*Vice City*on Windows Vista & Windows7

[Ring_of_Fire 11]

Must SEE thread and video http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=310254

 

 

Black Screen fix is here...

 

 

 

San Andreas issues, rather than Vice City? -> http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=307992

 

 

I just installed Vista Home Premium yesterday and these are some issues I came over. However, I'm a newbie to Vista but I have now reached an intermediate-knowledgeable level:

 

 

1. Problems when Vice City crashes right in the middle of the loading bar and then back to desktop.

Fix -> Run in compatibility mode for 98. Disable UAC and restart computer! Plus, uncheck "Run this program as an Administrator" under Privilege Level (as well as in "Show settings for all users") after right-clicking and changing the properties of the executable. Apply & OK

 

Alternatively, go into Task Manager and you should see more than one "gta-vc.exe" process!!! Close 'em down and relaunch Vice City.

 

Note: If you can't delete "gta-vc.exe" because of an Access Denied error, this means for sure that your game will crash. The reason is simply because Vice City can't get to read and write data to run the game, resulting in a crash. You need to disable that troublemaking UAC feature and restart, even though it is there to protect you and your computer.

 

 

2. In Vista, I can't extract anything into a folder with WinRAR. After extracting, I can't even delete it.

Fix -> Disable UAC or move the file and extract the new one there. Also, restart computer because this clears the "gta-vc.exe" fully from memory and cache. You know when it is cleared since it takes a longer time to complete the VC pink, loading bar. Logging in/out should not be used as an alternative for restarting or turning off and then on the computer.

 

Also, you can check to see if there is a "gta-vc" process running in memory from Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL). Close it down as Vista doesn't seem to close down processes after you run it and when the game crashes.

 

 

3. My mouse ain't working!

Go into Windows 98 compatibility mode. Also, delete [.set] file - chances are that when you were in "Windows Vista" compatibility, the [.set] file kept the no-mouse effect. Alt-tabbing in and out will not work.

 

Alternatively, go into Task Manager and you should see more than one "gta-vc.exe" process!!! Close 'em down and relaunch Vice City.

 

Windows 7 Solution (this may work on Vista too)-- Right click the VC icon and select the compatibility tab-- DO NOT CHANGE THE COMPATIBILITY of the program-- click the "disable visual themes" check box.  Click apply at the bottom of the window. Try starting the game... if this does not work, try deleting the [.set] file and then try starting the game again-- this solutiong was found by Spuds via google on this page-- http://www.dedoimedo.com/games/gta-vice-city-windows-7.html

 

 

4. You can't sprint, sound horn, nor skip cutscenes!

Click on "Restore Defaults" when in the "Controller Setup" menu and the [.set] file will simply fresh to the new compatibility settings you had chosen. This happens usually when moving from XP/Vista compatibility to 98, or vice versa. Bug applies with the [sHIFT] key.

 

 

5. Tommy Vercetti can't jump!

Switch your Keyboard Layout! This is a one major Vista issue especially when you get your ass kicked in MTAVC and VCMP. You should also realize that some keyboard characters do not work in the text prompt after you try to jump once: Go into Control Panel and select "Regional and Language Options". Click "Keyboard & Language" tab and click "Change Keyboards". Now click "Advanced Key Settings" -> "Change Key Sequence", and then change the "Switch Keyboard Layout" key to "Not Assigned". Note: This issue can be as a result of installing more than one keyboard layout language for the current country you are in. What you should do is to remove them and leave only the English ones such as "Engish (Canada) or English (United States)".

 

 

6. Where are saves located? This depends on the compatibility you had chosen...

 

Windows XP = C:\Users\"Your account"\Documents\GTA Vice City User Files

Windows Vista = C:\Users\"Your account"\Documents\GTA Vice City User Files

Windows 98/Me = C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\GTA Vice City User Files

 

Note: There are shortcuts to these folders on the start menu or desktop. You could always do a Windows Search anyway. Also, if you install the game "For me only" instead of "For anyone who uses this computer" and you login as a different account, set compatibility to "Windows 98" so that the saves wll be in the User->Public folder.

 

(And this is helpful if you wonder why your saves are not initiating properly in the game. Whatever compatibility you chosen for the save file, you must select it. Confirm to whichever folder your save files are in, and then make any compatibility adjustments. If you don't, then you won't see your saves files even if they are present. Registry Editing may sometimes work, but it is not the best of ideas explained here.)

 

 

7. How to search properly with Vista

The search in Windows Vista is set to newbie standards. When you are in the "Search Results" window, click Advanced Search and change "Indexed Locations" to your C:\Local hard drive. Now you can't say that the search came up with nothin'. (This is useful if you want to know the folder address location of your GTAsf.b save files.) Important: Make sure to check "Include non-indexed, hidden, and system files (might be slow)"!

