Age of Empires III Won't Launch

Hi Justin

My name is Andre Da Costa; an Independent Consultant, Windows Insider MVP and Windows & Devices for IT MVP. I'm here to help you with your problem.

Which version of Windows 10 is installed on the computer where it works and which architecture of Windows 10 is it it - 32 or 64 bit?

Which version of Windows 10 is installed on the computer where it does NOT work and which architecture of Windows 10 is it it - 32 or 64 bit?

If the software was originally designed for an earlier version of Windows, your best option is to set up a dual boot configuration with an older version of Windows, such as Windows 7 32 bit and install it there. This is if your hardware can still run Windows 7. Most modern computers especially those with Skylake and Kabylake processors or AMD Ryzen don't support Windows 7.

If yours does, then here is how you do it:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

The reason why I recommend this is, the machine where it works might be running a version of Windows 10 32 bit (I assume) which is compatible.

They are both running Window 10 Home Edition 32 bit. To be clear, Age of Empires III will not install correctly on either computer anymore. I had already successfully installed the game on one of them years ago, but now I cannot reinstall the game on that same computer without the issues described in my question. I am installing the game in the same way now that I did those years ago (run autorun.exe from the disc and select express install), so it's confounding that it does not install correctly anymore.

Well, it might have successfully installed on Windows 10 1507 32 bit a few years ago successfully, but, Windows 10 has significantly changed since 2015. Applications and games that might have worked on earlier releases are likely to break under new versions, either due to deprecation of a certain component in the operating system or security frameworks.

But I can run Age of Empires III on Windows 10 64 bit by copying a successful install to the machine. It's only when I try to install it from the discs that it won't run. The game does run on 64 bit Windows, but not when I install it using the CD's.

Well, it looks like that is the work around you will have to use for the forseeable future to get it work. In the event you need to reinstall Windows 10 in the future, you should keep a backup of the folder containing the launcher.

This workaround does not solve my problem because, as I stated in my question, "this doesn't solve my problem because that install is from my other copy of the game (also CD's) and I'm trying to make a new ESO account so I can play with my brother online". ESO Accounts are tied to the product key printed on the CD case. In turn, these product keys are tied to the build on those discs. So in order to use my new product key to create a new ESO account, I must install the game using the new discs. The install I copied will not work because it is tied to a different product key.

Some users reported compatibility mode for Windows XP works, did you try that instead of Vista Compatibility mode?

Also:

Press Windows key + R
optionalfeatures.exe
Hit Enter

Expand Legacy components
Check off Direct Play

Here is a thread with some other recommends you can consider trying.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

Sorry, could you clarify what you mean by 'check off'? Do you mean enable or disable?

Tick the box:

If enabling Direct Play does not help....

Hmm, I wonder how would the Age3Launcher.exe could go missing, or not be installed. Is the age3.exe  in the games folder ?

"In turn, these product keys are tied to the build on those discs. So in order to use my new product key to create a new ESO account,
I must install the game using the new discs. The install I copied will not work because it is tied to a different product key."
- So the games is not installing correctly on either machine at this point, even if you don't try to do anything regarding the ESO account ?

I've never played the game online or LAN, but I had a quick look and see people have had problems with ESO accounts for some time.

I was able to connect to ESO (theoretically), and got a message from Windows Firewall to not block the site, but I didn't try to create an

account on the Log In page.

Is setting up a LAN match viable ?

One positive post (on the Steam forum, but what works with their version would most often work with the disc version)  was...

"...I had to set the "user account control" down and give my user admin-rights. Then log off and log on. After that I could register

a new ESO-account in Age of Empires 3. After that everything worked fine even after switching back to the previous Win10-Settings. " ....

I'm not clear on how the key is tied to a specific build. Is this in relation to using an original disc version on one machine and a

re-release disc version on another machine ?

- After uninstalling the copy that had been working, did you delete the files in your User\Documents\My Games\Age of Empires 3

before reinstalling the game ?

- Delete the Registry keys ?  (path below is from Steam forums but I have the same keys with my disc version ) ....

"- In the left panel go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Wow6432Node > Microsoft > Microsoft Games > age of empires 3 > 1.0
- In the right panel look for DigitalProductID | REG_BINARY | some very long number in format of ## ## ## ## ## ## - right click on the entry and select 'Delete', say yes to any warnings
- In the right panel look for PID | REG_SZ | #####-###-#######-##### ., where # is the digits of your PID - right click on the entry and select 'Delete', say yes to any warnings

[ I'd be inclined to just delete the whole folder, as below... After backing it up. ]

- In the left panel go to HKEY_LOCAL_USER > Software > Microsoft > Microsoft Games > age of empires 3 > 1.0 - right click on the 1.0 folder and select 'Delete', say yes to any warnings " ....

[Note:  HKEY_Current_User on my Win10 ]

"(run autorun.exe from the disc and select express install), so it's confounding that it does not install correctly anymore. "
- Try not installing to the default location. This has a similar effect to the Steam post above. I don't know if it applies to this game

as I have never used the default - Program Files (x86) for my games, but some games, particularly when modding, have permissions

issues when installed to the default location as the three Program folders are system protected, which has been know to cause

problems with some games in past (eg- Oblivion).
If you don't have another partition or HDD to install the game to create a new Folder in C:\ and try installing the game there.

- Have you patched the game ?
http://agecommunity.com/gameUpdates.aspx#englis

[ Later:  I remembered that I installed the game on another HDD with Win10 v1803 back in early June. As a test

for another AOE3 thread.

The game launches properly using either version 1903\1803 of Win10, and both installs of the game (The new install is in a folder in C:\ with 1803 Windows on one drive, and the original install is on another HDD G:\ ).   I'm not using any of the Compatibility options.    ]

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