[Twis7eD]

This was something that I found on an old forum that I used to go to. Extremely helpful for common errors that people run into when trying to open different Xbox 360 modding programs. The astonishing thing about this post that I found was that the user who posted it was just a random one poster who dropped by and posted it and it is nicely detailed and really helpful overall. I thought this could help some people and I know that the site that it is currently on is going to disappear very soon, so I didn't want to loose all of this very important information.

These steps will specifically help to solve a really common error that people get when trying to open modding programs which is the error that sounds something like this:

The application failed to initialize properly (0x000007b). Click OK to terminate the application

and looks like this:


Anyway... on to all this information. No credit to me. This was all taken from a user named CrunchyPanda on a different forum.

Please don't take offense if any of these "solutions" seem obvious/dumb.... I'm certainly not suggesting you're either. But despite telling all my clients to avoid Vista like poisonous fire, a few of them did it anyway -- so as a result, I've been "lucky enough" to see that particular error time and time again.

The annoying thing about this *particular* vista error (IMO) is that it pops up -- same exact wording each time -- under a number of fairly disparate conditions. So it's hard to say "oh, that's caused by X;" since X,Y,Z,A,B,C.....Q,R,S (etc) can cause it. Thanks for being so verbose, Microsoft! (Eh, after "Abort? Retry? Fail?" you'd think I'd just give up on error messages making any real sense for us humans.)

So, without listing all the gogoulplexozillions of possible reasons behind this problem, I'll just mention the top few that seem to pop up fairly frequently:

• UAC is on? Turn it off. (Not the best security advice long-term, but in terms of troubleshooting, you should ALWAYS try this first.) If the program works with UAC turned off, then you know it's a permissions/policy thing -- which should help you if you later want to re-enable UAC and "tweak" your settings to accommodate the program.
• Running a program that requires Admin rights as a NON-Admin user. Right-Click, "Run As Admin..." -- this often will still error out if UAC is enabled, so don't rule one out without testing *both* cases.
• Same thing, but reversed: Running a program "As Administrator" when it doesn't actually REQUIRE admin rights. Some people do this without realizing it -- perhaps the program was distributed with a goofy shortcut or bad metainfo (check the "Advanced Properties" right-click dialog on the EXE for these settings) -- or sometimes they just assume "this is the kind of program that must need Admin access" without even trying to run it as a standard user *first*.
  
