Tiberian Sun is known to have some issues running on newer operating systems especially Windows 7 or Windows Vista. This is understandable as the game was released way back in 1999… I’ve compiled a list of steps below that will cover the majority of potential issues you might encounter running Tiberian Sun on Windows 7. Make sure you see the list of possible errors at the bottom of this post if you’re still experiencing errors after following these steps!

1. Make sure you have the TFD freeware version installed. The freeware First Decade version of Tiberian Sun comes fully patched and includes both Tiberian Sun and Firestorm. It is also bundled with a few patch files that set you up for online play so there’s no reason you shouldn’t be using it at your main installation of the game. You can get the First Decade version from one of the links here.
2. Make sure the game is installed in the right directory. The First Decade version of Tiberian Sun expects to be downloaded in C:\Program Files\. Your full game path should be as follows:
   C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command & Conquer The First Decade\Command & Conquer(tm) Tiberian Sun(tm)\SUN
If you don’t have the game installed in this directory the included shortcuts and registry patch will not work. You can simply move your extracted EA Games folder to C:\Program Files\ if it isn’t there already.
3. Set ALL game executables to run as Admin with Windows 98 compatibility mode. Right click on your game.exe and SUN.exe files in your SUN directory, then go to compatibility and select run as administrator and run with Windows 98 compatibility. Make sure you do this for both of these files.
4. Start the game from the Game.exe. If you’re running the game from a shortcut instead, make sure the shortcut points to this file and is being run as administrator with Windows 98 compatibility.

There are a few other issues you may run into when installing/playing the game. See these posts on the respective issues for solutions to some of the common problems you may encounter:

• One or more DLL files were missing or damaged. Please reinstall.This issue is related to improper installation of Tiberian Sun. See the Tiberian Sun DLL files missing or damaged post for details on how to fix your installation.
• Failed to initialize. Please reinstall. This issue is related to compatibility issues with newer operating systems. See the Tiberian Sun Failed to initialize post for details on how to resolve these compatibility issues.
• Westwood online support library is missing or invalid. This error is caused by issues with your Westwood internet components installation or registeration. See the Westwood online support library is missing or invalid post for details on how to fix your internet components installation.

If you’ve followed the above steps and are still having issues running Tiberian Sun on Windows 7, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!

To run Tiberian Sun windowed mode, you’ll have to follow these steps:

1. Change your color quality to 16 bit. To run Tiberian Sun in windowed mode you’ll first have to change your desktop color quality to 16bit otherwise you’ll get this error:
   This product requires a 16bit pixel depth

   To change your color quality:
   • Windows XP – Right click on your desktop > Properties > Settings tab > Set your color quality to 16bit.
   • Windows 7 & 8 – Right click on your desktop > Screen Resolution > Advanced Settings > Monitor tab > Set your colors to: High Color (16bit)
2. Add the -win option to your shortcut. Now right click on your Tiberian Sun shortcut, select properties and then in the target field after the quotations put a space and then type:
   -win
   e.g. “C:\Program Files\EA Games\Command & Conquer The First Decade\Command & Conquer(tm) Tiberian Sun(tm)\SUN\Game.exe” -win.
3. Run Tiberian Sun from this shortcut to run in windowed mode.

If you’ve followed the above steps and are still having issues with Tiberian Sun windowed mode, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!