Thanks for the link - had not gone back as far as that.Adelade wrote: ↑May 30th, 2025, 5:03 pmPerhaps you are right, but I run Links fine on my laptop which came with Win 11 viewtopic.php?t=1942
I also believe Ian Wells and John_iv had Win 11 from the start and ran Links fine on their desktop systems.
Will probably have time this weekend to try another attempt at an install which hopefully leads to a stable loading of Links.
I bought a new PC in March last year that had Windows 11 Home installed as standard. I've had no issues with Linksat all, even with the later updates. I hope you manage to get things sorted
What you describe in your first paragraph has been my experience since early AprilLobofan wrote: ↑May 26th, 2025, 12:03 am
Background: I had done everything mentioned in this and multiple other topics on the board (Regedit, adding my video card to the Videocard.txt tile, using the wrapper, running 2003 in every possible compatibility mode, running from the shortcut, LinksLauncher, LinksMMIII, etc.), and still nothing worked. And then I uninstalled/reinstalled 2003 and did it all again . . . and STILL nothing worked. I was getting the same thing every time - the program would launch and run for a few seconds, then minimize to my toolbar. I could hover over the tab and see a small window appear on my screen but when I clicked on the tab directly or in the box when I hovered over the tab, I would get the "black screen", hear a few moments of game sound, then the program would minimize again. On rare occasions, if I did this enough times, the game would eventually start, but wasn't fully functional (e.g., landing zone cam wouldn't work etc.). But mostly, the game wouldn't start, and I would have to run task manager to close the program.
And then, I remembered the aforementioned discussion about native resolution. Remembering that my native resolution, 3840x2160, is not supported by 2003 per that discussion (think it was GoBucks?), I went into in Display Settings, changed my resolution to half that (1920x1080, i.e., a multiple of my native resolution that is supported by 2003) and started 2003 from the vanilla (i.e., no compatibility settings) desktop shortcut . . . and voila, it ran like magic. After burning the better part of two afternoons (ahh, retirement) trying far more complicated solutions, it turns out that, for me anyway, the solution was a simple as dialing back my display resolution. I should also mention that I was using the edited Videocard.txt file and had run regedit to change the mode value to 14 as was suggested in this thread before I changed my display resolution, but 2003 didn't run UNTIL I changed said resolution. I don't know if either were a factor in getting 2003 to run (others who are more technical than I would probably know for sure), so that is something to keep in mind.
I don't know if this will help Shufordsc, but your problem sounded similar to mine (i.e., I noticed that your native resolution was also higher than that supported by 2003 and you were getting similar results to mine), so figured I would post my solution here.
Good luck, hope you get this figured out! And thanks to Pete, GoBucks, dwg, etc. - I would have given up by now trying to get 2003 to run were it not for you folks!
Earlier on today my install of the Xplosiv (disc version), which was patched to 1.07 final, loaded for the first time so away I went creating the golfer etc and the registry populated with more items after this first run. Trying your suggestions, I had changed the resolution of my display (native 2560x1440) down to 1280x720 and Links loaded with full functionality in-game. Much of the early part of today saw the inevitable subsequent crashing though. It looks rubbish on a 32 inch screen BUT I was very surprised after a break just now to see what happened when I went to mode 14 (1920x1080) resolution matching the changed desktop resolution on my monitor with fullscreen mode selected rather than windowed mode. I even set Anisotropic filtering within the Nvidia control panel. Rebooted to make sure the registry and the anisotropic filtering would come on when i fired up Links again from the vanilla as you did. Lo and behold it did without recourse to changing the compatibilty settings or the videocard.txt file either. But I've gone down this path so many times before that it will take many crash-free starts on different sessions before I can be be satisfied I've cracked it. 
So glad you are able to get 2003 up and running! 
And if we had similar problems with a similar solution (i.e., changing desktop resolution to one supported by 2003 where one's native resolution exceeds 2003's max supported resolution of 1920x1280), hopefully that will help others such as Shufordsc who are in the same situation. Trying your suggestions, I had changed the resolution of my display (native 2560x1440) down to 1280x720 and Links loaded with full functionality in-game
It looks like you initially went half your native resolution like I did, but I didn't think there was anything magic about using half; I simply selected the highest resolution supported by Links that maintained my native aspect ratio (my native resolution = 3540x2160). So, am not surprised that to see that you were able to select a better in game resolution that makes the game look better.BUT I was very surprised after a break just now to see what happened when I went to mode 14 (1920x1080) resolution matching the changed desktop resolution on my monitor with fullscreen mode selected rather than windowed mode.
It looks rubbish on a 32 inch screen
I'm running an AMD Radeon RX 570 graphics card, and in my control panel have turned on Anti-Lag and Image Sharpening without incident. But I'm loath to tinker further, as the game runs fine and looks great now just as it is. After being so lost trying to get 2003 running earlier, just don't want to be back square one when I don't have to be.I even set Anisotropic filtering within the Nvidia control panel
I've played 2003 a bunch since I got the game working, and I've only had once crash; on the 7th hole at Baltusrol. Hit the tee shot and system locked up, couldn't even run Task Manager to get out of it and had to reboot. But when I loaded the game after rebooting, I got the "your game ended unexpectedly" message and was able to pick it up where I left off without incident, including hitting the tee shot again. Haven't yet checked the Board to see if there are reports of locking up associated with this course but will - hoping it was just the course or some random lock up.Much of the early part of today saw the inevitable subsequent crashing though
I think it is coincidental. I know we've got different setups including different versions of Windows, but I did not remove OneDrive and the game runs fine.One thing I did a day or two ago was to remove OneDrive from my PC. This may have been coincidental.
Please do, and good luck. Hoping this is indeed THE fix!I'll report back after a few more days to see if the last run was just a one-off (reverting to the usual failure to start) or whether this is the sign of things to come
Only time will tell.
If it works on Windows 11 drive I shall also install on my Windows 10 drive and see if everything runs on that as well whilst evrything is still fresh. Annika was not best pleased 
One thing to do is document what you have done.
Great point. Was just thinking once we get Mailman sorted, he and I should put our heads together and boil down what we've done so that it could be offered in a separate thread with a topic title (e.g., "Black Screen Fix" or whatever) so as to make it quickly locatable for those experiencing the problem.I have no system where the system resolution is greater than what Links offers, so it sounds like you may have solutions for when that is the case. Good information to add to the Knowledge Base.
Well, I don't blame Annika, lol. Other than adjusting your refresh rate, did you do anything differently from when you ran successfully the day before? E.g., I remember you'd adjusted some settings on your NVIDIA control panel once you got 2003 working . . . if you continue to have issues, maybe roll any such settings back to vanilla? I know my AMD control panel setting notes that some may affect system performance, though with your specs it doesn't seem like that would be an issue.Fired up this morning as a couple of restarts but then had a period where it seemed to be stubbornly refusing to start up but after a spell of being in the garden patching the lawn I had another go. Took maybe 6/7 restarts before Links played ball again and loaded up.
