"Could not initialize graphics system. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with DirectDraw" error message when you start Age of Empires II (242902)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings 2.0
  • Microsoft Age of Empires II Expansion: The Conquerors
  • Microsoft Age of Empires II Gold Edition
This article was previously published under Q242902

SYMPTOMS

When you try to start Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings or Microsoft Age of Empires II Expansion: The Conquerors, you may receive the following error message:
Could not initialize graphics system. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with DirectDraw.

CAUSE

This issue may occur if any one of the following conditions is true:
  • The game cannot start because of a limation or a restriction of your display hardware.
  • Your display hardware does not meet the minimum requirements of the game.
  • There is a conflicting application or process running.
  • The shortcut that you use to start Microsoft Age of Empires II is corrupted.

RESOLUTION

When Age of Empires II starts, it plays the startup movie advertisments at a resolution of 640x480, and then opens the main game screen at a resolution of 800x600x256. It is important that your display hardware can output at these resolutions and color depth.

To work around this issue, make sure that your display can support 800x600, and then bypass the startup movie. To do this, change the screen resolution in Microsoft Windows.Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Click Appearance and Themes.
  3. Click Display.
  4. Click the Settings tab.
  5. Move the Screen resolution slider or the Desktop Area slider to the 800 by 600 pixels setting.
  6. Click OK.

    Note If you cannot change the resolution setting to 800 by 600 pixels, verify that the correct monitor is selected and that the monitor supports such a resolution setting.
  7. Add the nostartup parameter to the Age of Empires II shortcut.

    For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    242227 Age of Empires II: Command line parameters

  8. Start the game by using the modified shortcut.
If the issue continues to occur, modify the shortcut again to turn on the Run in 256 colors display setting. The Run in 256 colors display setting is on the Compatibility tab in the program.

For more information about how to use Windows Application Compatibility mode, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

292533 HOW TO: Use Windows Program Compatibility mode in Windows XP

Make sure the best monitor driver is installed

Follow the appropriate steps for your version of Microsoft Windows:

Windows 98

  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Display.
  3. On the Settings tab, click Advanced.
  4. On the Monitor tab, click to select the Automatically detect Plug & Play monitors check box.
  5. Note the manufacturer and model of your current monitor, and then click Change.
  6. Click Next.
  7. Click Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location so that you can select the driver you want, and then click Next.
  8. Click Show all hardware.
  9. In the Manufacturers box, click the manufacturer of your monitor.
  10. In the Model box, click the model of your monitor or select a default monitor driver.

    To select a default monitor driver:
    1. In the Manufacturers box, click (Standard monitor types).
    2. In the Model box, click Plug and Play Monitor.
  11. Click Next, and then follow the instructions to complete the driver installation.

    If you are prompted to verify that you want to change the monitor, click Yes.

Windows XP

  1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Click Appearance and Themes.
  3. Click Display.
  4. On the Settings tab, click Advanced.
  5. On the Adapter tab, click Properties.
  6. On the Driver tab, click Update Driver.
  7. Click Install from a list or specific location (Advanced), and then click Next.
  8. Click Don't search. I will choose the driver to install, and then click Next.
  9. Clear the Show compatible hardware check box.
  10. In the Manufacturers box, click the manufacturer of your monitor.
  11. In the Model box, click the model of your monitor or select a default monitor driver.

    To select a default monitor driver:
    1. In the Manufacturers box, click (Standard monitor types).
    2. In the Model box, click Plug and Play Monitor.
  12. Click Next, and then follow the instructions to complete the driver installation.

    If you are prompted to verify that you want to change the monitor, click Yes.

Verify that the video adapter meets minimum system requirements

Verify that your video adapter meets the minimum system requirements needed to play your Microsoft Age of Empires game. If your video adapter does not meet the minimum video memory requirements needed to play Age of Empires, you must install additional video memory on your video adapter or install a video adapter with more video memory.

To use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool to determine the amount of video memory installed on your video adapter:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type dxdiag in the Open box, and then click OK.
  2. Click the Display or Display 1 tab.
  3. Note the amount of video memory on the Approx. Total Memory line under Device. Age of Empires requires 2 megabytes (MB) of video memory. If less than 2 MB is reported in Dxdiag, you must contact your computer manufacturer to obtain a new video adapter.
  4. Click Exit.

