Re: Games freezing/ forcing reboot in win xp pro

Hi Jbloom,

Rather than give you one step at a time, I'm going to give you
my entire list, so you can know the steps ahead of time.

Start with the first step on the list, and if you have any questions
please feel free to ask them before continuing. Good luck! :-)

1. To see if it's a software conflict: Temporarily disable Startup
programs one at a time, starting with Firewall, Antivirus, and ad
blockers using: http://new.jtsoft2001.com/windows/startup.php

You can lookup what a program does before you disable it here:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startu...tartup_full.htm

2. Run a virus scan at: http://housecall.antivirus.com Afterwards
Download & Run Spybot from: http://security.kolla.de to find any
Trojans, Adware, or Spyware which could clog up your system.

3. Click My Computer / Rightclick the Drive & Choose Properties
/ Run the "Disk Cleanup..." / Next Click the "Tools" Tab and run
the "Error-Checking" and "Defragmentation" utilities.

4. Go to the Windows Update site for everything under Critical and
Recommended: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
Except: Q811943 which reportedly may cause systems to slowdown.

5. Update DirectX and your Chipset, Sound, &Video Drivers:
For all Video / DirectX / Game and Hardware Issues, I have a
Checklist of Solutions at: http://NibblesNbitsVideo.tk

6. Dust your fans, vents and components using a 1/4" paintbrush
and a hose vacuum. Use compressed air for hard to reach places.
Set a housefan to blow cold air into your case to expose an over-
heating issue.. If it works add more fans or replace defective ones.
Use this Mainboard Monitoring Utility: http://mbm.livewiredev.com

7. A faulty power supply can cause STOP errors, random reboots,
and black screen lockups. One way to test for that is to remove all
extra devices, network cards, extra RAM sticks, modem, scussi,
sound card, unplug CD drives (if not needed to verify CD), and then
try the game again. If the problem is solved look into a 400 watt P/S.

8. Test your RAM using: http://www.memtest86.com/memt30.zip
after you extract that zip file, click on the README.txt file for the
instructions on how to create the boot floppy to test your RAM.
* Allow Windows to control your pagefile at a "system managed size".
Be sure there's enough space for the pagefile size to = 1.5 * your RAM
Bonus Tip: Set the pagefile to it's own partition or hard drive if possible.

9. Click Start / Control Panel /Administrative Tools / Event Viewer /
Click the Applications listing on the left / in the right pane look for
yellow or red symbols and doubleclick them to identify any problems.

10. Run Setup.exe on your Windows 98/Me/XP/2000 CD to reinstall
Windows over itself without erasing your programs and data. Once
everything works fine reinstall updates one at a time from:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com test the game after each update.

11. If you have room on one of your partitions, use it to install another
clean installation of Windows which you can gradually update with the
appropriate chipset, video, and sound drivers, as well as Direct X, but
with no extras including themes, firewalls, antivirus, etc. You may have
to reinstall the game(s) for use with that partition, but it's well worth it.

12. If you don't have enough space for step 10 I suggest you at least
create a new administrators account with no themes, firewall, antivirus,
or any other software or startup programs installed for that account. If
this solves the problem, then you should switch over to the new account.

--
Cheers,
Jimmy S.

Additional Support Resources: My Zone.com Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk
Microsoft Online Tech Support: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=376
Game FAQ's: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________

"J. Bloom" <jbloom01@rochester.rr.com> wrote in message
news:071e01c341d5$6f38d1a0$a101280a@phx.gbl...
| Hi, I play an OpenGL based game called NeverwinterNights
| on my win xp pro pc, and it freezes/forces reboot every
| time I play now. How this happens is I will be playing
| anywhere from 1-2 minutes to @ an hour and the game will
| freeze at the last valid screen. The sound continues on
| in the background for a while and I am unable to end task
| on the application as I cannot get back to the desktop
| even using the windows key.
| I have sp 1 and all important windows updates
| installed. Direct x version 9a. Asus Cuvx Mobo w/ p31GB
| processor. 768MB ram. GeForceTi4200 agp card w/ driver
| version 43.45 (I've tried many versions) New via chipset
| drivers are installed. Soundblaster pci 128 sound card.
| (latest drivers). 450W power supply. Cpu running at @ 35
| deg C.
| Ran mem86 ram test and got no errors. I've flashed my
| bios, reinstalled the game, tried standard pc mode
| install to manually set IRQ's. Nothing seems to work.
| HELP!

