (or “Uninstall a program”)
Windows XP: Select “Add or remove programs”

- Click on Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable and select “Uninstall”. Do this for all instances of Visual C++ 2005
- Once Visual C++ 2005 has been completely uninstalled, access the following path: C:\Program files\Steam\steamapps\common\total war shogun 2\redist
- Inside the "redist" folder, double click on the "vcredist_x86" executable to reinstall Visual C++ 2005

3) Check the Steam client Properties:
- Ensure that the Steam installation folder and its contents are not set to “Read-only”
- Check that the “Steam.exe” application file is not being run in “Compatibility mode” and that you are running it as an Administrator. To check this, right-click on the file and select “Properties”, then the “Compatibility” tab

4) Look for Steam client updates:
- Open Steam
- Click on the top left menu: "Steam" and select "Check for Steam Client Updates..."
- Steam will restart automatically if an update needs to be applied

5) Verify the integrity of the game’s cache again:
- From the Steam Games Library, right-click on Total War: Shogun 2 and select "Properties" from the menu
- Select the Local files tab and click the "Verify integrity of game cache..." button
- Steam will verify the game cache files - this process may take several minutes
- If Steam finds that some files need to be reacquired, repeat the verification process once more

6) Disable your Antivirus and any other security software:
You should be able to temporarily deactivate your Antivirus by right-clicking on its icon in the notification area, next to the system clock. If you cannot deactivate the Antivirus using this method, please refer to the instructions from your software provider.

We hope these steps help you to run the game. If you continue encountering the same issue, please reply to this email so we can offer additional help.

Best regards,

Product Support
SEGA Europe Ltd.
www.sega.co.uk"

Tl;Dr Run Steam in admin mode.[/b]

[Iceira]

if this a joke ? then joke is over, disable security can give people problem, depend on what they do.

i dont think this is very helpfull and this is already done by most people here.
i wont do that, turn off security permanently, i will only do this as a test only

well lets hear what other steam user has to say about this.

ps
as i tried to tell people before contact antivirus program support,its antivirus program job to report to you if they block something,

[Iceira]

oh yeah forgot to mention , contact steam support its steam client that report this pirated issue its not the game let steam deal with this. that imo best advise i can give you.

[drbob271]

This is copy and pasted from the email I received from Sega support which is who you will be transferred to when you contact Steam. It's not a joke, feel free to not use the information. It's what worked for me and given the number of threads here that report "nothing working" I figured I would post.

I don't use an antivirus so I'm not sure what you're going on about.

[Rdietz]

I got this after not playing for like a mounth, i just signed out of steam and signed back in and it worked

[drbob271]

I'm using Windows 7.


I tried a million solutions before contacting Steam (which led me to Sega) and most of the suggestions they sent were things I had already tried.

[Iceira]

Originally posted by drbob271:

This is copy and pasted from the email I received from Sega support which is who you will be transferred to when you contact Steam. It's not a joke, feel free to not use the information. It's what worked for me and given the number of threads here that report "nothing working" I figured I would post.

I don't use an antivirus so I'm not sure what you're going on about.

this might be the problem if you dont use anything, even microsoft security essentials is better then nothing,

well im out here.... gl with it.

[drbob271]

Well it's a pretty new Windows install. I've since gotten malware bytes up and running but I ran Malwarebytes scan, adwscanner, and ccleaner before contacting Sega and I didn't have any malware on my PC.

Like I said, my problem is solved. I just have seen many others posting with the same issue that didn't get it resolved. I just posted this for those people.

[Zepp]

Doesn't work for me.

[DropnFbombs]

I haven't run an anti-virus for years. The best solution is not to download anything you don't trust and stay away from sites with fake download ads everwhere. That and keep the idiots off your PC.