In all likelihood, these ideas have already been tried by most of the people, but I feel like I should at least give them a chance to see the light of day (instead of being buried amongst the nearly 200 reviews of DK2).



raveon911:
It will work on windows 7 but you need to setup the compatibility. I am on Windows 7 x64. Had all the problems of black screen , crashing out mid game. Don't know what version this is but you need version 1.7
Set compatibility as Windows 2000
tick
Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution
Disable visual themes
Disable desktop composition
Disable display scaling on high DPI settings
In game disable hardware acceleration and set the resolution to 640x480
This stopped the game crashing for me and I could enjoy it again from the start to end


YepItsLiz7:
When playing older games, always run as "Administrator" when using Windows 7. Crashed the first time I tried to play, made the change, and haven't had any issues since.


SF6:
Seems to work just fine. However I did not activate hardware acceleration and I do not know if the resolution is 800x600 or 1024x768 (I can change it but it has no impact on the game).


Evilisback:
I don´t know if this has been posted before or not but I found a solution for my black screen issue. I have not encountered any sort of crash though, so I don´t have an answer for that.
If you go to Support > Game support > DK2 and click on "Black screen on ATI cards" below Gameplay issues and follow the instructions you´ll be able to download a new launcher. However, they wrote that this is for those with an AMD/ATI graphic card.
Anyway, I did download this new launcher and started the game but the black screen was still there. However, when i exited the game windows told me that the launcher was not working correctly and windows fixed it automatically. I then started the game again and the black screen was now gone. It has been working fine through the first levels atleast.
Hope this was helpful to you :)


Freddybear:
There is a way to get DK2 to run on win7, but it's far from ideal. You end up running in 640x480 with no graphics enhancements.
See here for details:
http://www.esotericarticles.com/Dungeon_Keeper_2_Vista.html


Breagha:
For people who have trouble making it run, check the forums for workarounds. Mine kept crashing till I set resolution at 800x600. Very stable now.


lecong84:
Great game, but if you are having crashes check out this guide. Win 7, 64 bit and the game has not crash for me after making these changes: http://www.esotericarticles.com/Dungeon_Keeper_2_Vista.html


Desolator210:
Before I start, I'll help all those who would like to play on Windows 7 but can't. All you have to do is before you install it, right click it. Click properties than go to the compatibility tab. Select run in compatibility mode, then go into the list right below it and select Windows 2000. Then click ok, and run the installer as normal. Then, before you run the game, do the same for the dk2.exe. That's it. I have fully tested this, and sometimes the screen flickers, but I think that's just my graphics card. Also it occasionally crashes when you use ctrl-alt-del when you're playing. Other than that it works like a charm. I run Win7 x64 and I play regularly.


Iamvman:
i had the disk so im not sure if it will work with this but here i go. First right click the icon then click properties go into compatibility and select windows 7 and check run as administrator. Run the game and go into options(the text will be visible but the background may not be)go into graphics and set the graphics to low (im not sure if you need to do that but i did it) and turn hardware acceleration off. go back to the main menu(the background will still be black)play one of the"my pet dungeon"s then(you should be able to play it),if you don't want to play the my pet dungeon, exit out(the background should be visible if not close it and re-open it)and play the campaign


Volodic:
OK, after many hours of troubleshooting I finally find a perfect config, which means u can fully enyoy this perfect old game. Game is running without any crashing or disturbing things.
Here's my config for non-crushing playing on Windows 7 (i think Win Vista will support same settings)
At first u must set your compatibility mode for dungeon keeper 2 lauching icon (right click on icon, properties, then compatibility card.set compatibility for Windows 98. Then check box run as administrator.)
Now u can start the game, in video option turn off hardware acc, shadows and resolution set max to 800x600. Now u can fully enyoy this fantastic game :)

Krisp89:
And for the people having trouble with Windows 7. I run Windows 7 64 bit and had trouble with the game crashing, but i found a fix on Google. Just enable all the compatibility settings in the tab and set the resolution to 800x600 both in-game and in the tab settings. Then disable software rendering and you should be good to go.

Neoky:
There are guides to make the game more stable, but you have to turn down every graphic setting to the point you can only play the game at 640x480.

Just some more ideas:


hryniewip:
I have Windows 7 and an Nvidia GEforce GTX 260M graphics card. I havent run into any problems with this game.


tbrass:
Although DK2 is advertised as Vista compatible, it wasn't until I tried it in a vmware XP session that I could attempt to play the game.
Without hardware acceleration, the graphics can be hard on the eyes, but this is a well documented and unavoidable problem.


Xantufrog:
I am running the game with only minor issues on my Windows 7 machine. Lenovo x60 tablet with windows 7 home premum (x86). Game "runs fine" except for a video flaw where half the screen is "shadowed out". Switching to "safe mode", however, solves this issue for me, and it runs beautifully from there. I suspect this video issue is a hardware/driver incompatibility problem, and not windows 7 per se.


jonpeder:
Hurray!!!!!
This recipe fix the game:)
http://www.esotericarticles.com/Dungeon_Keeper_2_Vista.html


Papasmerf2:
I'm running it in compatibility mode with Windows XP and haven't noticed any issues.