 

8. Fixing graphical corruptions

First, you update the Vista graphics driver... don't be lazy (worked for me). As a last resort, use a Windows XP driver! Now delete [.set] file and reconfigure the graphics along with a 32-bit color quality resolution. I'm not even gonna bother mention about the VC patch because it is obsolete, won't help, and the fact that any driver can make it become useless. 

 

To be continued...

 

COMPATIBILITY MODES YOU SHOULD NOT USE!!!

1. Windows XP SP2

2. Windows 2000

3. Windows NT

4. Windows Server

5. Windows 95

 

Even though Vice City was designed for XP, Windows Vista doesn't know how to emulate it and you'll most likely experience in-game freezes/crashes and mouse issues. Windows 98/Me is the best compatibility hands down.

 

 

^ Alright that is utter garbage. This is what you do: (Make sure to delete [.set] file after doing so.)

 

 

Edited March 5, 2012 by Spuds725

[nealmac 0]

Um.......I'm fairly certain Vista will run pretty much any program that ran on previous versions of windows (aside from maybe a select few). Vista is an upgrade of XP so surely it should run all old software? At least this is how it is for what little experience of Vista I have.

[Ring_of_Fire 11]

 

Um.......I'm fairly certain Vista will run pretty much any program that ran on previous versions of windows (aside from maybe a select few). Vista is an upgrade of XP so surely it should run all old software? At least this is how it is for what little experience of Vista I have.

But I'm talking about "compatibility", not "running".

 

 

Proof that Vice City works on Vista!!!

All my saves are present.

 

No graphical corruptions.

 

 

If you think 3D Analyze sorted it out, think again:

Only force-windowed mode was used.

 

 

Bottom line: You are simply a driver update away from getting a fully-working copy of Vice City running on Windows Vista. You will save, load game, and have no graphic corruption etc. etc.

 

Any questions and comments may be posted below...

Edited September 14, 2007 by Ring_of_Fire

[nealmac 0]

Ah I see. But still, I doubt there would be too many compatibility issues.

[Mainland Marauder 84]

I'm glad I read this. Thanks for posting this. I had given up on trying to get Vice to work to even a satisfactory degree on Vi$ta, but I might go dust it off....whenever I find out where in hell I put it.

 

I hate, hate, hate hate Vi$ta...

[Spuds725 868]

I went ahead and moved this from the PC section to troubleshooting--- and pinned this (probably should have did this when it was posted)

 

there will likely be some issues in getting it to work on a new and crappy OS-- especially with several different versions that have various hardware requirements-- anyone know when SP2 comes out??

 

As a pinned thread, lets try not to spam this up-- we can clean it up later if needed but I'd rather try to keep the thread somewhat clean-- my hope is for this to be somewhat like a troubleshooting solution thread

[killer1869 0]

I don't think VC likes my PC.

 

It won't work on Vista or XP!

[Ring_of_Fire 11]

Since you posted, guess I have to repond to troubleshooting issues.

 

 

I don't think VC likes my PC.

Better said: "I don't think VC likes my drivers."

 

 

It won't work on Vista or XP!

Yes it work! What's the problem... having graphical issues with an Intel GMA by you lazy enough to not update your drivers? *Post your system specs*

[jizzypowers 0]

 

I just installed Vista Home Premium yesterday and these are some issues I came over. However, I'm a newbie to Vista but I have now reached an intermediate-knowledgeable level:

 

 

1. Problems when Vice City crashes right in the middle of the loading bar and then back to desktop.

Fix -> Run in compatibility mode for XP or 98. Disable UAC and restart computer! Plus, uncheck "Run this program as an Administrator" under Privilege Level (as well as in "Show settings for all users") after right-clicking and changing the properties of the executable. Apply & OK

 

Alternatively, go into Task Manager and you should see more than one "gta-vc.exe" process!!! Close 'em down and relaunch Vice City.

 

Note: If you can't delete "gta-vc.exe" because of an Access Denied error, this means for sure that your game will crash. The reason is simply because Vice City can't get to read and write data to run the game, resulting in a crash. You need to disable that troublemaking UAC feature and restart, even though it is there to protect you and your computer.

 

 

2. In Vista, I can't extract anything into a folder with WinRAR. After extracting, I can't even delete it.

Fix -> Disable UAC or move the file and extract the new one there. Also, restart computer because this clears the "gta-vc.exe" fully from memory and cache. You know when it is cleared since it takes a longer time to complete the VC pink, loading bar. Logging in/out should not be used as an alternative for restarting or turning off and then on the computer.

