Can I run SC4 on Windows 11?

[The Angry Convert 20]

Currently I have a Windows 10. I bought my first 10 in early 2019 and then a new one in early 2021 after the first one broke down. It was mad slow from the beginning actually, could barely scroll Facebook and Instagram. This second one has worked just fine. It also went just fine running SC4 on both computers (besides speed on the first one), and then transferring all my data from SC4 from the first to the second, after I bought SC4 at GOG in early 2020.

 

Now I've been given the option to install Windows 11 on this computer, all for free. There's only one problem really: Is it possible to run SC4 on Windows 11? Is it possible to transfer current SC4-data (cities, regions, mods etc) and keep running it on Win11? Or will I have to start the whole game over, or even worse, won't I be able to run the game at all?

 

Does anybody know about this? Does anybody have any experience of this? Windows 11 is brand new I know. That's why I'm sceptical that SC4 will work on it, or that anybody has experience of whether it does or not.

[Max4k 727]

Microsoft used to have a direct link on their Windows section to run a Compatibility Wizard program to see what programs will run.

This site lists the tool you need called PC Health Check

 

https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/windows-11-compatibility-check-if-your-pc-meets-microsofts-requirements/

 

[Whte_rbt 1,431]

While I have not done a Win11 install yet, I would be stunned if it does run properly. The driver for SC4 hardware graphics is Direct X7 and I can't see Microsoft going out of their way to make an 18 year old game work on their shiny new system. The best bet might be to use one of the DXWrapper programs that are available, but i have no clue whether these are compatible with Win11.

[Max4k 727]

Windows 7 was a disaster when it came out. Majority of companies did not want to upgrade or not ready.  Companies were later forced to upgrade and when everyone got Windows 7, Microsoft then forced everyone to 8 or they would not get any DirectX 12 support.    When Windows 7 came out, my $700 Epson scanner was not supported and my Soundblaster software was not compatible

[rsc204 21,857]

16 hours ago, Whte_rbt said:

While I have not done a Win11 install yet, I would be stunned if it does run properly. The driver for SC4 hardware graphics is Direct X7 and I can't see Microsoft going out of their way to make an 18 year old game work on their shiny new system.

OK, but given they have a dedicated system with retained legacy compatibility, i’d surprised if it was any different to Win10. Playing old games often requires a bit of work because the underlying systems change over time. But in a pure code-compatibility sense I doubt there is anything to prevent SC4 working. If there were, it would affect thousands of games, not just SC4. I wouldn’t consider Windows incompatible if a Wrapper were needed either.

16 hours ago, Max4k said:

Windows 7 was a disaster when it came out. Majority of companies did not want to upgrade or not ready.  Companies were later forced to upgrade and when everyone got Windows 7, Microsoft then forced everyone to 8 or they would not get any DirectX 12 support.

Windows 7 was anything but a disaster it was a fine edition of Windows. Why would companies need DirectX 12?, upgrading and having access to security patches is just the new normal. You can’t have a secure Linux or MacOS system either, unless you keep updating the OS.

16 hours ago, Max4k said:

When Windows 7 came out, my $700 Epson scanner was not supported and my Soundblaster software was not compatible

Which is the responsibility of Epson and Creative Labs to provide drivers. If they didn’t and your purchases were not that old, it tells you what they think of their customers.

It’s fun for people to bash Microsoft but the fact remains Windows is #1 for a reason. (Mac user over here!). One of those is precisely that one way or another, Windows continues to support legacy programs very well.

17 hours ago, The Angry Convert said:

Windows 11 is brand new I know. That's why I'm sceptical that SC4 will work on it, or that anybody has experience of whether it does or not.

I’ve not heard yet from anyone who’s run it, but Win 11 is really new. Not to mention if your PC is around five years or older, it’s probably not an option to install it either.

I don’t know why you are sceptical, as I’ve mentioned from XP through Win 10, it continues to work, why would that change now? Unless MS changed a core part of the OS, which would be something you’d expect to be reported since if such a change affected SC4, it would affect a lot of other tittles.

Either try out Win 11 and see for yourself, if you can backup your system, ideally with a full HDD clone/image, returning to your old one would be relatively painless if you needed to.

