How to Run Bioshock on Windows 7

I admit it.  I like to play games on my computer.  My latest gaming obsession is Bioshock. For me, it's a great game and I'm having a blast working through it. 

I recently purchased it for $19.99 from Steam, downloaded it, and got extremely frustrated because I couldn't get it to work with Windows 7.  Every time I started the game, I got a small splash screen saying BIOSHOCK followed by an error message stating, "bioshock.exe has stopped working..."

As tech people do, I went hunting for a solution on Google.  I updated video drivers and Direct X, uninstalled and reinstalled C++ runtimes, uninstalled and reinstalled the game, and tried running it in a variety of Windows compatibility modes.  I still could not get it to work. 

So, I kept digging and I finally found a fix that has been working just fine.  Here is what I did:

1. First, make sure that you meet the minimum hardware requirements and that you are running the latest drivers for your video card.  You know, this is the basic stuff that you need to do for any game issue.
2. Next, go to Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Manage Audio Devices, and select the Recording tab.
3. Next, right click the empty space below the installed devices and check Show Disabled Devices. 
4. The Stereo Mix should appear.  Right click on the icon and enable it.  Then, click on OK to close the window and then close the Control Panel.
5. Next, locate the bioshock.exe file. Mine is located here: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\bioshock\Builds\Release\Bioshock.exe".  Right click on it and select Properties.  Select the Compatibility tab and and check "Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows Vista". 
6. To start the game, double click on the bioshock.exe file.

This is what I did and everything about Bioshock is running great.

If this post was helpful to you, please click on Comments below and leave a comment.

Contact Info: info@consideritfixed.com

Comments

[Hugo]

Years later and its still fixing the issue. Again Steam sale landed this in my hands and I never had the chance to play it or the second one. Wouldn't work, but 30 seconds on Google and your post later here we are playing Bioshock. No need for compatibility mode for me but the stereo mix fixed it right up.

[DAN]

YOU ARE A GOD

[J]

Thanks
That was precise and easy to follow and fixed it, you should send the solution to steam :)

[Klapalcius]

Works! Thank you!

[Hasan]

hey what about non steam version,i dont have any problem till install 1.1 patch after that menus mixing and game crashing

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/23/bioshock201302160122266.jpg/

[jamestoo]

Thank you, this fixed my problem and I can now not only start up Bioshock, but play it with sound too! Thank you again!

[David]

Thank you very much, that really worked for me. My problem was that after a few seconds, the game hanged, but now works perfectly.

[Madonna]

I know this is an old post but I just wanted to respond and say, Thank you!!

I've recently been intrigued by this game and wanted to play it but, was having all the problems above.

I've pretty much tried everything else but nothing worked.

This worked and again I thank you!

[Paul]

Just following the steps 1 to 4 fixed it for me - Thanks a lot!

[b]

thank you. fixed issue with steam/bioshock for me. 64-bit win 7

[PiggyPork]

I have made all of things above but one day bioshock stops launching on my win7x64. it worked before. I thought first for AMD ATI CATALYST - I unuinstalled new version and tried some older - nothing helps. Finally I found that error was in registry in Securom Section. HKCU\Software\Securom. just delete this branch. Sure make a backup copy of this branch before making any changes to registry.
when deleting windows says " cant delete some data from this branch - this is ok. there are two protected sub branches. Left em live.

[Stefan]

Thanks. I followed the instructions exactly while using Windows 8 and it worked PERFECTLY. Awesome game so far and got it for free from gamefly.com with their new digital download service.

[Xakobj]

Dude thank you so much! That was probably the best tech support I've ever dealt with.

[Austin Williams]

I have done all of the steps shown above and still have issues with bioshock not running. I can run bioshock in nosound mode but it makes it unenjoyable if you have anything that helps to where i could run it without nosound mode it would be much appreciated

[Ric Martinez]

Thank you for posting this, even if its been a few years, it fixed my problem!

[jc]

Thanks a lot!

[Vega]

For those of you who can run the game, but still don't get any sound past the airplane crash:

Go to Audio Configuration, switch "Use Reverb" and "Use Creative EAX Audio" to OFF.
You're gonna have to restart the game for the changes to take effect.

That did the trick for me while running on Vista compatibility mode.

