In order for the game to load past the splash screen, you will need the Options.ini file to be in your "My Battle for Middle Earth 2 Files" Folder. In additiona, you will also need an empty folder called Maps to be in there as well.

To find this folder in Vista you will need to do a search for AppData. Then from there goto Roaming --> My Battle for Middle Earth 2 Files.

You will probably notice it it empty. One person already posted that you should manually create a txt file called Options.ini and add the following

AudioLOD = Low
HasSeenLogoMovies = yes
IdealStaticGameLOD = VeryLow
Resolution = 800 600
StaticGameLOD = VeryLow
TimesInGame = 1

I tried this and it did Not solve my problems of crashing at the spalsh screen.

So, I copied the ENTIRE Options.ini file from my working BFME2 XP installation, and copied the entire file into my Vista machine.

So, if you tried this solution, and it did not work for you, try it again with the ENITRE Options.ini contents. Listed here.

AllHealthBars = yes
AmbientVolume = 81.000000
AnimationLOD = High
AudioLOD = Low
Brightness = 50
DecalLOD = High
EffectsLOD = Medium
FlashTutorial = 0
GameSpyIPAddress =
HasSeenLogoMovies = yes
IdealStaticGameLOD = Low
ModelLOD = Medium
MovieVolume = 70.000000
MusicVolume = 78.000000
Resolution = 1024 768
SFXVolume = 80.000000
ScrollFactor = 64
SendDelay = no
ShaderLOD = Low
ShadowLOD = Low
StaticGameLOD = Custom
TerrainLOD = Medium
TextureQualityLOD = High
TimesInGame = 59
UseEAX3 = no
VoiceVolume = 69.000000
WaterLOD = Medium

And don't forget the empy Maps folder."



"for everyone that has tried everything posted in this thread, but still cant get their game to work, try this. do a search in windows for ".ini" and look for a file that looks like a text file but with a little gear on it. copy that, paste it in C:\Users\(your user name here) \AppData\Roaming\My Battle for Middle-earth(tm) II Files, rename the .ini file to "Options" and delete everything in it and paste all of this in it:

AllHealthBars = yes
AmbientVolume = 81.000000
AnimationLOD = High
AudioLOD = Low
Brightness = 50
DecalLOD = High
EffectsLOD = Medium
FlashTutorial = 0
GameSpyIPAddress =
HasSeenLogoMovies = yes
IdealStaticGameLOD = Low
ModelLOD = Medium
MovieVolume = 70.000000
MusicVolume = 78.000000
Resolution = 1024 768
SFXVolume = 80.000000
ScrollFactor = 64
SendDelay = no
ShaderLOD = Low
ShadowLOD = Low
StaticGameLOD = Custom
TerrainLOD = Medium
TextureQualityLOD = High
TimesInGame = 59
UseEAX3 = no
VoiceVolume = 69.000000
WaterLOD = Medium

save that and then create the empty "Maps" folder as described in the first post and you should be good to go. this is the only method that worked for me and let me past that damned splash screen"
............This did not fully work untill I copied an .ini file and recreated it, also when you do that do not include.ini in the Options title!