Bioshock Retail CD Autopatcher Not working

[ThirstyWizard27]

I recently bought a copy of the original bioshock PC CD and it installs fine but when it gets to the point of the auto updater it does not work and come up with an error message saying the patch was corrupt.

I am running the latest windows 10

Any ideas on how to fix this?

[Crazy_Borg]

There is no fix. Servers are down.
2K offered steam key replacements for those who owned physical copies of the game for a time, but stopped it about 2 years ago.

https://support.2k.com/hc/en-us/articles/221942248-Can-I-Upgrade-To-HD-If-I-Already-Own-Previous-BioShock-Titles-On-Steam-

I have the same problem, and 2K just does not care anymore. We're screwed.

[I Did It 4 Teh Lulz]

Pretty sure at the time the had downloadable .exe patch aswell as the autoupdater one.

https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/1099-bioshock-patch/

[Thrice_G]

The reason the auto updater doesn't work is because the address to the patch file changed. You can download it directly from 2k games via this link:

http://downloads.2kgames.com/bioshock/patch/bioshock_patch.gz

Now the second problem is that the installer will cancel the install once you exit the dialogue box. What you have to do is Alt Tab out of the installation window BEFORE canceling the auto updater. Go ahead and extract the patch into the Bioshock/builds/release directory.

Then, copy the Bioshock folder and put it somewhere else on your system like your desktop. Now go back to the installer and cancel the auto updater and the installation will get aborted.

You will notice that the installer deleted the original Bioshock directory. Put the copied folder back where the original directory used to be and launch the executable that you placed in the "release" folder. The game will launch and ask for your product key. Hopefully you still have it because I can't help you there...

Hope that helps

Credit goes to the following threads:

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=67992
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bioshock/comments/cs9s8u/bioshock_patch_files_are_corrupt/
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/threads/cant-install-bioshock.18406809/

***Edit***
I'm glad this info was able to help some people! I would just like to add that I've discovered another technical issue that prevents the game from launching: corrupt save files. If the game suddenly stops working, try backing up and clearing out your save folder which is located at "C:\Users\Penn\Documents\Bioshock\SaveGames\" It took me longer than I'm willing to admit to figure that out...

[ProVegaGamer]

I solved the problem by just buying Bioshock One remastered.

[Thrice_G]

Originally posted by MyEinsamkeit:

I solved the problem by just buying Bioshock One remastered.

I suppose that's what they wanted you to do all along...but yes. That's a legitimate solution as well.

[half glass]

Originally posted by Thrice_G:

The reason the auto updater doesn't work is because the address to the patch file changed. You can download it directly from 2k games via this link:

http://downloads.2kgames.com/bioshock/patch/bioshock_patch.gz

Now the second problem is that the installer will cancel the install once you exit the dialogue box. What you have to do is Alt Tab out of the installation window BEFORE canceling the auto updater. Go ahead and extract the patch into the Bioshock/builds/release directory.

Then, copy the Bioshock folder and put it somewhere else on your system like your desktop. Now go back to the installer and cancel the auto updater and the installation will get aborted.

You will notice that the installer deleted the original Bioshock directory. Put the copied folder back where the original directory used to be and launch the executable that you placed in the "release" folder. The game will launch and ask for your product key. Hopefully you still have it because I can't help you there...

Hope that helps

Credit goes to the following threads:

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=67992
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bioshock/comments/cs9s8u/bioshock_patch_files_are_corrupt/
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/threads/cant-install-bioshock.18406809/

Hey I just found this post after my old Bioshock CD wouldn't install. Your solution worked for me, thank you so much!! It's nice to not have to spend more money on a game I already own, and it keeps it alive for the future.

[Chris Portal]

Originally posted by Thrice_G:

The reason the auto updater doesn't work is because the address to the patch file changed. You can download it directly from 2k games via this link:

http://downloads.2kgames.com/bioshock/patch/bioshock_patch.gz

Now the second problem is that the installer will cancel the install once you exit the dialogue box. What you have to do is Alt Tab out of the installation window BEFORE canceling the auto updater. Go ahead and extract the patch into the Bioshock/builds/release directory.

Then, copy the Bioshock folder and put it somewhere else on your system like your desktop. Now go back to the installer and cancel the auto updater and the installation will get aborted.

