Microsoft KB Archive/179920

= AOE: Error Message: Could Not Initialize Graphics System =

Article ID: 179920

Article Last Modified on 6/27/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Age of Empires

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This article was previously published under Q179920



SYMPTOMS
When you double-click the shortcut for Age of Empires on the desktop, you may receive the following error message:

Could not initialize graphics system. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with DirectDraw.



CAUSE
This issue can occur if the shortcut is missing information or contains incorrect information.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, create a new shortcut to Age of Empires on your desktop. To do this:  Right-click the desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut. Click Browse. Locate the folder containing Age of Empires, and then click the Empires.exe file. The default location for Age of Empires is:

Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires

 Click Open, click Next, and then click Finish. The new shortcut to Age of Empires is named Empires.exe.

You can also work around this issue by starting Age of Empires using the Start menu. To do this, click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Games, point to Age Of Empires, and then click Age Of Empires.

Additional query words: 1.00 rise of rome expansion pack icon failed to initialize graphics system video display

Keywords: kbhardware kbdisplay kbenv kberrmsg kbprb KB179920

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