Windows XP Direct Draw

[Lindafrose]

I have tried to play Sim City 4 tonight after a long break and find that it no longer works. I get a "cannot initialize Direct Draw" message. When I click the message the programme stalls with a CPU usage of 100%.
I have checked and updated the drivers but that hasn't helped at all.
I am absolutely not a techie and have just spent 3 hours reading the info on the net and not understanding a word of it.

Can anyone with a command of plain English help!!!!

My pc details are:
operating system Windows XP
Norton Firewall, A/V etc.
Broadband access
DirectX 9.0c
Driver Name nv4_disp.dll
Driver Description NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Driver Version 6.14.11.6921
Property Value
Physical Memory 512 MB Total, 189 MB Free

Is there anything else you need to know?

 

[Jason.369]

Tried reinstall DirectX 9? [Download Link]
Failing that ... don't suppose 'System Restore' is an option? See if that goes back far enough to restore to the time in which it was working?
Otherwise, I'm baffled. I've searched the Internet for a bit and discovered there's no certain way of resolving this. One person installed Beta drivers and that worked for him but I cannot seem to find any beta versions

 

[muckshifter]

The 'problem' is not so much DX but the nVidia drivers ... try updating them;


http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/winxp_169.21_whql_uk.html

Conduct a Google search for nv4_disp.dll problems.