Glad to be of service! :-)

"Jimmy S." <Private> wrote in message news:OIKbZggQDHA.1564@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
| Hi Jbloom,
|
| Rather than give you one step at a time, I'm going to give you
| my entire list, so you can know the steps ahead of time.
|
| Start with the first step on the list, and if you have any questions
| please feel free to ask them before continuing. Good luck! :-)
|
| 1. To see if it's a software conflict: Temporarily disable Startup
| programs one at a time, starting with Firewall, Antivirus, and ad
| blockers using: http://new.jtsoft2001.com/windows/startup.php
|
| You can lookup what a program does before you disable it here:
| http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startu...tartup_full.htm
|
| 2. Run a virus scan at: http://housecall.antivirus.com Afterwards
| Download & Run Spybot from: http://security.kolla.de to find any
| Trojans, Adware, or Spyware which could clog up your system.
|
| 3. Click My Computer / Rightclick the Drive & Choose Properties
| / Run the "Disk Cleanup..." / Next Click the "Tools" Tab and run
| the "Error-Checking" and "Defragmentation" utilities.
|
| 4. Go to the Windows Update site for everything under Critical and
| Recommended: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
| Except: Q811943 which reportedly may cause systems to slowdown.
|
| 5. Update DirectX and your Chipset, Sound, &Video Drivers:
| For all Video / DirectX / Game and Hardware Issues, I have a
| Checklist of Solutions at: http://NibblesNbitsVideo.tk
|
| 6. Dust your fans, vents and components using a 1/4" paintbrush
| and a hose vacuum. Use compressed air for hard to reach places.
| Set a housefan to blow cold air into your case to expose an over-
| heating issue.. If it works add more fans or replace defective ones.
| Use this Mainboard Monitoring Utility: http://mbm.livewiredev.com
|
| 7. A faulty power supply can cause STOP errors, random reboots,
| and black screen lockups. One way to test for that is to remove all
| extra devices, network cards, extra RAM sticks, modem, scussi,
| sound card, unplug CD drives (if not needed to verify CD), and then
| try the game again. If the problem is solved look into a 400 watt P/S.
|
| 8. Test your RAM using: http://www.memtest86.com/memt30.zip
| after you extract that zip file, click on the README.txt file for the
| instructions on how to create the boot floppy to test your RAM.
| * Allow Windows to control your pagefile at a "system managed size".
| Be sure there's enough space for the pagefile size to = 1.5 * your RAM
| Bonus Tip: Set the pagefile to it's own partition or hard drive if possible.
|
| 9. Click Start / Control Panel /Administrative Tools / Event Viewer /
| Click the Applications listing on the left / in the right pane look for
| yellow or red symbols and doubleclick them to identify any problems.
|
| 10. Run Setup.exe on your Windows 98/Me/XP/2000 CD to reinstall
| Windows over itself without erasing your programs and data. Once
| everything works fine reinstall updates one at a time from:
| http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com test the game after each update.
|
| 11. If you have room on one of your partitions, use it to install another
| clean installation of Windows which you can gradually update with the
| appropriate chipset, video, and sound drivers, as well as Direct X, but
| with no extras including themes, firewalls, antivirus, etc. You may have
| to reinstall the game(s) for use with that partition, but it's well worth it.
|
| 12. If you don't have enough space for step 10 I suggest you at least
| create a new administrators account with no themes, firewall, antivirus,
| or any other software or startup programs installed for that account. If
| this solves the problem, then you should switch over to the new account.
|
| --
| Cheers,
| Jimmy S.
|
| Additional Support Resources: My Zone.com Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk
| Microsoft Online Tech Support: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=376
| Game FAQ's: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
| My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
| _________________________________________________________
|
| "J. Bloom" <jbloom01@rochester.rr.com> wrote in message
| news:071e01c341d5$6f38d1a0$a101280a@phx.gbl...
| | Hi, I play an OpenGL based game called NeverwinterNights
| | on my win xp pro pc, and it freezes/forces reboot every
| | time I play now. How this happens is I will be playing
| | anywhere from 1-2 minutes to @ an hour and the game will
| | freeze at the last valid screen. The sound continues on
| | in the background for a while and I am unable to end task
| | on the application as I cannot get back to the desktop
| | even using the windows key.
| | I have sp 1 and all important windows updates
| | installed. Direct x version 9a. Asus Cuvx Mobo w/ p31GB
| | processor. 768MB ram. GeForceTi4200 agp card w/ driver
| | version 43.45 (I've tried many versions) New via chipset
| | drivers are installed. Soundblaster pci 128 sound card.
| | (latest drivers). 450W power supply. Cpu running at @ 35
| | deg C.
| | Ran mem86 ram test and got no errors. I've flashed my
| | bios, reinstalled the game, tried standard pc mode
| | install to manually set IRQ's. Nothing seems to work.
| | HELP!
|
|