Unable to install WC3 onto Vista

[Bribe]

Hi all,

Please share your experiences, if they may help.

My Netbook is about as slow as it gets, and the Windows 10 updates only keep making it worse. Exponentially worse. I used to be able to get 30FPS in WarCraft 3 on it, now I'm only getting 5-10.

So we have another old laptop, which is an Acer TravelMate 5520 with 2GB RAM and running Vista. I've now installed, repaired, uninstalled, reinstalled, repaired WC3 after fully downloading it, but I keep getting error messages.

When opening WC3 from the Launcher, I get "Critical error during loading process. Required library "KERNEL32.dll is missing export "K32GetProcessImageFileNameW".

When opening WC3 from the Warcraft III folder, I get the same error.

When I try to open World Editor (which is, honestly, the main reason I'm going through this trouble) I get "Cannot find Appropriate CD Keys".

Well, this is all upside-down. Earlier today I did the exact same steps, with none of the hassle, to install the game on my MacBook Pro. Downloaded successfully, ran smoothly, no errors. The only issue is that World Editor was abandoned on Mac, so I'm forced to run Windows. World Editor doesn't run on WINE and I'm not about to pony out 130 euros just to install Windows on my Mac. I can get another of these cheap laptops with that money.

So what's the deal? Is Vista just silently not supported anymore? I double-checked the system requirements and it still says it works with Vista.

 

[Dr Super Good]

According to...
Warcraft III System Requirements

Vista still is supported. However you will need to make sure it has the latest service pack which is probably why your KERNEL32 is missing the required functions.

Either that or with 1.30 they accidently built targeting Windows 7 or newer instead of Vista or newer.

 

[Bribe]

I've checked for Windows updates on it and there are none. I'll check the system specs, but everything thus far points to OS incompatibility (edit: SP2 everything is up to date).

I'm ok if they drop Vista support if it's for the greater good (I love what they're doing with WC3), I just might as well be selling this hardware (this Acer and my Netbook) and put the money into buying a half assed notebook that runs ok enough and has at least Windows 7.

That and the OS requirements would need to be updated.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Looks possibly like a build/linking mistake.

GetProcessImageFileNameW function

The function does exist in Windows Vista but one needs macros and linking to specifically target the old Psapi.dll instead of Kernel32.dll which it is located in starting with Windows 7. Either they need to drop Vista from the supported OS list for WC3 or they need to fix their build/link process to be Vista compatible.

My Netbook is about as slow as it gets, and the Windows 10 updates only keep making it worse. Exponentially worse. I used to be able to get 30FPS in WarCraft 3 on it, now I'm only getting 5-10.

Might be worth trying to look into why this is happening. I run a machine upgraded from Windows Vista to 10 via 7 and performance from 7 to 10 did not change much at all and has remained constant since.

The biggest performance loss with Windows 10 is from the OS using more system memory. I had to increase my system memory from 6 GB to 18GB (I7 920 so uses tri-channel) and performance improved back to at least Windows 7 levels if not better.

Patch 1.30 seems to have drastically raised the amount of memory some maps are using. For example Gaias RPG causes WC3 to out of memory crash during loading as it reaches the virtual memory address space limits for a 32bit application. If I had to guess a reason I would say it may be due to CASC using memory mapping of files and/or caching as it is designed for x86-64 builds of modern Blizzard games however it could also just be an accidental memory leak or density regression.

 

[Bribe]

Not sure honestly why it lags so much on my Netbook. But what I will end up doing is compiling everything on it and then testing it on my Mac if it's a larger map. It's so painfully slow, compatibility mode et all, all settings and resolution dropped to their lowest (640x400x16).

I'm reinstalling it all on my Netbook because it's been stuck on 1.26 and the PTR isn't adding the Blz prefix to the new natives for me (but this wasn't reproducible by Blizzard so it must been an issue with my install).

EDIT: After installing on my Netbook running Win10 I was prompted for my CD keys (which did not happen on my Mac nor on my Vista machine).

UNFORTUNATELY, now the game does nothing at all. Launching WC3 tells me DirectX 8.1 needs to be installed and same with World Editor. I have tried all listed compatibility options, but they all give this error. Changing the path to include -openGL did nothing to fix it. I would think adding that line would actually do something, but alas, definitely doesn't work.

So now I'm ultra boned. Before I could at least get World Editor to run. This whole experience has made me extremely frustrated and feeling like there is no future for me with this game anymore.