Otherwise if you don’t want to be the trail-blazer, wait for the situation to become clear before upgrading, it’s not like you need to do it now! Bear in mind that new things tend to have teething troubles, being first means you are basically a beta tester these days and here MS don’t have the best reputation. 

[Max4k 727]

I actually still use Windows 7 and refuse to upgrade.  It's definitely the most rock solid OS so far with my experience.

OMG Windows 7 was a total disaster when it came out.  I was there, working the front lines and trenches for these major Fortune 500 companies.  Companies still running NT4 at the time and actually Windows 2000 was my favorite.  One of the biggest retail thefts in history was all because of Windows 7.  People figured out how to hack self checkout machines using gift cards and  cash back.

Sega and other web sites had major database issues with Windows 7. 

 

https://www.infoworld.com/article/2630741/survey-says-most-companies-won-t-deploy-windows-7.html

> Now current news says  - lol

https://www.bnmc.net/blog/too-many-businesses-are-still-using-windows-7

 

[The Angry Convert 20]

I forgot to add that I have numerous mods that are 10+ years old and completely un-upgraded since then, but yet they've worked just fine on both computers. But besides that, I'm still sceptical that the game will work on Win11. Anyway, it feels unnecessary to take the risk since I'm happy with the computer thus far.

[Markthrash 1]

I'm so interested in knowing this as well, my laptop wants to install Windows 11 but I've been preventing it form doing so in fear that SC4 wont work on it for some reason. 

[Ulisse Wolf 4,444]

We did some testing on Windows 11 to see if SC4 and NAM work. The answer is YES

SC4 works fine on Windows 11. Obviously if you want to increase the resolution above 1920x1080 must have a warpper.

Programs such as PIM-X, SC4 TOOL etc work correctly. So playing SC4 on Windows 11 is safe.

[carlosmarcelo 982]

If it serves as a parameter, here is my testimony: last week I prepared a windows 11 computer for one person and installed Worms Armageddon, 1999 game, and it worked very well, without any need for additional configuration.
As stated above by @rsc204, I don't see any reason why Windows 11 prevents SC4 from working. If it does, it's probably some other factor.
From what I've read, Windows 10 support will go into 2025, so there's no reason or incentive to drop out of it if that's okay.

[The Angry Convert 20]

Thanks all of you for your replies. The way I see it, SC4 will very likely, and probably more likely in the future, work on Win11. That being said, I'm also free to keep Win10 for a good number of more years, and that's what I prefer so far.

[Sniffeh 121]

On 1/1/2022 at 4:36 PM, ulisse said:

We did some testing on Windows 11 to see if SC4 and NAM work. The answer is YES

SC4 works fine on Windows 11. Obviously if you want to increase the resolution above 1920x1080 must have a warpper.

Programs such as PIM-X, SC4 TOOL etc work correctly. So playing SC4 on Windows 11 is safe.

I really hope this is true since I recently purchased a brand new sealed copy of SC4 Deluxe Edition and a Windows 11 setup CD from eBay, and it would be a real shame if I installed Windows 11 only to discover that it couldn't run SC4. There's only one way to find out, right?

[Ulisse Wolf 4,444]

1 hour ago, Sniffeh said:

I really hope this is true since I recently purchased a brand new sealed copy of SC4 Deluxe Edition and a Windows 11 setup CD from eBay, and it would be a real shame if I installed Windows 11 only to discover that it couldn't run SC4. There's only one way to find out, right?

From Windows 10 onwards you have to use the digital version of SC4 (Steam and GOG) because Microsoft has removed the DLLs inherent to SafeDisc and SecuROM and therefore the disk version of SC4 you can not run it

If you like I have the computer with Windows 11 and SC4 works great

[Sniffeh 121]

On 10/6/2022 at 1:31 PM, ulisse said:

From Windows 10 onwards you have to use the digital version of SC4 (Steam and GOG) because Microsoft has removed the DLLs inherent to SafeDisc and SecuROM and therefore the disk version of SC4 you can not run it

If you like I have the computer with Windows 11 and SC4 works great

Windows 11 won't install on my computer. Evidently, it isn't compatible. It firmly refused to put it on. I had to buy a copy of Windows 10.