Making a 64-bit OS Run Games in 64-bit

Alright, guys...I think I need your help.

So...I wanted to try out the latest incarnation of X-Rebirth (don't judge me - I heard it was better), and I may have discovered an ongoing problem that needs addressed...

I'm running a 64-bit version of Win 7, right? Well...

Games that require a 64-bit OS should run, but they won't. I'm getting an error on a lot of 64-bit games (The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b) ). I've tried to uninstall and reinstall all my Microsoft C++ visual redistributable...things, to no avail.

What else could be going wrong? Why does it seem like my OS always tries to run games in 32-bit?

Could be a problem with DirectX. Which games in particular?

If any of them come with a DXsetup package, try installing it.

EDIT: I see that X Rebirth is DX9, so it will very likely come with a DXsetup installer in one of its folders.

That's odd as you said you are using a 64 -bit version of windows 7?

One thing I do know is any error with 7b usually has to do with an error with the hard drive. Now I'm not a tech expert by any means but this happened to me before.

I had to use system recovery to fix a few errors.

It could be a lot of reasons from driver issues to problems with the OS install itself.

The majority of times I've seen this is a file mismatch between 32 and 64 bit. Are you able to go in to windows event viewer, check the application log for the time you got the error? In the error description it should give some info on what file was associated with it. Usually a DLL or EXE file. From there we can find out if its DXDiag, part of the C++ redistributable package, etc.

Was this through Steam?

Also I'm sure you tried already, but I've found some steam packages need to be set to Run As admin before they'll work. (Gothic was one example)

Well, basically the error means that *something* *somewhere* ain't right. It could be corrupted or be a 32-bit DLL where a 64-bit should be. Not a big help.

You've got this problem with other 64-bit programs, though, so it's very likely that a 32-bit DLL has gotten in where it shouldn't be. Let's see if it's DirectX. I'm pretty certain you can't uninstall it but try running the DirectX installation. You should have one in your Rebirth folder, actually, which will be somewhere on your PC like this:
(With the D:\Games replaced by wherever you put Steam.)

(I've been getting my info from a topic in the Egosoft forums. If it isn't DirectX then you'll need to start digging through with that DepencyWalker application.)

Yeah dependency walker will be the best for sure.

This is also a really long shot and might sound extremely weird but… try disabling windows event logs and see if it works, if it does post here.

0xc000007b error usually means your system files are screwed.

Could be because of virus, because of cc cleaner type utils, because of borked updates or HDD (SDD?) farted.

You can try with system file checker:
http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/929833
But before you try that, use chkdsk to check HDD/SDD and fix if something needs to be fixed.

Reinstalling/repairing VC redistributables can help in some cases, but don't forget to reinstall/repair dot.net too!

It nothing of that helps, you'll have to reinstall windows.

Aubrielle said:

I'm getting an error on a lot of 64-bit games

...

What else could be going wrong? Why does it seem like my OS always tries to run games in 32-bit?

Click to expand...

The part with the "lots of 64-bit games" caught my attention. Could you give some specific examples of games that cause the issues?
The vast majority of games nowadays are still 32-bit executables. Games with a 64-bit exe are still semi-rare so "a lot of 64-bit games" sounds a bit odd (list of 64-bit games for the year 2014).
Are you really sure that only 64-bit game executables are affected?

Also, are you really sure you're running 64-bit Win7? Like really, really sure? (check My Computer -> Properties)

Finally, what application is giving you that 7x error message? Is that only for X-Rebirth or does it pop up for every game? Or is that just from the event viewer?
If the error persists run MemTest to check for RAM issues and a HDD/SSD checkup utility for drive errors. If both turn up green, reinstall Windows (maybe try a repair install first if you can not be bothered with a full install).

Thank you all so much for your helpful replies. I'm really grateful. It looks like I have a lot to look at when I come home from shopping today…

Moriendor, I guess by "lots" I meant:

-X-Rebirth 3.0 (64 bit only)
-Farming Simulator 2015 64 bit exec (shut up ) - (it comes with a 32 bit exe and a 64 bit one, and the 32 bit one works just fine)
-Strider (which is 64 bit only)

All these games gave the 7x error.

And yeah, I ran system - properties and it confirmed that I am using a 64-bit version of Win 7.

Joxer's response worries me a bit, since I do use CCleaner to clean my registry now and then, and since I've frankensteined a HDD setup - my C: drive is an SSD I bought last year (after copying everything over) and my other two drives are used HDD's - one for games, the other for everything else.

One thing I'm taking away from all your helpful suggestions is that maybe I should try moving my Steam folder to the other HDD to see if that works. The drive it's on could be messed up. So I might try that tonight - along with much of everything else that has been suggested to me.

Thanks again, everyone. I'll let you know what happens…

My money is still on it being a DX problem, which could be solved by reinstalling the DXsetup package, or if that fails, replacing some specific dlls. I would definitely start with that, since running DXsetup is simple and very unlikely to add any new complications.

I think you'd be very unlucky if this requires a Windows reinstall.

I would NOT go moving Steam from one drive to another - I think this is highly unlikely to be the problem.

On another note - I would not recommend running registry cleaner apps. There is no way to safely "clean" or "repair" the registry - these apps use imperfect best guesses, and can cause problems. But I don't think that's your problem in this case.

It works!! (And by "it" I mean X-Rebirth and Farm Simulator 64 bit…I haven't tried anything else yet)

It was a hassle, but I guess it could have been worse. I was expecting it to be worse (After reading Joxer and Couch's suggestions, I'd convinced myself that I'd have to reinstall Windows) But I thank Ripper for urging me again to try different, more measured solutions. It took patience, but it paid off. And it also helped that no matter what I did, I couldn't get my computer to boot from the installation disk…

Per everyone's suggestion, I tried reinstalling DirectX (thanks, Zloth, for the nudge in the right direction in my directory), and that didn't help. I tried reinstalling all my C++ redistributables and even my .NET framework. Nope.

Zloth and Gothic suggested Dependency Walker (which I had no idea existed), and that's what I had to end up using. I had to download and install a metric crapton of .dll's, and when I installed one batch, two more popped up. But eventually I managed to track down x64 bit .dll's for the files I needed, somehow install them right, and then it finally worked.

Thank you all again - all of you - for taking the time to give me advice. You're all awesome!!

Congrats! One of the more fun things in life is solving computer problems when they arise. There's nothing better than having a game not work and then finally figuring out how to get it working. Games just seem sweeter when that happens.

+10 for being able to use Dependency Walker without assistance. -0.1 for testing it with FARMING SIMULATOR!? Ok ok, I'll shut up. For a bit.

P.S. No, that's not a request that you try to bribe me by giving me a horse bit!

P.P.S. Which is to say: you're welcome!