I guess the simple thing to check would be to make sure your graphics drivers are up to date, but assuming that doesn't help, There are two solutions I can think of that might work
Running the game in compatibility mode
- Navigate to the
.exe
file in the install location.
- Right-click the shortcut, and click 'Properties'
- Click the Compatibility Tab
- Check the box that says Run this program in compatibility mode for: and select Windows XP (Service Pack 3)
You can also try Run the Program as an Administrator as well.
Killing explorer before running the game
The other thing I sometimes find when running these old games in Windows 7/8, is that the taskbar seems to stuff them up somehow. You can also try killing explorer.exe
before starting the game.
I usually wrap the game's executable in a batch file that kills explorer, starts the game, and waits for it to finish, before starting explorer again. Here are the commands. Put these in a .bat file in the Halo install directory, and run this to launch the game:
@echo off
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
start /WAIT <halo executable name>.exe
start explorer.exe