Black screen on startup, tried everything

[boozehammer]

Using Windows 7 x64, ATI Radeon HD 5450 graphics card.

Fresh install. After setting everything up, I go to launch, the screen goes black and the cursor changes to the EQ cursor and then it just sits there.. I don't even make it to any menu or login screens.

I followed the install instructions to a 't', read and re-read the FAQ, and still no dice. Is this just not going to work on my system?

Figured it was a video card/driver issue, updated my drivers, changed my screen resolution, the resolution in the OptionsEditor, and even tried running in 640 x 480 from the EQ.exe-->Properties-->Compatibility tab several different ways and configurations. No luck anywhere.

Any help?

[to0p]

Are you talking about eq installation itself, or installing the server on your computer?

[Capheus]

Make sure you have directX 9.0c installed. You might also want to play with windowed mode too. I can get it to work fine on mine without having to use compatibility modes of any kind. Another thing that may help too would be to not install EQ in the Program Files directory. Installing to something like C:\Everquest would be your best bet. The options you are editing may not be saving at all. Microsoft has completely locked down the Program Files directory. Even if you take ownership, it still gives the finger.

[boozehammer]

@toOp: EQ installation, no server stuff

@Capheus: after reinstalling outside of the Program Files directory and changing my screen resolution, I can actually see stuff! The minor gripe being I have to change my screen resolution every time I play the game... so, how do I run in windowed mode? Tried right clicking on the exe and even looking around in properties but I didn't see anything.

edit: nevermind, changed my resolution back and it seemed to do it automatically the next time I opened the exe.. weird. Thanks guys!!