Windows 7 GTA IV and a patched Windows 7 install

[blakegriplingph]

OK, so I tried patching 7 to remove the watermarks and stuff, and after that, I tried installing GTA IV, which ended up in a "not compatible" error. Tried the XP SP2 compatibility mode, but it displays a "setup has stopped working" message. A guy in this forum stated that reinstalling 7 to restore the nag messages solved his problem, but I don't want to spend another hour reinstalling the OS. Any suggestions?

EDIT: OK, so it turns out that there was a permission conflict or some sort after modifying the system files. I did practically everything to get rid of the problem, and I nearly wound up into reinstalling the whole operating system.

According to maxwin of Neowin Forums:

I think I have found the solution.

The crash is due to the wrong permission settings of the file "user32.dll" under "c:\windows\system32\" after the patch is applied.

You can still apply the patch to remove the watermark. Then you need to correct the permission of the file.

Go to "user32.dll", right click and select "Properties", under "Security" tab, correct the following permission settings.

System - only "read and execute" and "read"

Administrators - only "read and execute" and "read"

Users - only "read and execute" and "read"

TrustedInstaller - "Full Control"

File Owner - TrustedInstaller

Reminders: to add "TrustedInstaller", you need to type "NT Service\TrustedInstaller" without the quote.

You may either sticky or lock this topic for those users who want to get rid of the watermark, but don't want to end up having reduced functionality.