1. #1

    Dark Messiah crash on exit fix with Windows Vista, 7, 8

    Someone on the Steam forum has found a working solution to avoid annoying crashes ("... has stopped working.") on exit with Windows Vista, 7, 8:
    http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...16&postcount=1

    Hello all.

    Thanks to the efforts of a GOG community member I was able to obtain a fix for the crash on exit that occurs on Windows 7 64bit.

    I have copied the instructions over from the page below; but as the fix was originally meant for PlaneScape: Torment, I have made the proper adjustments:

    http://www.gog.com/en/forum/planesca...ing_flickering


    1.) Download & install the Application Compatibility Toolkit Setup from here http://www.microsoft.com/download/en...s.aspx?id=7352

    2.) Run Compatibility Administrator, the 32bit version.

    It will start with New database(1) [Untitled_1] highlighted.
    At the top, click on Fix.

    3.) Name the file to be fixed ( I put Dark Messiah ). Then browse to your mm.exe file.

    4.) Click next, to the compatibility mode screen. Ignore that & next again.

    At Compatability Fixes, tick the ones you want.

    EmulateHeap
    IgnoreCRTExit
    IgnoreFreeLibrary

    were enough to stop it crashing on exit.
    You can click Test Run to make sure.
    Then next, then Finish.

    5.) Highlight New database(1) [Untitled_1]. Above click on save.

    I saved my file in the same directory as mm.exe and named it Dark Messiah Fix.

    6.) Then right click on New Database(1) & install.


    Here you can find the descriptions for each flag I used:
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...83(WS.10).aspx


    I hope this helps those whom are bothered by the crash on exit, and I will post again if I discover any undesirable effects.
    But in the meantime it works rather nicely.


    Thanks and credit goes to torarngu & olnorton of the GOG community for original post and clarified instructions respectively.

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  2. #2

    No longer works?

    I tried the Compatibility Administrator, and the list of choices seems to have changed. Specifically, I don't see EmulateHeap or IgnoreCRTExit, although IgnoreFreeLibrary still exists. Suffice it to say that IgnoreFreeLibrary is not sufficient to fix the crash on exit problem.

    Until someone figures it out, I'll have to live with the crash on exit problem. Thankfully, it only seems to take a few seconds for Windows 10 to realize that there is no currently known fix and gives up quickly.

    [Edit: It's possible this is only an issue with the patched version of this executable, although this executable is the one that has the crashing issues. I see that I can create a mode with these options set, but I apparently can't apply them to mm.exe.]
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  3. #3
    Sure it's there. Be sure you download the correct MS ACT version for your OS (e.g. Win 10 1903):
    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install

    and set:
    DXMaximizedWindowedMode
    EmulateHeap
    ForceDirectDrawEmulation
    IgnoreCRTExit
    IgnoreFreeLibrary
    NoShadow
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