I stopped playing D3, and it's been less than one month.
I played D2 for close to a year,
I don't think i'll be playing D3 again,
thinking about reinstalling d2
I tried that the other day, but it wouldn't run on windows 7, even in compatability mode. Is there some sort of patch or workaround?
The thing about Vista and Win7 is UAC (User Access Control). It restricts user and programmatic access to files and functions. In particular, "Program Files" (and its 64-bit version) are protected.
Programs by default running as a normal user, even when your user account is an administrator. The program has to be "elevated" to gain administrative access rights. To elevate there will be the UAC dialog, ask you for permission, and if you are not logged in as administrator, you need to enter administrator credentials first. That means user is always notified of the elevation - so if a program gains access, it is you that approved it.
Diablo 2 places its save file inside its installation directory. If you install D2 inside program files, then D2 won't be able to save, or even operate normally (e.g. it needs to update some config files first).
No, I'm not suggesting you turn UAC off. That's compromising your systems security.
You should instead do either:
1. Install D2 outside of Program Files;
2. In shortcut to start D2, press the Advanced button and tick "Run as administrator".
I prefer option 1 myself, so you don't give D2 any extra access rights when it's not required.