 

[pyf]

[...] I'm reinstalling it all on my Netbook because it's been stuck on 1.26 [...]

EDIT: After installing on my Netbook running Win10 I was prompted for my CD keys (which did not happen on my Mac nor on my Vista machine). [...]

Are all of your CD-Keys attached to your Battle.net account?

[...] I'm reinstalling it all on my Netbook because it's been stuck on 1.26 [...]

UNFORTUNATELY, now the game does nothing at all. Launching WC3 tells me DirectX 8.1 needs to be installed and same with World Editor.

Please run the online Microsoft DirectX 9.0c Runtime installer.
Download DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer from Official Microsoft Download Center

(note: you can force a complete reinstall of it, by using the offline downloadable standalone installer)
Download DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) from Official Microsoft Download Center

Also, please be sure there is no Warcraft 3 process already running.

So we have another old laptop, which is an Acer TravelMate 5520 with 2GB RAM and running Vista. I've now installed, repaired, uninstalled, reinstalled, repaired WC3 after fully downloading it, but I keep getting error messages.

When opening WC3 from the Launcher, I get "Critical error during loading process. Required library "KERNEL32.dll is missing export "K32GetProcessImageFileNameW".

[...] So what's the deal? Is Vista just silently not supported anymore? I double-checked the system requirements and it still says it works with Vista.

Hopefully, there will be an official answer in this thread Soon(TM):
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/bnet/topic/20767716682

 

[Bribe]

Are all of your CD-Keys attached to your Battle.net account?

Yes, they definitely are.

Please run the online Microsoft DirectX 9.0c Runtime installer.
Download DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer from Official Microsoft Download Center

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

Did this, restarted, tried the different compatibility modes, didn't change the error message.

(note: you can force a complete reinstall of it, by using the offline downloadable standalone installer)
Download DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) from Official Microsoft Download Center

Did this, ran the executable from the extracted location point, restarted, tried the different compatibility modes, didn't change the error message.

Also, please be sure there is no Warcraft 3 process already running.

Definitely not. That was one of the first things I checked for when I was trying to research this problem. There is no WC3 in my Startup folder and I have no instances of it in my Task Manager.

Hopefully, there will be an official answer in this thread Soon(TM):
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/bnet/topic/20767716682

Hopefully.

Well, again, just generally boned. I get dropping Vista support, but I have no clue why it is no longer working on my Netbook. I have even reinstalled my graphics drivers for the GMA 3150.

Even still, whenever I try to switch to the -opengl target for WarCraft 3, the error message doesn't change. If I use -opengl, it should give absolutely no damns about whether I'm running DirectX and which version.

I'm out of ideas. The only thing I can think of is selling both my Netbook and the Acer, and getting a laptop out of their combined sale price that isn't complete trash. I'm not pouring all that money into just a Windows installation.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Even still, whenever I try to switch to the -opengl target for WarCraft 3, the error message doesn't change. If I use -opengl, it should give absolutely no damns about whether I'm running DirectX and which version.

Apparently that command line no longer works.

You have a lot of computers with different errors, so many that I am confused which error belongs to what. Could you post the system specifications of each and which error the game is producing when trying to run?

 

[pyf]

@Bribe: if your previous installations of v1.26a on Vista and on W10 were using any compatibility settings, then please remove them. They are not required anymore, and I suspect they might be the cause of some issues.

For the error message K32GetProcessImageFileNameW on startup on Vista with v1.30, we will unfortunately have to wait (or you could reinstall an older version of the game for the time being).


For your Netbook which is using W10, the game should work. Again, please remove any compatibility settings you were probably using with 1.26a. I would also suggest that you please try updating your Battle.net client separately.

If it still does not work on your Netbook after that, then as a last resort I would suggest desinstalling / reinstalling the game (and the Battle.net app if possible) from scratch. Btw, it really would be nice if Blizzard could provide such a tool, so that inexperienced people do not have to hunt for files on their HDD nor remove entries in the registry by hand. Just a suggestion.


Some of the switches (for native fullscreen and OpenGL on Windows) indeed seem to be broken with v1.30, if I refer to the many posts on the general Classic Games forum.


About your Netbook on Windows 10 getting slower and slower, maybe you will want to open a new thread in our Computer Tech sub-forum? Same for the Wi-Fi issue on your Acer TravelMate 5520 which is running Windows Vista.

