Without knowing your install routine my first suggestion would be to right click the game icon, click Properties, click the Compatibility tab and check-mark "Run this program as an administrator". I would leave the "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" unchecked for the moment. I would also check "Disable visual themes" and "Disable desktop composition" both of which are also on the Compatibility tab for the shortcut.
If no joy, go back to the Compatibility tab and check the compatibility mode and try the newest mode first. I would try each mode working backward from the newest to oldest OS mode starting the game between modes to confirm if the mode helps.
Know that . . depending on how you installed (forgetting to right click the setup.exe and install as an admin the worst step to miss) . . you could still have some disk read / writes blocked. If the game starts and you have no problem ignore the rest of my post. . . =)
Win 7 is especially demanding concerning the way you install a game. UAC and firewalls can cause a partial install or block disk writes during install or when the game is started which . . . can cause problems similar to the one you describe.
Here is a copy and paste of my suggestions for installing on Vista / Win 7 -
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I suggest turning UAC off when you install as it can interfere with disk writes leaving you with a partial install. (Turn UAC off on Vista by going to Control Panel, User Accounts, Turn User Account Control on or off. On Win 7 move the slider to “Never Notify". Turn back on after your game install. )
Also I recommend (especially on Win 7) installing in a directory outside of Program Files. I create a directory named Games on the C drive. After creating the directory,
right click the setup.exe and click "Run as an administrator" on the resulting dialog. On the first dialog of the GOG installer, click the Options button on the lower left corner and point the install to the new Games directory.
After the install you should right click the game shortcut, click Properties on the resulting dialog, click the Compatibility tab and check "Run this program as an administrator". I also suggest check marking “Disable visual themes” and “Disable desktop composition”. I usually leave the compatibility mode unchecked until I play the game. If there are problems I try the newest compatibility mode first working backwards to the oldest until a problem is gone.
Some Anti-virus and firewall programs can interfere with disk writes and may need to be temporarily disabled during the install. If you have not had install problems due to these programs in the past I wouldn’t worry about disabling them. If you do disable them don’t forget to enable them after the install.
I use Comodo for a firewall. It was throwing up “Allow” dialogs behind the game start page. When I closed the game . . the dialogs closed as well so I didn't see them. Only ALT – TAB’ing out of the game allowed me to see the dialogs. You can check Allow on each one but it was simpler for me to make the game.exe a trusted program in Comodo or whatever firewall you're running.
Are your video drivers up to date?
Click here for ATI Click here for Nvidia Click here for Intel Intel graphics may or may not like a game. Sometimes a game may need an older driver version. Usually find these problems addressed on the GOG help page for the game (along with many other tips) and / or in the game forum. Having the newest video drivers seems to be the best route in most cases.
If you did not take the steps above and you decide to do so, make sure you uninstall the game completely before doing a re-install. After the uninstall, go to Program Files\GOG.com directory and delete any remaining folders for the previous game install. Most of the time there will be none. Since you will be installing in a directory outside of Program Files you don't want any folders to remain from the previous install to cause conflicts with the new install.
Hope this helps . . . =)