Tarrker:
With Windows 7, all you have to do is make a shortcut and use the Windows XP compatibility mode. Which seems really weird to me. For me it crashes on startup every time when I run in in WinXP. But if I run it in Win7 with WinXP compatibility, it runs great.


sschwarz:
I don't have anymore crashes under Win 7 64-bit after following the steps described in this article:
http://www.esotericarticles.com/Dungeon_Keeper_2_Vista.html


theraven:
it works great on OS X with WineSkin (CGX10 engine - the stock WINE doesn't work, but apparently does on other platforms).


deathsbedbug:
For those on Windows 7 having issues with the black screen, this is how I fixed it on my machine:
http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/2820/t1394451-dungeon-keeper-2-how-to-run-under-xp-vista-win7/


shifty_eyes:
For all those who are having issues in windows 7, it's all fixable. Run in compatibility mode and test with different settings. In my case, it would crash with highest resolution but it runs perfect in 600x800.


geonon:
there is an unofficial patch 1.73 you can use - use google to find the best procedure.


Kariko83:
For those having trouble running the game on Windows 7 simply disable hardware acceleration and/or drop to 800x600, it should work fine afterwards.


peto202:
You have to install Vmlite+Xpmode(i had it from a pc magazine, but im sure its somewhere on the web), it creates a virtual machine with original Windows Xp installation, then install the game, had problems with the mouse cursor, solved after Right Ctrl+I, and then clicking on the screen, it works, played about 2 hours, everything works, hope it helps someone


MuppetBaby:
Hello there. Just downloaded DK2 using XP o/s. It was really unstable. The slightest input at the wrong time crashed it. However I've now overcome that by running the executable in Windows 95 compatibility mode. Works fine now, no crashes. Having hours of fun.
And lastly...


ymy196:
I've not actually bought DK 2 from GOG as I still have an old copy hanging around but I was inspired to dig it out and load up in a fit of nostalgia. I also experienced problems playing in Windows 7 - specifically blocky graphic corruption. However, this seems to be a graphics card/DX issue rather than a W7 problem. I found turning off the hardware accelarator didn't seem to do the trick as it just defaulted back on again. I did find a solution, afraid it means editing the registry - as always, take care when editing your registry - you do so at your own risk. I suggest you back up your registry first before messing with it. Open up the registry using Regedit. look for HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Bullfrog Productions Ltd\Dungeon Keeper II\Configuration\Video or and set Engine ID to 4. While your'e there ensure ypour 3D hardware setting is at 0. Game now works fine and lives up to my rose-tinted memories of it. Hope this helps


BurnHead:
For me, turning off 'Hardware Acceleration' in the graphics settings at least fixed the black screen bug. After turning off this setting, I just started a new game and exited afterwards (by pressing Alt+F4). When I started the game again the graphics worked at least.


thanquol:
Thank you soo much GOG, i have been trying to get a version of dk2 running on my win7 system, using compatibility tools, vmwares, and what not, nothing worked! Unfortunately this version sometimes crashes when it's being played on 1024x768. on 800x600 it works perfectly!


ephion85:
Tested it with a friend
This version works well under XP and Vista (x86 or x64)
Windows 7 (x86 or x64) is more strict and tends to kill the game or make it crash
Workarounds (on Windows 7)
Disable D.E.P.
Disable Hyper-T or Multi-Core CPU
Else it runs well enough

This whole other site may be able to help you guys out: http://keeperklan.com/forum.php

Here are official and unofficial patches for DK2: http://keeperklan.com/downloads.php?do=cat&id=6

Latest UNOFFICIAL patch: http://keeperklan.com/threads/730-Unofficial-Patch-1-8-RELEASE

From the forum itself:
wave

"I have been testing several different settings, and I found that 800x600 with native desktop resolution, environment mapping, water translucency and hardware acceleration off to be stable. The cursor was also much more responsive. It looks bad, but not much worse than everything at highest settings. "

800x600 seems to be the key for nVidia cards. (Probably disable hardware rendering, too.)

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/dungeon_keeper_series/dk2so_unstable_on_vista_x64_that_it_becomes_unplayable/post3

maydp

"I can also get DK2 not to crash by simply making it run off of just one core."

From an Amazon.com review (although from '05):

I am including this section for those diehard DK loyalists who really want to play this game on their Win 2000/XP system. There are a few things you have to do.

One is, download the upgrade to version 1.7. This is available for free on many places on the web. Get it from a legit source. Avoid pirate Russian/east European web sites which typically attempt to install spyware on your PC. DK2 will ***NOT WORK*** on Windows 2000 without this upgrade! You have been warned! I have never found any difficulty obtaining the upgrade as it is available on many gamer sites.

Two is, you may need to run dxdiag from your Windows Run menu. This *may* fix problems such as choppy/erratic sound or video. Or, it may not, and you may spend many hours trying to get it to work, without success.

Your best prognosis is if you are running Windows 98. This game is the most prone to crashing of any that I have played in my life, on my Win2K system.

Mainly, I recommend using on a Win 98 system.

Thank you! I figured I'd try to help out. If I didn't mention it above, I don't have DK2, so I haven't tried any of these suggestions out, but I figured I'd share others' success.

BOOM. Hopefully no need for this thread anymore. :)

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/dungeon_keeper_series/dungeon_keeper_2_hardware_acceleration_fix_is_now_live