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Battlefield 2 on Windows Vista
Are you having trouble running Battlefield 2 or Battlefield 2142 on Vista? I had this problem myself, and used allot of time searching forums and bulletin boards for solutions. This tutorial describes what finally worked on my computer (the tutorial describes Battlefield 2, but the same worked for Battlefield 2142).

By: Admin
Email: 		Published: 2007.10.08 - 08:48

Mark: Unrated


When i decided to switch to Windows Vista i knew it would result in some issues when trying to run older software which have been developed on Windows XP or even older Windows systems. Battlefield 2 however is a brand new game which i thought Vista would fully support. But when i tried to run the game i just got a black screen before the game crashed back to the desktop.

Many issues for older software that has not been written with Vista in mind can be resolved by running them in emulated mode. Microsoft calls it compatibility mode and can be found in the following way:
  1. Right-click the program executable or short-cut icon.
  2. Choose the Properties option.
  3. Click the Compatibility tab.
  4. Check the "Run the program in compatibility mode" checkbox.
  5. Choose Windows distribution (Win XP etc.) and click Apply then Ok.


This has resolved the problem for some users. But a new feature in Vista is that it limits the administrative capabilities for programs in order to make it harder for viruses and malware to do harmful things to the system. This limitation can be bypassed by choosing to run the program in administrator mode. Be careful with this option if you aren't sure about the software. But for trusted program such as Battlefield 2 you do the following:
  1. Repeat point 1 to 3 from the compatibility mode.
  2. Check the "Run this program as an administrator" checkbox.
  3. Click Apply then Ok.


But even this wasn't enough to get the game to run on my computer. After much head scratching and anger fits i finally found the problem. There was a difference between my screen refresh rate and the refresh rate set in the Battlefield 2 configuration settings. After setting them equal all worked perfectly! This is what you do:
  1. Right-click on the desktop and choose Personalization (can also be found in the Control Panel).
  2. Choose Display Settings then Advanced Settings.
  3. Click the Monitor tab to see the screen refresh rate (61 Hz in my case).
  4. Click Cancel to go back.


Now you need to check the BF2 settings:
  1. Go to your Documents folder.
  2. Delete the Battlefield 2 folder (nothing will happen to your characters).
  3. Start the game and let it crash back to the desktop.
  4. Go to the folder Documents\Battlefield 2\Profiles\Default.
  5. Open the Video.con file in your text editor (Notepad or equivalent).
  6. Look for a line like: VideoSettings.setResolution 1024x768@60Hz.
  7. Change it to: VideoSettings.setResolution 1024x768@61Hz (where i put 61 you put your refresh rate).
  8. Save the file.


Now try to run the game. It should work fine, at least it did for me.



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