Re: Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

by 71ColonelSMD97
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Original Post

Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

★★ Novice

Hi,

 

I installed ME1 from my hard copies/DVDs and cannot get it to launch. After a few seconds a window pops up, something about having problems connecting. I've tried everything I could find, launching as admin, launching directly with the .exe, resetting compatibility mode, anything I could find online, I've tried it. Is there anything I'm missing? I've already talked to the help person from EA, she thinks the game is not playable on Windows 7, which I'm using. But I'm pretty sure that I've played this on Windows 7 in the past.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Message 1 of 10 (1,129 Views)

Re: Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

@71ColonelSMD97 

 

The game is compatible to Windows 7.

 

The easiest way might be to redeem the cd key in Origin to get a digital copy.

(Origin menu > Origin > redeem Product code.)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is a players helping players forum, I don't work for EA.
Dies ist ein Spieler helfen Spielern Forum, ich arbeite nicht für EA.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
Ulysses - Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Message 2 of 10 (1,122 Views)

Re: Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

★★ Novice

(Origin menu > Origin > redeem Product code.)

 

I've tried this. Does not work. And the EA person I talked to on the phone said that hard copies were not transferred to Origin. 

Message 3 of 10 (1,106 Views)

Re: Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

@71ColonelSMD97 

 


71ColonelSMD97 wrote:

 

I've tried this. Does not work. And the EA person I talked to on the phone said that hard copies were not transferred to Origin. 


They'd be in the past, I will past this on.

 

For the problem:

Please create a DxDiag in text file format and post it with your next reply.

Also go to your Reliability monitor > Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time and copy and paste or type "perfmon /rel" (without the quotes) in the new Window > hit “ENTER” and look if it has entries for the "MassEffect.exe" and the "Origin.exe".

If yes double click at the last entry for the game executable, copy the info to the clipboard, and save it to a text file.

 Perf.png

You can attach the DxDiag text file you created (and the “Reliability monitor” text file as well) to your post in the “Reply” window with the “Choose File” button. 

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is a players helping players forum, I don't work for EA.
Dies ist ein Spieler helfen Spielern Forum, ich arbeite nicht für EA.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
Ulysses - Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Message 4 of 10 (1,055 Views)

Re: Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

★★ Novice

Here's the DxDiag. No reliability monitor txt since I could not find any with the appropriate entries.

Thanks.

Message 5 of 10 (855 Views)

Re: Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

@71ColonelSMD97 

 

The DxDiag looks good so fare, the only thing is that your GPU driver is relatively old.
But that should not be the problem here.

 

I guess that the problem you have is the same discussed in this thread. (Please read the post I linked to)

 

A specific DLL, the "paul.dll", that is part of the authorization process of the game is outdated and makes it impossible to authorize ME1. 

 

There are only two ways to fix this.
Contact EA about the isuue and hope that they fix it.
Replace the "paul.dll" with a newer version from a different game or a different machine.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is a players helping players forum, I don't work for EA.
Dies ist ein Spieler helfen Spielern Forum, ich arbeite nicht für EA.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
Ulysses - Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Message 6 of 10 (837 Views)

Re: Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

★★ Novice

Thank you for your effort.

Message 7 of 10 (758 Views)

Re: Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

★★ Novice

I just went over the thread you linked and maybe I overread it, but I simply removed the paul.dll from the folder and now the game works again. I wrote "overread", because I mostly read about others replacing the paul.dll with a later version. Since non of my other hard copies of ME2 and ME3 have a paul.dll, I just removed it from ME1 and now the game is running. Maybe it's just me and I misunderstood all along, but this is the simplest solution and I'm surprised that no one mentions this anywhere.

Message 8 of 10 (743 Views)

Re: Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

@71ColonelSMD97 

 

Thanks for mentioning that deleting the "paul.dll" helped you. That is very interesting indeed. Thumbs up

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is a players helping players forum, I don't work for EA.
Dies ist ein Spieler helfen Spielern Forum, ich arbeite nicht für EA.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
Ulysses - Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Message 9 of 10 (732 Views)

Re: Mass Effect 1 won't launch (Win7)

★★ Novice

@Holger1405 

 

Also, the game rewrites the paul.dll after some time. This of course results in the game not being playable, so in order to play, one needs to remove the file again.

Message 10 of 10 (685 Views)