Fix StarCraft and Diablo Display Problems in Windows 7

Many users complain about the compatibility problems in Windows 7 or Windows Vista, and I encountered this kind of applications, too.

Say old legacy games like StarCraft, Diablo and Age of Empires, which are developed by Blizzard or Microsoft, have more than 10 years’ history. They’ve done great job for game players in Windows 9x and XP era. Unfortunately, the earlier versions of them cannot work properly in Windows 7 or Windows Vista.

The games may lunch in messed-up and bright turquoise color in the menu system, and graphics are glitched in random places, effectively rendering themselves unplayable.

Here are a few tricks for you to avoid or fix the issues.

• Method 1: Use 16-bit Colors display

First of all, you can set color to 16-bit instead of 32-bit to concern the problem.

Right click on desktop, select Desktop -> Screen Resolution -> Display Settings (in Windows Vista: Desktop -> Personalize -> Display Settings), choose Advanced Settings, then switch to Monitor tab.

Set Colors in Windows 7

Select High Color (16 bit) and then apply.

• Method 2: Use Compatibility Settings

If method 1 offered above cannot fix the problem, you can use the Windows system built-in function then.

Right click the shortcut icon of application, then switch to Compatibility, tick the check boxes of “Run in 256 color”, “Run in 640×480 screen resolution”, “Disable visual themes”, “Disable desktop composition” and “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings”.

Compatibility Settings in Windows 7

Optionally, you can also enable “Run as Administrator” and set “Compatibility Mode” to “Windows XP SP3” for troubleshooting.

• Method 3: Use Specific Fixes

Some specific fixes provided by official or folk (even 0day organizations) may solve the problems.

Take StarCraft as an example, you can find a fix HERE. Extract the RAR file to the game folder and lunch the StarCraft with StarCraftFix.exe, that’s OK.

You can use Google, Bing, Yahoo or more search engines to find if there are fixes for your game.

• Method 4: Use Virtual Machine

“Virtual Machine? You mean Windows XP mode?”

Absolutely NO. Windows XP mode cannot offer any 3D acceleration for applications, you can use Virtual Box for free, or purchase more powerful VMWare, then install Windows XP into it (remember to enable 3D Acceleration and 2D Video Acceleration). You can play the games in the virtual system environment.

3D Acceleration configuration in Virtual Box

The method will undoubtedly fix the issue, but it may be a bit cumbersome, and you must have high performance hardware to achieve the goal.