How to Troubleshoot Resident Evil 4 for PC

Resident Evil 4 forces players to confront menacing undead.

Capcom's Resident Evil 4 overhauls the popular survival-horror game series to provide a more fast-moving, action-oriented game than its predecessors. The game was originally developed for Nintendo GameCube but was ported to other systems, including the PC. The PC version of the game has a few technical glitches that may need troubleshooting before you can enjoy the game as it's meant to be played.

Things You'll Need

• Internet-enabled PC running Windows XP or 2000

Instructions

1. Check that you are running Resident Evil 4 on the right version of Microsoft Windows. The game is only compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and 2000. To run Resident Evil 4 on Windows Vista, download and install the unofficial patch from the site in the "Resources" section. Resident Evil 4 cannot be played on Windows 7.

2. Ensure that your system meets the minimum requirements for the game. Your PC must have a processor of at least 1.4 GHz (GigaHertz) speed (2.4 GHz is recommended). Your machine must have at least 256 MB (Megabytes) of RAM, with 512 MB recommended. Your system must have a DVD-ROM (not CD-ROM) drive of at least 4x speed. To check these specifications for your machine, go to the "Control Panel" and click "System." (In Windows Vista, this section is within the "System and Maintenance" area.)

3. Check that your video card meets the specifications required by Resident Evil 4. The game requires a card with at least 128 MB of RAM, with 256 MB recommended. The card must be compatible with DirectX 9.0 and Shader 2.0. To check the specifications of your video card, refer to your card's documentation or website or navigate to your computer's desktop and press "R" while holding the "Windows" key. Type "dxdiag" and press "OK," then click "Display." All specifications for your card will be displayed.

4. Patch the game to Version 1.1. The U.S. version of "Resident Evil 4" was patched before retail, but if you are playing a version purchased in Europe or other territories, download the patch from the site in the "Resources" section and double-click to install. If the patch does not install, it means you are already running Version 1.1 of the game.

5. Install a missing driver file. Some Resident Evil 4 players report receiving the message, "This application has failed to start because d3dx9_30.dll was not found." If you see this message, download the file "d3dx9_30.zip" from the site in the "Resources" section. Unzip the file to your Resident Evil 4 program directory. By default, this is "C:/Programs/CAPCOM/Resident Evil 4."

6. Close all other programs before running Resident Evil 4. The game is a processor-intense piece of software that will run best if no other software is running in the background.

References

• Ubi Soft: Resident Evil 4
• "User Manual: Resident Evil 4"; Ubisoft; undated

Resources

• RE 4 Community: Vista Patch
• Ubisoft: Resident Evil 4 Version 1.1 Patch
• DLL Filed: d3dx9_30.zip