 

Also, you can check to see if there is a "gta-vc" process running in memory from Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL). Close it down as Vista doesn't seem to close down processes after you run it and when the game crashes.

 

 

3. My mouse ain't working!

Go into Windows XP or 98 compatibility mode. Also, delete [.set] file - chances are that when you were in "Windows Vista" compatibility, the [.set] file kept the no-mouse effect. Alt-tabbing in and out will not work.

 

Alternatively, go into Task Manager and you should see more than one "gta-vc.exe" process!!! Close 'em down and relaunch Vice City.

 

 

4. You can't sprint, sound horn, nor skip cutscenes!

Click on "Restore Defaults" when in the "Controller Setup" menu and the [.set] file will simply fresh to the new compatibility settings you had chosen. This happens usually when moving from XP/Vista compatibility to 98, or vice versa. Bug applies with the [sHIFT] key.

 

 

5. Tommy Vercetti can't jump!

Switch your Keyboard Layout! This is a one major Vista issue especially when you get your ass kicked in MTAVC and VCMP. You should also realize that some keyboard characters do not work in the text prompt after you try to jump once: Go into Control Panel and select "Regional and Language Options". Click "Keyboard & Language" tab and click "Change Keyboards". Now click "Advanced Key Settings" -> "Change Key Sequence", and then change the "Switch Keyboard Layout" key to "Not Assigned". Note: This issue can be as a result of installing more than one keyboard layout language for the current country you are in. What you should do is to remove them and leave only the English ones such as "Engish (Canada) or English (United States)".

 

 

6. Where are saves located? This depends on the compatibility you had chosen...

 

Windows XP = C:\Users\"Your account"\Documents\GTA Vice City User Files

Windows Vista = C:\Users\"Your account"\Documents\GTA Vice City User Files

Windows 98/Me = C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\GTA Vice City User Files

 

Note: There are shortcuts to these folders on the start menu or desktop. You could always do a Windows Search anyway. Also, if you install the game "For me only" instead of "For anyone who uses this computer" and you login as a different account, set compatibility to "Windows 98" so that the saves wll be in the User->Public folder.

 

(And this is helpful if you wonder why your saves are not initiating properly in the game. Whatever compatibility you chosen for the save file, you must select it. Confirm to whichever folder your save files are in, and then make any compatibility adjustments. If you don't, then you won't see your saves files even if they are present. Registry Editing may sometimes work, but it is not the best of ideas explained here.)

 

 

7. How to search properly with Vista

The search in Windows Vista is set to newbie standards. When you are in the "Search Results" window, click Advanced Search and change "Indexed Locations" to your C:\Local hard drive. Now you can't say that the search came up with nothin'.�(This is useful if you want to know the folder address location of your GTAsf.b save files.)

 

 

8. Fixing graphical corruptions

First, you update the Vista graphics driver... don't be lazy (worked for me). As a last resort, use a Windows XP driver! Now delete [.set] file and reconfigure the graphics along with a 32-bit color quality resolution. I'm not even gonna bother mention about the VC patch because it is obsolete, won't help, and the fact that any driver can make it become useless.�

 

To be continued...

 

 

Trick: I have managed to run VC without compatibility mode turned on (Windows Vista mode!) The trick was to run it in XP/98 compatibility first, and then switch it back. The [.set] file really did some magic.

 

 

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City will not work with compatibility turned off, period! If you got it to work, it was because the [.set] file was still present. Delete it and you will be forced to run it in compatibility. Follow the trick above if you want it to work without compatibility turned on.

 

COMPATIBILITY MODES YOU SHOULD NOT USE!!!

1. Windows XP SP2

2. Windows 2000

3. Windows NT

4. Windows Server

5. Windows 95

 

Even though Vice City was designed for XP, Windows Vista doesn't know how to emulate it and you'll most likely experience in-game freezes/crashes and mouse issues. Windows 98/Me is the best compatibility hands down.

HMMM... OEM but you said you installed it, ehhem ..::Warez::..

 

Just assuming.

[Ring_of_Fire 11]

It's just a screenshot, and talking about it will lead to just trouble. All what's important in this thread are the SOLUTIONS!

[helal 0]

wow wow dude look i have vista home premium , i have GTA vice city , and san andreas plus many other games , all works fine for me ! check ur computer ?!? and winrar works with perfection on vista , , cj dont jump ? mouse dont move ? check every part of ur pc . ! no insult but the game isnt the error its ur computer !

[xXSwatXx 0]

Where is the .set file?

[Ring_of_Fire 11]

 

Where is the .set file?

