First of all, download a file from here (all credit goes to tomsons26)
http://www.moddb.com/downloads/proper-windows-7-fix-for-act-of-war

****But here's the thing, the guide is somewhat misleading so do not follow the guide there, instead, do this :
Ignore the EugLoadingBar the guide told you to, set only the ActofWar.exe in Vista SP1 compatibility mode
Apply the dll you downloaded from there.

Then you should be able to run the game, HOWEVER -> some people may experience another error caused by the "Run as Admin?", if this happens to you, try unchecking the "run as administrator" box in ActofWar.exe, if it still doesn't work you will have to try fiddle around with your Windows Security options, If you can get rid of the question box, the game should be able to run without problems.


Known problems:
- There are 3 startup errors that I know of, one is called Runtime error 217, the other one is "Application already running" and the last one related to "kernel32.dll"
My solution can only fix the first 2 problems, if you followed my guides and get kernel32.dll error I am afraid I don't know how to help you.
- Some audio bugs in game.


Please spread this info to your friends as well if they can't get the game running, they need to know this, hopefully with this guide it can be more visible to you people.