C&C games - "Failed to launch game" error
[CM Edit - Adding information from OP's separate solution thread]
C&C4 - General system error - FIXED
When launching C&C4 Tiberium Twilight via the EA app on local user session with EA app ran as admin, the game asks to enter the EA account login credentials. Entering the EA account credentials in the C&C4 login screen and trying to login gives the error message "General system error". (Please see the picture below).
On an admin session, launching C&C4 via the EA app and entering the credentials succeeded and the game was able to launch properly. Afterwards on local user session, launching the EA app as admin and from it launching C&C4 had the process of login succeed this time. My intuition tells me that the admin session wrote the files associated with the login process and then the local user session could use them.
Greetings,
EA support told me to post here as they have no fix currently for this issue nor any other troubleshooting steps to try. (Case #207569798). Also, via the "EA error reporter" (within the EA app) I submitted a report which has the report ID: "b5282740-5a98-41a4-aa8e-f605b90ce194". I'm using Windows 10 Home (22H2 OS Build 19045.5737), fully updated, and EA app v13.437.0.5950 (94974-56e58c512c).
On a local user Windows session, C&C3, C&C4 Tiberium Twilight and C&C Red Alert 3 will launch via EA app (ran as admin), but not: 1) C&C and The Covert Operations; 2) C&C Generals and Zero Hour; 3) C&C Red Alert; 4) C&C Red Alert 2; 5) C&C Renegade and; 6) C&C Tiberian Sun and Firestorm. Those six C&C games will all produce the error in the EA app: "Failed to launch game. An error occurred on our end caused the launch to fail. Try again a little later." when attempted to be launched (as described above). These nine C&C games will launch without any problem from the EA app on the admin session. Launching straight C&C95.exe from C&C and The Covert Operation install folder on local user session, with or without admin rights, will run the game just fine in both cases, but the EA app can't launch it! EA support confirmed games should run when launched from EA app on non-admin Windows session.
sfc /scannow and dism /online cleanup-image /scanhealth scans have been run. EA app cache was reset. EA app was reinstalled (CCleaner + manually deleted EA related folders in ...\AppData\local, locallow and roaming). All Microsoft Visual C++ versions are up-to-date and were repaired. Graphic driver is up-to-date. Booting with all non-Windows services disabled didn't allow games to boot. Games were repaired. Games were reinstalled (CCleaner + del local, locallow, roaming...). Both the games and EA app directories have all permissions on the local user Windows session (right-click folder > Properties > Security tab > Advanced > Permissions). Creating a new local user account on the PC and launching these six C&C games via the EA app (ran as admin) also produces the error. Fully disabling UAC on admin session sets the UAC on local user Windows session to level 3 ("Always notify me (and do not dim my desktop) when:"). Games received new entitlement.
EA support said the "Failed to launch game" issue would be caused when "something in the player PC conflicts with EA app" and "services" could also be the cause. If so, what "services" needs to be running for C&C and The Covert Operations to launch?
EDIT: I hypothesized that some of EA app's processes which are running on the admin session would not be running on the local user session and further tested which processes are running on both sessions when launching C&C and The Covert Operations and identified some differences. Of note, on local user session, launching C&C and The Covert Operations from the EA app (ran as admin) have EABackgroundService.exe launching EAGEP.exe, but that latter process fails to launch EADesktop.exe*32 as sub-process (while it succeeds on admin session) and then EAGEP.exe simply shuts down a few seconds after being launched. (Please see picture below). Also on local user session, when the EA app is running, it is missing one EACefSubProcess.exe (also see the picture below). It seems to me that the issue could lie with the EA app and not the games themselves (since the games launch fine on the admin session).
Any help to get those games running on non-admin Windows session via the EA app will be much appreciated!
Mike