Half-Life 2 failed to load and crashing once loaded [RESOLVED]

So I just built a new system, installing Vista Business 64bit to tak
full advantage of DX10 and large amounts of memory. Not having man
games lying around, I decided to download steam and install Half Life 2

If you are reading this, and using a 64bit edition of windows, then m
guess is you are having problems with Half Life 2. I encountered tw
problems, and after a few hours was able to solve both of them

PROBLEM 1: GAME HANGS ON INITIAL LOAD (BLURRY IMAGE SCREEN

- Symptoms

- "64-bit" message was at top of scree
- game never loade


- Potential cause

- It seems that while steam intended HL2 to have a 64bit edition
with an update along the line (maybe with the release of Left4Dea
according to others) the support was broken and the game doesn'
load


- Fix

- Unfortunately, the fix removes the 64bit potential. In steam
right click half life 2, and select <Properties>
- From the dialogue box, click <Set Launch Options...
- Enter "-32bit" and select <OK



This got HL2 to load, where upon playing I encountered problem numbe
2

PROBLEM 2: GAMEPLAY CAUSES FULL SYSTEM HAN

- Symptoms

- After playing for less than 5 minutes, the game would crash an
the three fingered salute (ctrl+alt+del) couldn't get me out of it
The crash caused a full system hang that required a hard-reboo


- Potential Causes

- While from Problem 1 we are running in 32bit mode instead o
64bit, we are still running Vista


- Fix

- Go to the HL2 executable, by default [-Program File
(x86)\Steam\steamapps\<your user name>\half-life 2-
- right click on hl2.exe and select <Properties
- select the second tab, "Compatibility
- check the box for <Run this program in compatibility mode for:
- select <Windows XP (Service Pack 2)> from the drop down men
- select <Apply> then <OK



This means that we are taking a 64bit Vista compatible game, an
running it as a 32bit XP game

After these two fixes, I was able to set my video settings to max (
thought this was the original problem) and play the game withou
interruption. Hopefully steam and/or windows will fix this bug and I ca
return to the intended game settings, but do note that steam says o
their website that 64bit save files are not compatible with 32bit gam
mode. While mathematically, you should be able to load a 32bit save fil
into the 64bit game (as long as it substitutes 0x0 for the upper 32bits
I have no idea if they will support it. Oh well, another excuse to pla
through one of the greatest games to date (in my opinion!

--
ltspicoli

Well done solving the problems!


Mark


"ltspicoli" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> So I just built a new system, installing Vista Business 64bit to take
> full advantage of DX10 and large amounts of memory. Not having many
> games lying around, I decided to download steam and install Half Life 2.
>
> If you are reading this, and using a 64bit edition of windows, then my
> guess is you are having problems with Half Life 2. I encountered two
> problems, and after a few hours was able to solve both of them.
>
> PROBLEM 1: GAME HANGS ON INITIAL LOAD (BLURRY IMAGE SCREEN)
>
> - Symptoms:
>
> - "64-bit" message was at top of screen
> - game never loaded
>
>
> - Potential cause:
>
> - It seems that while steam intended HL2 to have a 64bit edition,
> with an update along the line (maybe with the release of Left4Dead
> according to others) the support was broken and the game doesn't
> load.
>
>
> - Fix:
>
> - Unfortunately, the fix removes the 64bit potential. In steam,
> right click half life 2, and select <Properties>.
> - From the dialogue box, click <Set Launch Options...>
> - Enter "-32bit" and select <OK>
>
>
>
> This got HL2 to load, where upon playing I encountered problem number
> 2.
>
> PROBLEM 2: GAMEPLAY CAUSES FULL SYSTEM HANG
>
> - Symptoms:
>
> - After playing for less than 5 minutes, the game would crash and
> the three fingered salute (ctrl+alt+del) couldn't get me out of it.
> The crash caused a full system hang that required a hard-reboot
>
>
> - Potential Causes:
>
> - While from Problem 1 we are running in 32bit mode instead of
> 64bit, we are still running Vista.
>
>
> - Fix:
>
> - Go to the HL2 executable, by default [-Program Files
> (x86)\Steam\steamapps\<your user name>\half-life 2-]
> - right click on hl2.exe and select <Properties>
> - select the second tab, "Compatibility"
> - check the box for <Run this program in compatibility mode for:>
> - select <Windows XP (Service Pack 2)> from the drop down menu
> - select <Apply> then <OK>
>
>
>
> This means that we are taking a 64bit Vista compatible game, and
> running it as a 32bit XP game.
>
> After these two fixes, I was able to set my video settings to max (I
> thought this was the original problem) and play the game without
> interruption. Hopefully steam and/or windows will fix this bug and I can
> return to the intended game settings, but do note that steam says on
> their website that 64bit save files are not compatible with 32bit game
> mode. While mathematically, you should be able to load a 32bit save file
> into the 64bit game (as long as it substitutes 0x0 for the upper 32bits)
> I have no idea if they will support it. Oh well, another excuse to play
> through one of the greatest games to date (in my opinion!)
>
>
> --
> ltspicoli