Did this, ran the executable from the extracted location point, restarted, tried the different compatibility modes, didn't change the error message.

You are cleverer than most people. Yeah I forgot to mention that for the full offline installer, one has to manually run the file Dxsetup.exe from the folder where the DirectX Runtime files have been extracted. You would not believe how many people do not do that.

 

[Bribe]

Wait I need the Battle.net app to play the game? I have that on my Mac but not on the other devices. Maybe that is the problem?? Once I'm at the computer again, that's what I'll try. I was simply installing from battle.net/account like I always have...

 

[Dr Super Good]

Wait I need the Battle.net app to play the game?

I am not sure that is a requirement. However it certainly is using components from it to update/install.

 

[pyf]

EDIT: After installing on my Netbook running Win10 I was prompted for my CD keys (which did not happen on my Mac nor on my Vista machine).

UNFORTUNATELY, now the game does nothing at all. Launching WC3 tells me DirectX 8.1 needs to be installed and same with World Editor. I have tried all listed compatibility options, but they all give this error. Changing the path to include -openGL did nothing to fix it. I would think adding that line would actually do something, but alas, definitely doesn't work.

@Bribe: Just to be extra sure, you did run Warcraft 3 from the Launcher ('Warcraft 3 Launcher.exe')?

Also, are the w3k files in your game folder and do they have the appropriate data in it?
Replacing Warcraft III CD Key Files

 

[Bribe]

@Bribe: Just to be extra sure, you did run Warcraft 3 from the Launcher ('Warcraft 3 Launcher.exe')?

Also, are the w3k files in your game folder and do they have the appropriate data in it?
Replacing Warcraft III CD Key Files

Yes, yes and yes. All three files exist in that folder and they have the CD keys I entered.

I also tried downloading the Battle.net program, but it doesn't even let me launch WarCraft 3 from it. I tried letting it "locate" my Warcraft installation, but it can't find it even when I tell it the exact folder it's in.

Something tells me 1.30 may have also accidentally bumped the firmware requirements and made my little Netbook obsolete to it, as in it can't put out the newer version of DirectX that it requires.

I remember back in the day Warcraft 3 ran on this thing like butter even at native resolution and high settings. Before the reinstall killed everything, I was getting maybe 1FPS on the main menu at lowest settings.

 

[Bribe]

Apparently that command line no longer works.

You have a lot of computers with different errors, so many that I am confused which error belongs to what. Could you post the system specifications of each and which error the game is producing when trying to run?

The Asus Netbook is the one which has Windows 10 on it, giving the error messages that DirectX 8.1 needs to be installed.

The Acer Travelmate has Windows Vista on it, giving "Critical error during loading process. Required library "KERNEL32.dll is missing export "K32GetProcessImageFileNameW" when opening the game normally or from the launcher. I get "Cannot find Appropriate CD Keys" when opening World Editor.

I took some pics of the first two dxDiag tabs of each device with my phone and am attaching them here as image files.


EDIT: Whooooooooooo I finally, FINALLY, FINALLY got World Editor to open up on the Acer. Since it was giving the No-CD key error and the game never asked me for one, I checked there to see if the CD keys were in the ProgramData source - and they weren't. I copied the three files from my Asus to the Acer and VOILA. I'm back in business. Unfortunately, the game itself still doesn't load, but at least I can actually use the freaking editor again!!!

 

[Dr Super Good]

They must have bumped the D3D requirements of the game to either 9_2 or 9_3. The Windows 10 machine only supports 9_1 and unless a driver upgrade of the intel integrated graphics can raise that (unlikely) then it is below the system requirements. The error says DirectX 8.1 but that likely is a bug itself. The game used to need DirectX 8.1 but they migrated to 9 a few years ago. It is probably meant to be saying DirectX 9 but no one updated the error string.

The low performance on the Windows 10 machine is almost certainly due to its low 2GB of memory, Windows 10 OS can easily use 1GB and many Warcraft III maps push Warcraft III over 1 GB, especially now.

Unfortunately Windows Vista is not supported anymore. As of 20 hours ago the minimum system requirements are Windows 7 so you can forget trying to run the game on that machine unless you upgrade the OS. Even then the hardware might be so old it ends up in the same situation as your Windows 10 machine.

Warcraft III System Requirements

 

[Bribe]

Cool, thank you for the reply. I can live with that since World Editor still runs on Vista. I'll do my compiling on the Acer and testing on the Mac.