Restart the computer by using a clean boot procedure

When you start Microsoft Windows, typically there are a number of programs that start automatically and run in the background that may interfere with the game. These programs may include antivirus and system utility programs. When you perform a clean boot, you prevent these programs from starting automatically. You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.

To restart your computer by using a clean boot procedure, follow these steps when you are using Windows XP.

Note You may experience a temporary loss of some services functionality when you follow these steps. Restoring the settings restores the functionality, but may result in the return of the original error message or behavior.
  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
  2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
  3. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
    • Process SYSTEM.INI File
    • Process WIN.INI File
    • Load Startup Items
  4. On the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
  5. Click OK, and then click Restart.
Click Play to view this streaming media demonstration.

For more information or to view steps for other operating systems, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

331796 Games: How to perform a clean boot to prevent background programs from interfering with play

Turn off the Enable Write Combining feature (Windows XP only)

  1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Click Appearance and Themes.
  3. Click Display.
  4. On the Settings tab, click Advanced, and then click the Troubleshoot tab.
  5. Click to clear the Enable write combining check box.
  6. Click OK, and then click OK again.
  7. Test the game. If the issue is not resolved, repeat steps 1-4, but then click to select the Enable write combining check box.

Set the refresh rate to adapter default

  1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Click Appearance and Themes.
  3. Click Display, click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.
  4. On the Adapter tab, click List All Modes.
  5. Note the current mode, and then select the same mode but that ends in Default Refresh.

    Note This mode must at least meet the minimum screen resolution of 800 x 600 and 16-bit high color.
  6. Click OK, click OK, and then click OK again.

Verify that the shortcut contains accurate information

If you are running Age of Kings II or Conquerors, follow these steps.

To resolve this issue, verify that the Age of Empires II shortcut contains accurate and complete information to start Age of Empires II:
  1. On the desktop, right-click the Age of Empires II shortcut, and then click Properties.

    Note If the Age of Empires II or Conquerors shortcut is not on the desktop, open the Start menu folder:
    1. Right-click Start, and then click Open or Open All Users.
    2. Double-click the Programs folder.
    3. Double-click the Microsoft Games folder.
    4. Double-click the Age Of Empires II or Age of Empires II - The Conquerors Expansion folder.
    5. Right click the program shortcut, and then click Properties.
  2. In the Start in box, type the following line, and then click Apply:
    • Age of Kings:

      drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II

    • Age of Conquerors:

      drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II

      where drive is the drive letter of the hard disk where Age of Empires II or Conquerors is installed.
  3. Click Find Target, and then verify that the program's executable file is found. Close the window.
  4. Click OK
If the issue continues to occur, create a new shortcut.

Create a new shortcut

  1. Right-click the Age of Empires II or Conquerors shortcut, and then click Delete.

    If you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
  2. Click Start, point to Find or Search, and then click Files or Folders or For Files or Folders.
  3. In the Named or Search for files or Folders named box, if you are running Age of Kings, type empires2.exe. If you are running Age of Conquerors, type age2_x1.exe.
  4. In the Look in box, click My Computer.

    Note For Microsoft Windows 98, make sure that the Include subfolders check box is selected, and then click Find Now.
  5. In the list of found files, right-click the Empires2.exe or Age2_x1.exe file, and then click Create Shortcut.
  6. When you are prompted to create the shortcut on the desktop, click Yes.
  7. Close all the windows.
  8. Right-click the newly-created shortcut, and then click Rename.
  9. Type Age of Empires II or Age of Conquerors, and then press ENTER.
If the problem continues to occur, go to the next step.

Turn off NetMeeting

If you are running NetMeeting on your system, exit NetMeeting before you start the game:
  1. Right-click the NetMeeting icon on the Windows taskbar.
  2. Click Stop NetMeeting or Exit.
NetMeeting prevents DirectX from dynamically changing your screen resolution when you start the game.

If the problem continues to occur, go to the next method.

Update your video adapter driver

To see if applicable driver updates are available, you can visit the following Microsoft Windows Update Web site:

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Alternatively, contact your hardware manufacturer to inquire about how to obtain and install the latest version of the video driver for your video adapter. For information about how to contact your hardware manufacturer, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

65416 Hardware and software vendor contact information, A-K

60781 Hardware and software vendor contact information, L-P

60782 Hardware and software vendor contact information, Q-Z

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/2/2006
Keywords:kbhowto kbArtTypeSHOWME kberrmsg kbdisplay kbprb KB242902 kbAudEndUser
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