If you know you have a more than good enough PC to run the game, and are having this issue on Win7 x64 as I did, here is a possible solution:

Apparently by default when you install Win7 x64, (or when DX11 is installed I'm not sure which) DirectDraw for 32-bit apps is disabled, or rather set to an "Emulation Mode". Run dxdiag in 32-bit mode (it should by default) and click the Video tab and see if it says DirectDraw is disabled. Direct3D might also say it is diabled or partially enabled.

If you see this, give this a shot:

Fire up regedit, and (export a backup first just in case...) go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\DirectDraw. When you select DirectDraw you should see an "EmulationOnly" key set to 1. Change it to 0. If you reload dxdiag you should see DirectDraw enabled (may have to reboot).

Worked for me... I can run the game without the -dontforceminreqs in 1920x1080 and full settings. Hope this helps someone else that was frustrated like me. =)


P.S. Here are my (abbreviated) specs... not for boasting purposes but simply to point out that I had a more than proper system to run the game, since in my search for answers I found mostly posts about people having issues while using CPU integrated graphics or laptops:

i7 3770K @4.5Ghz
32GB DDR3 2400
Nvidia GTX Titan x2

Here it is an alternative fix for the same problem: http://witcher.nexusmods.com/mods/649/

EDIT: Thank link doesn't work anymore. This is the new one: http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher/mods/649/

Here is a simpler fix:
Create a desktop shortcut if you don't have one already. Right click, go to Properties, then, in the target box, add
-dontForceMinReqs
to the end, now it just goes straight to the opening cinematic.

I think you misunderstood. The idea of the first 2 fixes, is to load The Witcher with its full capacity instead with the command "-DontForceMinReqs", which loads the game with the ugliest set of textures and disables some graphics options.

It seems that link doesn't work anymore, but here's a new one for the same mod: http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher/mods/649/

Does anyone know how to do this regedit edit in the most current version of Windows 8? I don't see the "EmulationOnly" key in the DirectDraw file.

I can't seem to find this registry key in my copy of Windows 8.1... It might be in another directory. In any case, I would love to have a solution, because my single 780 is pretty much the same as one of your Titans. >.>

Having just got a new laptop with a GeForce GTX 860M, I'd like a resolution to this as well.

Thank you! I tried the -dontforceminreqs with a mod to no avail. It would still play max 1440x900p. But your solution seemed to fix everything. For a reference for people out there, I am currently running Windows 8.1, i5-4670k , Asus z87-pro, and an R9 270 graphics card.. The odd thing was that the game originally worked for me a while ago with it's native install. I didn't play for about 2 months and then the whole "Minimum Requirements" happened when I booted up today.

What would be interesting is to discover what causes the problem in the first place. My windows 8.0/8.1x64 has never had the problem (32-bit acceleration is always enabled), just as it is in dxdiag 64. It would be of benefit to know what is turning off 32-bit acceleration as you describe. I also install the latest DX9.0c runtime from Microsoft (June 2010) to run alongside DX11 (they coexist fine--d3d9 does not overwrite d3d11.) So I wonder if this is true only in DX11 systems into which DX9 has not been installed...? Sounds reasonable. In any event, I recommend that anyone who games install DX9.0c (the June 2010 runtime) alongside DX11.

Where do you copy the TexSettings.2da file? I saw it during the process and forgot by the time I had it downloaded.

In the description says: "...add the file to your Override folder in your Witcher directory. Should be C:/.../The Witcher Enhanced Edition/Data/Override".

Source: http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher/mods/649/

I knew I saw it somewhere. Thanks! ;-)

Problem (like the other poster) : i can't find the "override" file. I have the CD version. I tried to put the file in the data directory and then launched the game with -dontforceminreqs but texture doesn't seem to be high... I've also manually created the override file but no change too.