He didn't solve them, I found this fix months ago, likely he was just
posting what he found for the benefit of others.

--

----
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"Mark" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Well done solving the problems!
>
>
> Mark
>
>
> "ltspicoli" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>>
>> So I just built a new system, installing Vista Business 64bit to take
>> full advantage of DX10 and large amounts of memory. Not having many
>> games lying around, I decided to download steam and install Half Life 2.
>>
>> If you are reading this, and using a 64bit edition of windows, then my
>> guess is you are having problems with Half Life 2. I encountered two
>> problems, and after a few hours was able to solve both of them.
>>
>> PROBLEM 1: GAME HANGS ON INITIAL LOAD (BLURRY IMAGE SCREEN)
>>
>> - Symptoms:
>>
>> - "64-bit" message was at top of screen
>> - game never loaded
>>
>>
>> - Potential cause:
>>
>> - It seems that while steam intended HL2 to have a 64bit edition,
>> with an update along the line (maybe with the release of Left4Dead
>> according to others) the support was broken and the game doesn't
>> load.
>>
>>
>> - Fix:
>>
>> - Unfortunately, the fix removes the 64bit potential. In steam,
>> right click half life 2, and select <Properties>.
>> - From the dialogue box, click <Set Launch Options...>
>> - Enter "-32bit" and select <OK>
>>
>>
>>
>> This got HL2 to load, where upon playing I encountered problem number
>> 2.
>>
>> PROBLEM 2: GAMEPLAY CAUSES FULL SYSTEM HANG
>>
>> - Symptoms:
>>
>> - After playing for less than 5 minutes, the game would crash and
>> the three fingered salute (ctrl+alt+del) couldn't get me out of it.
>> The crash caused a full system hang that required a hard-reboot
>>
>>
>> - Potential Causes:
>>
>> - While from Problem 1 we are running in 32bit mode instead of
>> 64bit, we are still running Vista.
>>
>>
>> - Fix:
>>
>> - Go to the HL2 executable, by default [-Program Files
>> (x86)\Steam\steamapps\<your user name>\half-life 2-]
>> - right click on hl2.exe and select <Properties>
>> - select the second tab, "Compatibility"
>> - check the box for <Run this program in compatibility mode for:>
>> - select <Windows XP (Service Pack 2)> from the drop down menu
>> - select <Apply> then <OK>
>>
>>
>>
>> This means that we are taking a 64bit Vista compatible game, and
>> running it as a 32bit XP game.
>>
>> After these two fixes, I was able to set my video settings to max (I
>> thought this was the original problem) and play the game without
>> interruption. Hopefully steam and/or windows will fix this bug and I can
>> return to the intended game settings, but do note that steam says on
>> their website that 64bit save files are not compatible with 32bit game
>> mode. While mathematically, you should be able to load a 32bit save file
>> into the 64bit game (as long as it substitutes 0x0 for the upper 32bits)
>> I have no idea if they will support it. Oh well, another excuse to play
>> through one of the greatest games to date (in my opinion!)
>>
>>
>> --
>> ltspicoli
>