Red Alert 2 not working!

[second coming of jesus]

i Installed Red Alert 2 earlier today but when i went into the game the screen was black and only audio was playing, eventually i got to the menu screen but none of the "new game" etc buttons were there.
I then googled the answer and it said to change the compatibility mode and run as administrator but that didnt work and it then started saying "FATAL String Manager failed to initilaized properly" everytime i clicked on the desktop icon.

please help!
I have a windows 7 64bit computer

[Raitlor]

Make sure every .exe in the folder is set to run as admin, not just one. RA2.exe and game.exe should be set to run as admin with XP service pack 3 compatibility for base Red Alert 2. RA2MD.exe, YURI.exe and gamemd.exe should all be set to run as admin with XP service pack 3 compatibility for Yuri's Revenge.
The menu problem is a known issue with laptops running certain resolutions, you have to make your laptop think you have a monitor attached and duplicate to the fake monitor to resolve that.

[second coming of jesus]

the only .exe folders i have is mph.exe Ra2.exe and game.exe
how would i make my laptop think that? would connecting my laptop to a tv through a hdmi chord fix it?

[Alphabetti Spaghetti?!]

Hi NirvanaWolf,

This problem seems to span over all different versions of Windows, graphics cards and versions of Red Alert 2 so you are not alone! I had the same graphics issues (I am using Windows 7 and C&C First Decade) and through some simple fixes Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge now work perfectly. I will explain which solutions worked for me and hopefully they will help you too:

Firstly, in regards to "FATAL String Manager failed to initialize properly", I would reinstall the game. The more tech-savvy might be able to explain what that means and that reinstalling may not be necessary, but it might be easiest just to start afresh in case you accidentally edited something important.

Next repeat what you've already done: change each and every .exe in your Red Alert 2 directory (and Yuri's Revenge if applicable) to run in compatibility mode and select "Windows XP (Service Pack 3)", then tick the run as administrator box and apply.

Once you've done that, open ra2.ini (also in your Red Alert 2 directory. Use notepad to open it) and you should find something like this:

[Video]
ScreenWidth=1280
ScreenHeight=1024
StretchMovies=no

Replace the above text with this:

[Video]
AllowHiResModes=yes
AllowVRAMSidebar=yes
VideoBackBuffer=no
ScreenWidth=800
ScreenHeight=600
StretchMovies=yes

From what I gather you can change the resolution here if you don't want it to be 800x600, but it's what I prefer and I know, at least for me, that this resolution works.

Lastly, right click on the desktop and select "Screen Resolution". There should be an option called "Multiple Displays". Now if you don't have another monitor connected, follow the instructions on this forum: http://xwis.net/forums/index.php/topic/172813-black-screen-no-menus-showing-in-game/

Alternatively, if you are using a separate monitor like I am, which I believe is why I don't have the option "Try to connect anyway on: VGA", then just select "Extend these displays" on the "Multiple Displays" drop down menu and that should work.

After many hours of scouring forums and performing each task listed above, the game finally works, and even better, the extending displays trick seems to fix graphical errors with other retro games on modern machines, such as Baldur's Gate!

Hope that helps!

[Executer]

Working fine on Windows 10.

[Eltoro]

Im having still problem on windows 10 with origins... they have no idea what is going on so i thought to come here.. thank you for your help

[Steve]

I believe I have the same problem but have noticed something different. I have had a working RA2 on my win7 64bit machines ( 1 laptop, 1 desktop) both stopped working after the most recent batch of windows updates. I do not have the knowledge on figuring out which one took out RA2.
But here they are kb3069114,kb3074550,kb3086255,kb3084135,kb890830,kb3087918,kb3087038,kb3074543,kb3074230,kb3092627,kb3083992,kb3087039,kb3083324
They were all updates installed at the same time so I don't have a clue as to which one it is if there is someone on this board who might be able to look at these with a more experienced eye I would love to play my game again...thanks

[TeknoMagi]

I got the same issue as many who tries to play Origin Red alert 2 on Win10.. I get a black screen on startup.

I thank you Alphabetti Spaghetti for some good info... I just got one problem.. I can not add another "fake" duplicate screen on my laptop...

I even added a photo of my struggle: http://postimg.org/image/ftbllzetl/ ....

[EvgeniyK Duran]

Alphabetti Spaghetti?! this dont work on noutbook with 10 windows,
dont show another monitor if click Detect.

Thomas_VM92 http://postimg.org/image/ftbllzetl/
yes.. i have this problem too

need fix this ***** with ra2... ***** black window... (*-_-)

[Steve]

This fixed my problem ,check it out it might help you if it is the same : https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3086255

[opeienne]

ty, helped me a lot

[Jihadi John AW]

You gotta take it to the local recreation center and get SMASHED on the court

[EvgeniyK Duran]

steve7872 eredeti hozzászólása:

This fixed my problem ,check it out it might help you if it is the same : https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3086255

no support win 10... maximum 8.1
http://postimg.org/image/z91t9fyfj/

[xPa3ck]

Hi, you can try all my fixes in this article how to run red alert 2 under windows 8 and windows 10. Its worked for me ;) http://patrikkopac.blogspot.sk/2015/09/c-red-alert-2-yuris-revenge-windows.html

[xWestlander]

xPa3ck eredeti hozzászólása:

Hi, you can try all my fixes in this article how to run red alert 2 under windows 8 and windows 10. Its worked for me ;) http://patrikkopac.blogspot.sk/2015/09/c-red-alert-2-yuris-revenge-windows.html

This actually fixed the game for 50%. No more black screens at the beginning, and it's possible to play the game like normal, but only for like 5 minutes or so. The screen will freeze but the game will play further, the sound is still playing, but i cant do anything cuz of the screen freeze.
Any one any idea how to fix it, cuz origin isn't going to help at all!

[Steve]

I only have win7 but there people here having win10 issues here...from what I understand is that the driver I had to restart on my PC is not even allowed on win 10. I recommend either running a virtual box or a thumb-drive version of win7 so it even clears up compatibility issues. Remember in the life cycle of a game, RA2 is a dinosaur. I like my dinosaur.