6. Where are saves located?

 

 

wow wow dude look i have vista home premium , i have GTA vice city , and san andreas plus many other games , all works fine for me ! check ur computer ?!? and winrar works with perfection on vista ,  , cj dont jump ? mouse dont move ? check every part of ur pc . !

It's my way of simulating people's problem. These problems can happen to me and can happen to you and everybody else.

 

 

no insult but the game isnt the error its ur computer !

Go ahead and do the exact "opposite" of what I said and you will get the SAME problem as shown above! For instance:

 

 

 

1. Problems when Vice City crashes right in the middle of the loading bar and then back to desktop.

First, delete [.set] file and run the Vice City executable WITHOUT compatibility turned on. Apply & OK to the changes made - see what happens. You are going to have to use your keyboard instead.

 

 

2. In Vista, I can't extract anything into a folder with WinRAR. After extracting, I can't even delete it.

Find ways of making Vice City crash by modding it up or by going on the Littlewhitey's VCMP server. Since the process might not have closed down properly, try to delete the [gta-vc.exe] file. Now download WinRAR and pretend you want to use a different exe, and see what message you get after you try to replace the exe. (since the "gta-vc.exe" process has not been ended, you will always get an Access Denied error.)

 

 

3. My mouse ain't working!

First, delete [.set] file and run the Vice City executable WITHOUT compatibility turned on. Apply & OK to the changes made - see what happens. You are going to have to use your keyboard instead.

 

 

4. You can't sprint, sound horn, nor skip cutscenes!

Alright, all you have for this one is to change the compatibility, but DON'T delete [.set] file. Launch your game and see if your [sHIFT] key now works? This was also a bug in San Andreas.

 

 

5. Tommy Vercetti can't jump!

Say you live in Canada and you want to have the English and French keyboard layouts. Say you live in the USA and you want to have the English and Spanish layouts. Live elsewhere? - then say you want to have the English keyboard layout (which would be something different from your current keyboard layout). Now launch Vice City or VCMP and look what happens after you try to press CTRL+SHIFT so as to run and jump at the same time? You won't be able to jump anymore. WHY? Because CTRL + SHIFT in the "Regional and Language Options" is the DEFAULT setting to switch your current keyboard layout to an incorrect one.

 

"Bugfixes" #6/7/8 are clearly for people who have troubles with doing stuff, and has nothing to do with my lack of understanding nor my computer, but rather the Windows Vista OS itself.

 

 

 

wow wow dude look i have vista home premium , i have GTA vice city , and san andreas plus many other games , all works fine for me !

You think you can get MTA to work on Vista? It's a totally different game from GTA.

Edited December 19, 2007 by Ring_of_Fire

[helal 0]

..ah great . ! gta:vc multiplayer is freezing in loading screen i tried what u said u said in number 1 , but its not working . and some times mouse feezes and when i close gta-vc game . a lot of errors pop up ( acces denied some thing some thing bla bla bla )

 

p.s : im new send me a message to my inbox on how to fix those troubles . i like the game but hell it has too many problems .

[helal 0]

oh by the y i have vista home premium , i posted an early reply so replt plz . bye

by the where are the game saved files located ?

[Ring_of_Fire 11]

 

p.s : im new send me a message to my inbox on how to fix those troubles . i like the game but hell it has too many problems

I thought you said all your GTA's were running fine on Vista? Why are you having problems now? Did you followed my post that was "Posted on Dec 19 2007, 09:39"?

 

 

..ah great . ! gta:vc multiplayer is freezing in loading screen i tried what u said u said in number 1 , but its not working . and some times mouse feezes and when i close gta-vc game . a lot of errors pop up ( acces denied some thing some thing bla bla bla )

1. First end the "gta-vc.exe" process out of Task Manager (or you can restart computer).

2. Make sure the compatibility is set to "Windows 98/Me" only, and then Apply & OK to the changes made.

3. Delete [.set] file, and then launch Vice City.

 

 

by the where are the game saved files located

It was already mentioned.

[helal 0]

sh*t..i can see all servers , when i join a server , game crashes

p.s : yesterday i deleted some gta multiplayer files ( i dont think they r important ).

[crazymodder 0]

i dont like vista because there is still lots of bugs on it...XP is more ok than vista, Vista is a cheap noobish new windows...next year the Windows XP will release Windows XP SP3 and windows 7 will be release in 2010.

 

for vista users i dont care how u like it...but dont report a problem within

[Ring_of_Fire 11]

IF YOU HAVE AN AC'97/HD ONBOARD SOUND CARD (REALTEK/C-MEDIA/VIA/SOUNDMAX) AND YOU DON'T OWN A CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER, CHOOSE THIS OPTION AND YOU NEVER HAVE TO RUN VICE CITY IN COMPATIBILITY MODE! YOU HAVE TO DELETE [.SET] FILE AFTER DOING THIS.

