Hi Brian,
Thank you for your kind words!
Let's look a the hardware this time, but first, let's go over all the
driver and DirectX instructions again, in case a step was missed.
1. 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
2. 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
3. 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 card,
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.
4. 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.
--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S.
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
Game FAQs:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite:
http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call / Contact
MS Support at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
| Jimmy,
|
| I tried everything you suggested, but I still get pauses
| in the middle of the action on games such as Nascar
| Thunder 2004, Call of Duty, FIFA 2004, Freelancer, etc.
| Do you think DirectX 9.0b or Windows SP1 might be causing
| the problems? If you have any other steps I could try,
| please let me know. And thanks for the first response, I
| know you are a MVP for good reasons.
|
| Brian
|
|
| >-----Original Message-----
| >Hi Brian,
| >
| >I read your post, and it seems you've tried the first 5
| steps
| >I usually recommend for common gaming issues. Lets try
| the
| >rest of the software checks before examining your
| hardware.
| >
| >6. 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,
| >and they often have a link to a KB article you can read
| for the solution.
| >
| >7. 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
| >Here's a tip: Set the pagefile to it's own partition or
| hard drive if possible.
| >References:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php is a good
| site about this as is:
| >
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/columns/mcfe
| dries/03june16.asp
| >
| >8. Click Start / Run / then type: sfc /scannow and
| press ENTER
| >to replace any damaged system files -or- 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 while
| >testing the game after each update, in case an update
| caused the problem.
| >
| >9. 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.
| >
| >10. If you don't have enough space for step 9, 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.
| >
| >Hopefully that solved the problem. If not, let me know
| and we'll continue.
| >
| >--
| >Cheers, Windows XP MVP
| Shell / User
| >Jimmy S.
|
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
| >
| >Game FAQs:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?
| scid=FH;[LN];gms
| >Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite:
|
http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call / Contact
| >MS Support at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?
| scid=sz;en-us;top
| >My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I
| confer any rights.
| >_________________________________________________________
| >
| > | >| I have looked in the newsgroup and can't find the answer
| >| to my problem.
| >|
| >| I have tried everything suggested , but still I get
| pauses
| >| in the middle of games. The games affected all used to
| >| work just fine up until about a week ago.
| >|
| >| I have defragged, virus checked, updated drivers, did
| all
| >| the windows updates, turned off all non-essential
| >| background programs, etc., but still the games do not
| run
| >| correctly.
| >|
| >| This is what happens: Ex. Call to Duty
| >|
| >| Start to play, and all goes good for approx. 5 minutes.
| >| Then the game starts to slow down, and eventually after
| >| approx. 5 seconds, the game stops. (Like walking in
| >| molasses - slower and slower then can't go on). After
| >| another approx. 7-10 seconds, the game resumes like
| >| nothing happened. then the cycle begins again.
| >|
| >| I am running a Compaq 1.7Mhz with 80M drive and Windows
| XP
| >| with DirectX 9.0b. GeForce 2 64MB video card.
| >|
| >| Again, all the games affected were working fine up until
| >| about a week ago. I have not changed anything, so I
| know
| >| it's not the video card.
| >|
| >| Any help would be appreciated.
| >|
| >| Brian
| >
| >
| >.
| >
