Install won't work?

[Xelyx]

I recently did a full restore on my laptop and am re-installing some older games. I've had the same problem with three games now (Quake II, Doom Collector's Edition and Daikatana). I'll open the folder for the game, but when I click the install icon it asks me if I want to allow it to start. I click yes and one of two things happens. When trying to install Quake II it goes to a black screen for a few moments and then returns to my desk top. With Daikatana and Doom a loading symbol appears beside my mouse pointer and then disappears as well. I've had all of these games installed on this computer before, so I don't understand what's happening. If someone here can explain to me what I'm doing wrong I'd really appreciate it.

[Hobie-wan]

What OS? Did you run windows update after the factory restore?

[Xelyx]

What OS? Did you run windows update after the factory restore?

Sorry, I didn't even think to mention it. I have Windows 7. It's auto-updated two or three times since I did the restore.

[J T]

Have you tried to install the games in compatibility mode yet? That occassionally, but not often, works for me.

[BoringSupreez]

The games are probably too old to run on Windows 7 as-is. Try installing them through DOSbox.

[Hobie-wan]

You should also try right clicking on the installers and 'run as admin'.

[Xelyx]

I've tried both compatibility mode and running as administrator with no luck. I've also had them installed on this computer before, so I know they should work fine.

[J T]

I've tried both compatibility mode and running as administrator with no luck. I've also had them installed on this computer before, so I know they should work fine.

Have you updated your antivirus or defender programs lately? It's possible that they are blocking the games from running. I use Comodo and if I'm not careful, my games can get locked out from launching and then i have to go make some adjustments in my antivirus.

I would recommend that you try to launch the game after turning off your antivirus. If that doesn't work, try to turn off Windows User Account Control (UAC) and see if you can launch the game after that. If that doesn't work, try turning off Windows security features like Defender and see if the game will launch after that. If it does launch after one of these steps, that's the source of your problem and you'll need to adjust options in the program that is the cultprit. Make sure you turn everything back on after you are done testing and sort out your issue in the options instead.

[Niode]

I've tried both compatibility mode and running as administrator with no luck. I've also had them installed on this computer before, so I know they should work fine.

You've had them running on that computer, but that specific version of Windows 7? Are you sure? The games you are trying to install don't strike me as games that will work 'out of the box' on Windows 7, not without dosbox. Have you upgraded to 64 bit Windows 7? There's more to this story than what you are telling us.

[isiolia]

I know the DOOM games on Steam use DOSBox (and work fine on 7 64-bit). Quake engine games worked on NT 4.0. Quake II via Steam works without a hitch, again on 7 64-bit.

The CD installer for Quake II doesn't seem to work...but all it really does is copy the contents of the \Install\data folder to where you want. I tried running the installer for Quake II and got the same results, but the game itself runs perfectly fine if you just manually copy the data folder to your HD and run quake2.exe.