The RAM isn't such an issue on the ASUS, but I'd bet the DirextX 9 stuff matters big time. I always monitor my tasks and it's my CPU running at 100% literally 100% of the time that causes so much grief.

 

[pyf]

Also, are the w3k files in your game folder and do they have the appropriate data in it?
Replacing Warcraft III CD Key Files

Yes, yes and yes. All three files exist in that folder and they have the CD keys I entered.

EDIT: Whooooooooooo I finally, FINALLY, FINALLY got World Editor to open up on the Acer. Since it was giving the No-CD key error and the game never asked me for one, I checked there to see if the CD keys were in the ProgramData source - and they weren't. I copied the three files from my Asus to the Acer and VOILA.

@Bribe: Ahem!...

They must have bumped the D3D requirements of the game to either 9_2 or 9_3. The Windows 10 machine only supports 9_1 and unless a driver upgrade of the intel integrated graphics can raise that (unlikely) then it is below the system requirements. The error says DirectX 8.1 but that likely is a bug itself. The game used to need DirectX 8.1 but they migrated to 9 a few years ago. It is probably meant to be saying DirectX 9 but no one updated the error string.

For the record, the lowest-class Intel Graphics hardware which is supported for SC:R and SCII is afaik the Intel HD Graphics 3000 series of GPUs.

According to Wikipedia, the Intel GMA 3150 supports DirectX 9.0c, Shader Model 2.0, OpenGL 1.4 with Microsoft Windows and OpenGL 2.1 with Linux.

Intel GMA - Wikipedia

The low performance on the Windows 10 machine is almost certainly due to its low 2GB of memory, Windows 10 OS can easily use 1GB and many Warcraft III maps push Warcraft III over 1 GB, especially now.

@Bribe: 32-bit versions of Windows 10 are a bit unusual. Did you upgrade your OS from Windows 7?

 

[Dr Super Good]

32-bit versions of Windows 10 are a bit unusual. Did you upgrade your OS from Windows 7?

Seeing how it can have a maximum memory of 2GB I would not recommend 64bit for it even though it should technically support 64bit.

 

[Bribe]

@Bribe: Ahem!...

yeah tbh I didn't even bother checking the Acer as I assumed Vista put it off the grid.

For the record, the lowest-class Intel Graphics hardware which is supported for SC:R and SCII is afaik the Intel HD Graphics 3000 series of GPUs.

According to Wikipedia, the Intel GMA 3150 supports DirectX 9.0c, Shader Model 2.0, OpenGL 1.4 with Microsoft Windows and OpenGL 2.1 with Linux.

Intel GMA - Wikipedia

It is a shame as WC3 was always one of the hallmarks of netbooks, that most games with good graphics couldn't be played on them with WC3 being the exception. Not anymore. RIP in pieces.

@Bribe: 32-bit versions of Windows 10 are a bit unusual. Did you upgrade your OS from Windows 7?

From Windows 7 starter when they had the free upgrade thing. I would've done it to the Acer, but the progression required 7 to be installed first.

 

[Dr Super Good]

It is a shame as WC3 was always one of the hallmarks of netbooks, that most games with good graphics couldn't be played on them with WC3 being the exception. Not anymore. RIP in pieces.

I would hope modern netbooks have no problem running it still.

 

[Bribe]

I would hope modern netbooks have no problem running it still.

They still make Netbooks? I guess I meant the Gen1 netbooks like my Asus.

 

[pyf]

Because there is no official 'Supported Video Cards' page for Warcraft 3 yet afaik, I am posting links to the ones for SC:R and for SCII:
- StarCraft: Remastered Supported Video Cards
- StarCraft II Supported Video Cards

Everyone should keep in mind that any GPU not on these lists might become officially unsupported for Warcraft 3 at some point in the future.

 

[Bribe]

Because there is no official 'Supported Video Cards' page for Warcraft 3 yet afaik, I am posting links to the ones for SC:R ans SCII:
- StarCraft: Remastered Supported Video Cards
- StarCraft II Supported Video Cards

Everyone should keep in mind that any GPU not on these lists might become officially unsupported for Warcraft 3 at some point in the future.

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind in case I end up selling these 2 deprecated machines for a different one.

For on-die graphics, Sandy Bridge minimum. For dedicated graphics, pretty much anything in the past 10 years works.

 

[pyf]

Maybe Blizzard's Compatibility Analyst already had a look at such issues?