You will notice that the installer deleted the original Bioshock directory. Put the copied folder back where the original directory used to be and launch the executable that you placed in the "release" folder. The game will launch and ask for your product key. Hopefully you still have it because I can't help you there...

Hope that helps

Credit goes to the following threads:

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=67992
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bioshock/comments/cs9s8u/bioshock_patch_files_are_corrupt/
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/threads/cant-install-bioshock.18406809/

I know I'm over half a year late to this, but I tried this, and then when I started the "BSAutoRun" application: the startup menu's option to play was still unavailable. If anyone has any advice then that would be great.

[StarSega Dude]

Originally posted by Chris Portal:

I know I'm over half a year late to this, but I tried this, and then when I started the "BSAutoRun" application: the startup menu's option to play was still unavailable. If anyone has any advice then that would be great.

I also followed those directions and was able to play the game. You have to run Bioshock.exe directly from the installation directory. I did and the game works on my fully updated Windows 10. I made a shortcut to Bioshock.exe on my desktop.

[Chris Portal]

Originally posted by StarSega Dude:

Originally posted by Chris Portal:

I know I'm over half a year late to this, but I tried this, and then when I started the "BSAutoRun" application: the startup menu's option to play was still unavailable. If anyone has any advice then that would be great.

I also followed those directions and was able to play the game. You have to run Bioshock.exe directly from the installation directory. I did and the game works on my fully updated Windows 10. I made a shortcut to Bioshock.exe on my desktop.

I don't see a Bioshock.exe in the directory; all there is is the "BSAutoRun" application which doesn't do anything when I tried to use it.

[StarSega Dude]

Originally posted by Chris Portal:

I don't see a Bioshock.exe in the directory; all there is is the "BSAutoRun" application which doesn't do anything when I tried to use it.

It sounds like you are looking on the DVD and not the installation directory on the hard drive. You need to look in the Bioshock folder wherever you copied it to when you followed the steps. You should have copied Bioshock.exe from the bioshock_patch.gz file into the \Builds\Release folder within the Bioshock directory. Try searching your computer for Bioshock.exe.

When you enter the product key make sure you include the dashes or it won't recognize the product key and won't activate. The activation did not work for me until I put in the dashes.

[Digital Wolf]

do you have the file? 2K Took the website down

[☭ MR. FAGNO ☭]

Originally posted by Thrice_G:

The reason the auto updater doesn't work is because the address to the patch file changed. You can download it directly from 2k games via this link:

http://downloads.2kgames.com/bioshock/patch/bioshock_patch.gz

Now the second problem is that the installer will cancel the install once you exit the dialogue box. What you have to do is Alt Tab out of the installation window BEFORE canceling the auto updater. Go ahead and extract the patch into the Bioshock/builds/release directory.

Then, copy the Bioshock folder and put it somewhere else on your system like your desktop. Now go back to the installer and cancel the auto updater and the installation will get aborted.

You will notice that the installer deleted the original Bioshock directory. Put the copied folder back where the original directory used to be and launch the executable that you placed in the "release" folder. The game will launch and ask for your product key. Hopefully you still have it because I can't help you there...

Hope that helps

Credit goes to the following threads:

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=67992
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bioshock/comments/cs9s8u/bioshock_patch_files_are_corrupt/
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/threads/cant-install-bioshock.18406809/

Hi there! I know it's been a while, but i tried to re-install Bioshock from an original DVD. I wanted to try this method, but the file "bioshock_file.gz" seems unavalable since they took down the website. Does anybody here still have that particular file? Thanks yall

[ProVegaGamer]

Just buy the remastered version, its our only option. Unless you download the game from igg
games . com. (which is a safe site to download games / been downloading games sometimes from their for over 4 years ) I just decided to buy the remastered version.

[☭ MR. FAGNO ☭]

Originally posted by Rocket04:

do you have the file? 2K Took the website down

I FOUND IT! After hours of researches on obscure forums.

https://web.archive.org/web/20180105055415/http://downloads.2kgames.com/bioshock/patch/bioshock_patch.gz

It worked perfectly for me!
Welcome back, Rapture. I truly missed you...

[squeeb]

Good info in the thread. How convenient of 2K to stop offering a digital code exchange for owners of the retail disc, around the time the remastered version comes out

In any case, another option for grabbing the latest retail patch is https://www.patches-scrolls.de/home - great resource (I use it all the time for old cd/dvd games on my retro PC).