Service Depot: Installing The Battle for Middle-earth II

This guide will show you how to install The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II on modern operating systems.

Installation

Make sure that the DirectX 9.0c end-user runtime libraries are installed by these guidelines before proceeding.
If you are not using Windows XP, make sure you have re-enabled the SafeDisc driver by these guidelines.
Insert The Battle for Middle-earth II disc to the CD/DVD drive. If using the North American 6-CD release, start with disc 1.
Exit the autorun and run setup.exe from the disc as administrator. (not applicable for Windows XP)
Install the game as you normally would. Change to other discs as necessary if you’re using the North American 6-CD release.
Patch the game to version 1.06, the latest official patch. (mirror)
Install the patch switcher. Make sure it is set to version 1.06 before playing Rise of the Witch-king, and use the 1.09 version of the executable for 1.06 to bypass the DRM.
Browse to the game’s directory and set lotrbfme2.exe to always run as administrator and in compatibility mode for Windows XP Service Pack 3. (not applicable for Windows XP)
Run the game.

After the first run, open Options.ini and change the resolution. The file is located in:

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[USER NAME]\Local Settings\My Battle for Middle-earth(tm) II Files
Windows Vista and newer: C:\Users\[USER NAME]\AppData\Roaming\My Battle for Middle-earth(tm) II Files

To play in widescreen without using the unofficial 1.09 patch, install the widescreen interface adaptation. Maps with modified zoom exist, but they break compatibility in multiplayer.

For online multiplayer, please refer to the T3A:Online service.