So those of you (most likely users who bought Cod2 through steam and own a Windows 7 - Windows 8.1 PC), here is a short description of what you should do in order to fix it.

Okay so this is what you have to do.
Navigate to your "C:\Program Files\Steam\" folder and find the files "Steam.dll" and "Steam2.dll", copy and paste both of those ".dll" files into this location.

"C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\Common\Call of Duty 2\"

So in the end of this process. You should have "Steam.dll" and "Steam2.dll" inside your Call of Duty 2 folder.

IMPORTANT: Only copy and paste! NOT MOVE.
PS.I.: On any concern, some users may not have both Steam.dll and Steam2.dll, for some reason I have found that each person has either one or both files. Dont worry if you dont have both. Its not manditory if you only have the first Steam.dll.

Simply put.

A. If you have Steam.dll but not Steam2.dll, not worry nothing is wrong and it should still work. Vise Versa.
B. If you have both Steam.dll and Steam2.dll, copying one of those files over will not work. You will need to copy both Steam.dll and Steam2.dll

I hope my short tutorial helps any of you in need!

- Church

Possible Origin Found

So after upgrading my pc and reinstalling said favorite games I looked more closely in the detail of how to get Cod2 to run correctly. This is just my personal opinion however these are the steps I took to resolve my issues.

Running OS: Windows 10
Problems: Frozen Black Screen / Crashing

Steps I took to resolve my issues.

1. Copied Steam.dll and Steam2.dll to the main folder of Call of Duty 2.
2. Changed the Compatibility to Windows XP (SP2).
3. Set the Cod2MP_s.exe in properties to run in Administrator Mode.
4. Bypassed Steam by Creating a Cod2MP_S.exe shortcut and putting it on the desktop.

After all 4 steps I minimized steam and double clicked my shortcut on the desktop and it prompted me to run in administrator mode and Cod2MP started up immediately.

Thanks for Commenting and Reading my Post!

- Church/MxRoast

EDIT: 02/03/2023

If your having the issue with starting the Multiplayer game, and the screen stays black for a prolonged period of time before eventually entering the menu. Go to "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\Common\Call of Duty 2\" and right click "Cod2_mp.exe" and click "Create Desktop Shortcut".

Running the game from the shortcut should resolve this issue.

Thanks for reading!
Frag On!
-Wilslee\Chief