[Elyanor]

Xanne / Thank you! I've been trying to get the sound to work on this for sereavl days now, and attempted sereavl variations on driver-related fixes this is the one that has finally worked.One point I needed to have my Windows98SE CD in the tray before I started this: the first time round I didn't..and I couldn't get the tray to open during the install. Result: fail. When I ran through it the second time (CD in!) everything was fine.

[Gancuezt]

Tim / Thanks fot the help. Does this procedure work for MVware Player' edtiion? I have no problem installing the files mentioned here, but, the eapci8m.ecw file does not show in the sound menu of the Device Manager after I install it. Also, Do I need to have Sound Blaster software on my windows 7 computer that I am running the VMware on in order for this procedure to work? Thanks again, Tim

[Vick]

Thank you so much, I have been trying to solve this problem for about a year now. I bought this game for 5 bucks in a steam sale and I have no been able to play it since. (when it did load I had no sound). You are awesome, keep up the good work!

[Abobobo]

Thank you! Got it working!

Making it compatible with Vista is what did it for me.

BioShock has been a nightmare from the beginning. I borrowed the game off a friend years ago when it came out and had to spend half a day trying to get it to work. When I finally got my drivers running and the game working, I just couldn't be bothered.

Now here I am years later, I bought the game a bit earlier this year. Had this problem, gave up and just now decided to try again. Glad I found your post mate!

[Someone]

Thanks, worked!

[Polis]

i only did the 5th step and it works great. thanks for helping

[Tim]

Yeah "compatibility mode for vista" works to get the game running.

I have no stereo mix device (I vaguely remember reading something about driver writers removing it due to retarded concerns about piracy). When I run the game, cut-scene sounds work, but there is no sound in the actual game engine.

[Irving]

Thanks! :D

[Bruno]

I tried many things, but this worked!! Thank you!

[Lou]

This worked! I love you so much at this moment! I've been on many forums to find a fix, and all of their solution were three feet long, all about downloading stuff and changing thing in the game itself, your way is so simple! Thank you! I was wondering, I got problem with the keyboard too; the game assign Z to walk forward instead of W and I can't change it, the keys are blocked. Do you have a fix for this?

[Dalsir]

Simple and helpful, it seems there is a conflict between onboard audio and usb sound device. Thanks, bro.

[fff]

i had same problem and fixed it with your help thank u :)

[Gabriel Goes]

You saved my life, thanks a lot, bro!

[Riley]

It is still doing the same thing...
:(
please someone help?

[Angelina Lemon]

Thanks, this fixed the issue I was having with a Bioshock demo on Steam. To help the Google robots:

EXCEPTION 0xc0000005
BIOSHOCK
DEMO
STEAM
WINDOWS 7

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

[AndrewHY]

Many Thanks. Soulution worked perfectly.

[shaun]

i dont have a stereo mix cuz my sound card isnt realtek its a windows hd audio device is there a solution? ive tried lots of things and i updated all drivers im stuck not being able to have sound after the plane crashes

[Nate]

If you don't know how to install new drivers this thread can shed some light on the topic. http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1133842

[TK]

Awesome!

[Dredge Dorolok]

Hi,

I had all the same problems everyone had above. The solution I used was soooo simple. Sometimes people will have two different sound devices on their computer (i.e. motherboard sound and a soundcard). If so, disable the one you are not using through the windows sound panel (right click on the device and choose disable) and Presto! Bioshock works.

Sometimes low-tech just works :)

[Enes]

i dont have the compatibility tab.. any suggestions?

[Steve]

Same problem and a quick google search lead me here. Thank you for posting this. It works!

[Roullete guy]

Thank you !
I was searching for this now.
Great game , i finished on my Xbox360 but now i want to finish it also on my computer...

[Noble]

Yes, this fixed mine problem too.
Thanks.

[Jay]

Thank you so much. Perfect.

[Rachel]

YOU.ARE.FREAKING.AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[me]

Way to go dude!!
Thanks ~~ ~~ ~

[marianne brum]

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOU!

[Englesos]

Result :-)

Much obliged

[Brandan]

I managed to fix this error "bioshock.exe has stopped working..." but now it appears something about a dll file :(

[Jake]

Thank you the game works great now!

[alsan]

Thanks, very usefull

[LMSFDewey]

thanks worked perfectly great