The Battlefield's and Windows 7 64-Bit

[t0et0e]

Finally stepped out of the dark ages of XP? Then welcome to a brave new world!

I am using windows 7, this was a big step for me as I spent many years learning XP, but not all is lost! I am finding alot of my knowledge can be applied to the newer OS. Not only have I jumped OS but also have gone 64-Bit!

Some things to remember, may sound obvious but people can forget the simplest of things,

If you are new to 64-Bit, some programs won't work properly unless you get the 64-Bit version, IE Ventrilo, you need to get the Ventrilo Client for 64-Bit instead of the usual 32-Bit
You can usually install 32-Bit programs and anything that is classed 32-Bit you will find wants to install in a folder called Program Files(x86), you may also see a Program Files folder, this be where 64-Bit programs go, in actual fact you can put files in either and it will run as ment to, but I think its more to show the user what programs run what!

Older games, IE battlefield 1942 and also Battlefield 2 but also PunkBuster and various other programs including Ventrilo! Do not know about UAC, a security feature of newer windows that requires a program to ask for certain rights to resources.
So once you are all installed but before you start making shorcuts of your .exe's, remember to right click the .exe goto compatibility then

I tick Compatibility Mode XP Service Pack 3, and Privilege's Administrator,

I also then goto For all users and do the same, don't know why I do this as I only have one account running but it just feels like a "just-in-case" action.

Somethings I came across and think may help you in terms of Battlefield 2

*If you want to install bf2 onto a custom drive, IE not C:\, then I had to explore the BF2 CD, and look for a folder related to INSTALL, then you need to install each component one-by-one, as there is a glitch in some of the auto-stallers that only lets you use a default path

*Whilst installing it will say "Battlefield 2 has not been tested on 64-Bit" (if your using 64-Bit d'uh!) Ignore this the game will run fine.

*After patch 1.5, there has been a total douschbag move by DICE, in the BETA tests for the patch there was an issue with the Falcon control system not mapping correctly, so the lazy work around was that they imposed it in the default settings config. This move screws over the 95% of players who use other joysticks, so the important thing to do BEFORE you map all your keys, is:-
> Step 1:- Go through each page in OPTIONS/CONTROLS>Common/Infantry/Air/Heli/Boat clicking on any entry that says Falcon, then hit ESC to clear it, then hit apply on each page before moving on.
> Step 2:- When entering your Joystick Mapping only place them in the SECONDARY column *especially for the Axis Maps IE roll, pitch and yaw* otherwise you will have a shock at the end of the runway trying to take off!

If you are concerned about performance from your machine but also have in the past screwed about with your background processes so much that you have rendered you OS unusable or unstable, not naming any names... but yes I am guilty of it too, then I strongly recommend this program to do it all for you, and the best bit is, it will undo it all once your are finished gaming!

IOBit GameBooster 3 get it HERE but do remember its freeware so untick any additional items it tries to install!