  Good rule of thumb: Extract/install the program and run it. If it works, then DON'T run it as Admin in the future.
  If it doesn't work, kill UAC and try again. STILL doesn't work? Keep UAC off and try running it "As Administrator." STILL having problems--do the same as above, *plus* set the program to run without Themes, restricted to 256 colors, in Windows XP SP1 compatibility mode (and/or 32-bit compatibility mode if you're running Winx64). This, admittedly basic, step by step troubleshooting tree helps people "drill down" to the exact nature of their particular issue way more often than you'd think. Obviously it doesn't locate every problem, fix every bug -- but there's really no way to intelligently investigate this error if you don't go through these initial steps first... Else you risk wasting *LOTS* of time troubleshooting unrelated issues, etc.
• Did someone mention "32-bit/Compatibility Mode?" Oh, I did...but note I mentioned it WAY down the list of "troubleshooting steps." Do NOT (by default, on assumption, or as your "first stab at fixing the issue") set recent versions of Modio, CONcept, or even Codejunkies' notoriously buggy (and indeed, 32-bit) Xport program to run in "32-bit mode." Each of these programs has been confirmed to work to work in 64 bit mode JUST FINE -- however each one tends to have it's own preferences (and issues) with the NX-bit, UAC, Admin rights (or lack thereof), and "location of the EXE when you click it." So *those* should be the first things you investigate -- and since you know it's not a 64/32 bit issue, avoid the temptation to make the problem *worse* by needlessly shoving the tool into x32CompatMode. It will only make troubleshooting harder, more confusing, and ... well, 32-bits-less-cool, right?
• Check to make sure Compat mode isn't set in the metainfo/properties of your program's shortcut, or on the EXE file itself. And while you're at it, CHECK THE PERMISSIONS (ownership, user rights/privileges, etc). All of this can be viewed and modified as needed -- look in the advanced file properties (right-click menu) for the EXE or .LNK or .BAT or anything else you click to run the program (or click to run that in turn runs the program, as in the case with a BAT or shortcut file). Those irksome Advanced Ways To Break The Program can be toggled virtually anywhere between the thing you click and whatever is supposed to happen/run/execute so you'll need to check 'em all.
• (Surprisingly, this next one accounts for more than half of the errors I've seen -- with this particular error message, that is.) Attempting to run programs from WITHIN a compressed file. (Note, this is more common with ZIP files, since Windows now natively shows them as "special folders," and they even show up as "folder icons" in the LHS Explorer folder tree -- so it's very easy to do this, and I'll admit to overlooking this particular no-no every once in a while myself.)
  Even if the program has no DLL files to load, running stuff from within a compressed ZIP/RAR archive is just asking for trouble.
  First, if you haven't already, get 7-zip: it's free and open-source, 32/64bit, cross-platform, and opens all the archives you'll ever need to open -- yes, RAR too (and without WinRAR's ugly beggar/shareware notices). Then get yourself into the (rather easy) habit of always right-clicking these guys and hitting "Extract to filename/..." on the context menu BEFORE even thinking about running anything.
  Once again, this particular "bug" is the culprit behind a HUGE number of those errors (as shown in the OP) -- so no matter how obvious the "solution" sounds, it's worth keeping in mind.
• Question: Do you have absurdly restrictive group policy (gpedit.exe) or Windows Firewall settings? (One apparently *default* group policy setting in Vista was "do not allow users to run programs from TEMP directories, the 'Downloads' folder, and/or network drives," which caught a few people by surprise, since they were used to the "download, extract, and run/test" method of trying a program out.) NOTE: Other areas gpedit.exe likes to "outlaw" execution: Desktop, root dir (C:\), etc, etc. (You know, the primary spots where everyday users tend to try to extract and run stuff. {Insert someone saying "LOLZ, n00bz," here, I guess.} ) Check this in ICS/Firewall settings and in gpedit.exe.
• Click Start, then Right-Click on "Computer" and select "Properties." (Depending on your Start menu setup, you might also need to then select 'Advanced Settings.') In the same tab/area as the "Virtual Memory" and "Performance Settings," look for a section regarding the "no-execute bit." Is it turned on for "Windows programs/processes only" or is it set for "All programs (except those listed below)?" The latter option (all programs) can often lead to issues like this.
• TURN YOUR ANTI-* PROGRAMS OFF. While there are a number of excellent antivirus/antirootkit tools out there, the number of *absurdly* moronic "security suites" (and the like) is astounding. Windows Defender *sometimes* tells you why it's blocking access to a program...other times it just does it and says nothing, leaving you to wonder what happened. Symantec and AVG enjoy blocking most modding tools (often classifying them as "trojans" oddly enough) and 3rd Party Firewall "Suites" like ZoneAlarm started getting hyperaggressive about app execution blocking a number of years ago. So to test this, turn ALL of that **** off. (You can use a hardware/router firewall or simply temporarily yank the ethernet cord if you're paranoid.) NOTE: If the program *still* doesn't work, you might want to try downloading, reinstalling/re-un-zipping it again. Many of these tools silently block "dangerous files" wherever they're encountered -- mid-torrent, during an unzip, etc.
• Are you CERTAIN that your "source" for your downloaded tool is *complete*? Try another download mirror/source. There are a huge number of *incomplete* zip/rars with HBC (sans the license or kv.bin), CONcept, and Modio floating around out there. They can be missing dlls, whatever -- and once again, the SAME NONDESCRIPT ERROR is used to alert you to this problem, as well. Doh!

• Final Note: If you haven't already (and if you're NOT an idiot) google for instructions to enable the so-called "Godmode" folder(s) you can create in Win7 (amd64,x86), XP/Vista (x86 only!), as well as in most versions of Windows 2003, 2008, and 2008R2. This lovely undocumented trick provides shortcuts to quickly check/enable/disable almost all of the "potential troublemakers" (UAC, overly-restrictive group policy defaults, etc) that I've mentioned above.
  
  It's a quick 2-second, cut-paste job that instantly creates the first (and presumably, *only*) useful "control panel"-type menu, and it's well worth having around -- for IT pros and power users alike. (If only to save you the 78 clicks it now takes to successfully find anything useful in that "bloated-with-so-many-freaking-submenus-and-unrelated-trivial-crap-that-its-practically-useless-if-you-need-to-fix-something-relatively-important" thing that replaced the Control Panel with.)
  NOTE: If you are an idiot, any attempts to use this tool (as is the case with most tools) will likely result in you killing your computer and immediately looking for someone to blame.
  
  Well, look elsewhere, young one.