I get a message that says"
Error: Environment Initialization failed. Check Direct X settings.

Any idea how to get around this? I've already tried the TA resolution fix and it didn't work. I also downloaded the old Direct X patch from June 2010, but still no luck. I'm not sure how to even find the direct X setting sin Win7 (XP was much easier)

System:
Win7 Home Premium SP1 (64 bit)
AMD Athlon II 645
6 GB RAM

Thanks.

Do you have DirectX 9.0c installed? You can have both DX9 and DX11 installed, and many old games prefer (maybe require, not sure) DX9.

I hate WIndows 7. I have the setup for DirectX 9, but I can't figure out where to extract it.

Any help is appreciated. Do I need to do anything special to be able to modify windows folders?

I think you're trying to install the SDK instead of the end-user version that you need on your PC. I tried both. The SDK asks for an installation folder. The end-user version just puts in where it needs to be, without asking for a location. You can get the end-user version here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34429

For what it's worth, I had to add the term "user" to my search in order to find the end-user version.

Edit: for verification, the SDK came in as a 95.6 MB download, and this is not the package you need. Instead, the auto-installer for the end-user is a 308 kB download, and then that little package downloads the rest of DirectX 9.0c automatically.

Your link points to an outdated version of the DirectX9 redist. The latest version is available via the web installer here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35

This will download and install the latest version of all DirectX9 components in a clean way.

WARNING: The Installer also tries to install Bing Bar by default. Just de-select this option (on the second screen after agreeing to the EULA) and you're good to go.

Dagnabbit! I searched for 9.0c and was taken there. Is there a later version I don't know about?

Well, this redist download has a newer release date of 8/27/2012 than the one you posted which is 10/17/2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=31217

Using the web installer from my last post always gets you the latest available version and it only downloads and replaces files that are not yet installed or are outdated. The only downside is that Microsoft includes that stupid option to install Bing Bar. If you remember to de-select this during the install the web installer is the best option to get the latest DirectX 9 version.

I'm having the same problem as the OP. I've tried the link DoctorGOGgles has provided but the installer tells me I have a newer or equivelent version and quits installation. The second link he provides comes up as a 404.

I've tried searching for other downloads but they all report the same message.

Is there any way around this?

I did a bit of digging around and found my old copy of TA (vanilla) on disk. The disk comes with DirectX5 for instalation, however it doesn't work and just completes as soon as you click install. I also tried to install the vanilla game from disk and got the same problem as with the GOG download.

Error: Environment Initialization failed. Check Direct X settings.

Could the problem be nothing to do with Direct X and more a compatability issue with windows 7 (x64)? I don't really know enough about how Direct X works to tell myself.

Anyway, here's the component list for DX5 from the disk install menu, trying to reinstall does nothing. The missing Direct3D component could be the problem.

I got it working!!!

You need to open the exe file properties, go to the compatibility tab and set to run in 640x480. Now launch the program in windowed mode by appending the command line with -d. The game doesn't run in windowed mode for some reason and will launch in fullscreen regardless.

Edit: I found an even better way. Open regedit, navigate to TA folder, find display height and width and change them to the desired values (they start in hex so click the radio button to change then to decimal first). The game will now run in any resolution you wish, though it will be in a psuedo window that appears in the top left of the screen. To immitate full screen, reduce your monitor resolution to match you TA setting.

Game still needs to be run with the windowed launch option (-d) to work.

Actually I don't need the -d for it to work.

I have Win 8 64-bit and the original gog.com TA installer.

The game runs perfectly with intro cinematic, menu in full screen and game in full screen at 1920x1080!

Huzzah! :D

How did you do that? I gave up on this problem ages ago and now have the craving again, the hotfix does nothing, I've tried installing it from my original age old disk and adding all the dlc and installing from GOG with the same problem. The compatibility settings don't seam to do much.

For me error "0xc0000022" got fixed by enabling DirectPlay found in Control Panel --> Programs and Features --> Turn Windows features on or off --> Legacy Components --> DirectPlay. Then got "Error: Environment Initialization failed. Check Direct X settings" and fixed by adding -d to TA shortcut to run in window mode. The menu screen does show in window mode but when the game starts it is full screen.

System:
Windows 10 Creator Build
HP Pavilion Laptop with both Nvidia Geforce GT and Intel HD Graphics
Intel Core i5

For anyone potentially still having this issue, I am running Windows 10 and have just managed to resolve it by going to the install directory.

Then right click the 'TotalA' application and choose properties, then on the compatibility tab choose 'run compatibility troubleshooter' and then 'try recommended settings'.

I also just went to the directory and started the TotalA.exe file and it just worked :)