Running Command & Conquer Generals on Windows 7

I FOUND THIS POSTED BY SOME GENIUS CALLED DARKRAJIN AND IT WORKS ON GENERALS AND GENERALS ZERO HOUR

This I found on another page and thought I would share it here as it worked for me.

I have a core i5 laptop running windows 7 home premium 64-bit with an ATI graphics card and I had exactly the same problems getting C&C Generals and Zero Hour to work.

Good News - Have just  successfully managed to get it working, and it IS Windows 7 that causes the problem, specifically it's to do with access permissions to folders - Windows 7 blocks access to folders that Generals uses to run.

The way I fixed it was:

In 'My Documents' (usually at C:\users\YOURNAME\documents) there should be a folder named 'Command and Conquer Generals Data' or 'Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data', which was put there when you installed the game.  You need to create a text file using notepad and save it into this folder.  However, you must click 'save as' and change the type drop-down box  from text file (.txt) to 'all files'.  Then save the file as 'options.ini'

Before you save, paste this text into the file to get you started:

AntiAliasing = 1
BuildingOcclusion = yes
DrawScrollAnchor =
DynamicLOD = no
ExtraAnimations = yes
GameSpyIPAddress = 0.0.0.0
Gamma = 50
IPAddress = 0.0.0.0
IdealStaticGameLOD = High
LanguageFilter = true
MaxParticleCount = 5000
MoveScrollAnchor =
MusicVolume = 55
Resolution = 1024 768
Retaliation = yes
SFX3DVolume = 79
SFXVolume = 71
ScrollFactor = 50
SendDelay = no
ShowSoftWaterEdge = yes
ShowTrees = yes
StaticGameLOD = Custom
TextureReduction = 0
UseAlternateMouse = no
UseCloudMap = yes
UseDoubleClickAttackMove = no
UseLightMap = yes
UseShadowDecals = yes
UseShadowVolumes = yes
VoiceVolume = 100

This is simply how the game remembers what options you picked (music volume, brightness and the like) and  you can change them once the game is running using the options menu.

Now the key bits - firstly, make sure that you have full read/write permissions for the Command and Conquer Generals Data folder - do this by right clicking on the folder, then  properties then the security tab and change the permissions for all users.  It might also be worth making sure no files are "Read-Only" in that folder.

Then change the game's compatibility mode by right clicking on the game in the start menu, clicking on properties and then the Compatibility tab.  I used the "Change settings for all users" button at the bottom and changed to Windows XP (SP3), as well as checking the "Run as administrator box".

Hey presto! It worked, debunking the myth that C&C Generals will not run on 64 bit systems (as some people have been saying).  In fairness, I haven't tried online multiplayer yet, just a few skirmishes.

Good Luck!