 

 

This is also a fix for the common Multi Theft Auto mouse freeze and black screen bug.

Edited January 24, 2008 by Ring_of_Fire

[ShadowGrrl 0]

I posted my problem in a new thread:

 

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?act=ST&f=81&t=310922

 

This post can be deleted.

Edited February 8, 2008 by ShadowGrrl

[Ring_of_Fire 11]

 

wow wow dude look i have vista home premium , i have GTA vice city , and san andreas plus many other games , all works fine for me ! check ur computer ?!? and winrar works with perfection on vista ,  , cj dont jump ? mouse dont move ? check every part of ur pc . ! no insult but the game isnt the error its ur computer !

Yeah, you were right. Compatibility Mode sucked all along. Compatibility Mode only fixes Access Denied/Violation and memory stack errors. It also allows installers and other software to detect that your OS isn't Vista, but one of the compatibility options.

 

Anyway, I bet you don't have an onboard sound card, right?

Edited February 9, 2008 by Ring_of_Fire

[[DnA]Cancer 0]

I need help , I have an alienware m5550 (brand new) installed vc and everything is ok , but when i come to play online right after it the loading bar is full and im supposed to be at the taxi building the screen stays black then cuts to the destop with an error. How should i correct this , please reply to [email protected] thanks. I would really like to come back to support [DnA] Team

[Spuds725 868]

Is this for VC MP (multiplayer)??

[The Kirbster 0]

Thanks for the guide Ring_of_Fire, it helped me get VC working on Vista (before I joined GTAForums)! I have another way to fix the "mouse isn't working" glitch.

 

-When the mouse doesn't work in-game: I pause the game, then unpause, and the mouse started working again.

-When the mouse isn't working on the Main Menu: I navigate using the arrow keys and enter key and load my game. Afterwards, I pause the screen and unpause after the game is loaded, and it fixes this glitch.

-When the mouse isn't working on the Pause Menu: Unpause the game and pause again, it should do the trick.

 

Oh, and those ways work for San Andreas on Vista as well, I tried them.

[Isonis 0]

My vice city works fine on vista without changing anything

[The Kirbster 0]

 

My vice city works fine on vista without changing anything 

Mine did too, only sometimes the mouse wouldn't work and the keyboard would mess up. It's strange that it works on some systems, and not on others. I heard most problems are on Vista: Home Premium.

[gtamodder 7]

I had problems with the mouse too, I find it if locks up, and you pause the game, sometimes it WILL Freeze, on a black screen.

 

This happened to me in SA, I don't know how most people had no problem at all with VC, Or SA In Vista. And no even any solutions in this topic, fixes my problem. I had Vista Home Premuim Installed. GTA3 Worked fine though in Vista, no problem at all.

 

[mrcappo 0]

ok i uninstalled vice city because a mod f*cked it up and it was working fine

now when i reinstalled it the loading bar stops at the middle...

 

 

i did all the steps u mentioned but its still stopping at the middle and im getting an error

 

any help?

[gtamodder 7]

ok i uninstalled vice city because a mod f*cked it up and it was working fine

now when i reinstalled it the loading bar stops at the middle...

 

 

i did all the steps u mentioned but its still stopping at the middle and im getting an error

 

any help?

Uninstall Vice City, delete gta_vc.set (Documents\GTA Vice City User Files), Now delete Vice City folder (C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto Vice City)

 

Now go to

 

C:\Users\Your User Name\AppData\VirtualStore\Program Files\Rockstar Games

 

In that folder, will be the Vice City folder. Delete it, now install Vice City. Should be fine now.

[mrcappo 0]

thanks so much

btw i didnt have to reinstall it

[atheoAng3l0 1]

Vice City runs pretty well on my Vista Home Premium. All I just did is activate Compatibility Mode...to boost up performance. Without compatibility, it still works.

 

Anyway, thanks for the guide. Vice City runs a lot more faster now. This guide is good for most Vista users, but for those who have better specs (I mean not the kind of specs that can boost your System Rating up to 4.0+ but the kind of specs that Vista can handle just fine), there's no need of this anymore. I have an onboard sound card, an onboard GPU and a System Rating of 3.1 but everything runs fine without Compatibility Mode.

 

Yeah, sometimes the .set bug and the mouse-doesn't-work bug happen sometimes ONLY when I reinstall the game, update the game, update some drivers, installed new hardware, run a program in background while playing or something. But I pretty much figured it out myself without anyone's help (and without extra effort).