Games refuse to play ball

[Nancy]

Games that used to run fine have now started acting up, they all seem to
minimise themselves to the taskbar upon starting, clicking them on them to
restore results in the blank screen although the opening music can be heard
until within a couple of seconds they've minimised to taskbar again. I've
tried system restore to a time when I know they were working but it hasn't
cured the problem
The games in question are Tiger Woods 2004, The Sims + add on packs and Lord
of the Rings - War of the Ring, all say my system has the specified
requirements to play them.
I've tried the game websites and have been offered a few tips but none have
yet proved successful, I have been told to reformat but apart from the
gaming my PC is running perfectly.
My PC specs are:-
Windows XP Pro
Athlon 1GH Processor
768Mb sdram
GeForce 2 mx400 32mb Graphics card
Creative Live Platinum Sound card
1024 x 768 32 bit colour resolution, also tried 800 x 600 and 640 x 480 to
no avail

Can anyone offer any advice on what is going wrong and how to cure it before
I tear the rest of my hair out.

Many thanks in advance

 

[Malke]

Games that used to run fine have now started acting up, they all seem
to minimise themselves to the taskbar upon starting, clicking them on
them to restore results in the blank screen although the opening music
can be heard until within a couple of seconds they've minimised to
taskbar again. I've tried system restore to a time when I know they
were working but it hasn't cured the problem
The games in question are Tiger Woods 2004, The Sims + add on packs
and Lord of the Rings - War of the Ring, all say my system has the
specified requirements to play them.
I've tried the game websites and have been offered a few tips but none
have yet proved successful, I have been told to reformat but apart
from the gaming my PC is running perfectly.
My PC specs are:-
Windows XP Pro
Athlon 1GH Processor
768Mb sdram
GeForce 2 mx400 32mb Graphics card
Creative Live Platinum Sound card
1024 x 768 32 bit colour resolution, also tried 800 x 600 and 640 x
480 to no avail

What does a scan with a current antivirus program (meaning a version not
earlier than 2002 and using updated virus definitions) show? Also,
remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy from www.security.kolla.de
and Ad-aware from www.lavasoftusa.com. Be sure to update these programs
before running them. It is best to run antivirus and spyware removal
tools in Safe Mode.

Once you know your computer is clean, if the problems with the games
persist, please post back. Be sure to tell us what you've already done
to troubleshoot.

Malke

 

[Rusty]

What does a scan with a current antivirus program (meaning a version not

earlier than 2002 and using updated virus definitions) show? Also,
remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy from www.security.kolla.de
and Ad-aware from www.lavasoftusa.com. Be sure to update these programs
before running them. It is best to run antivirus and spyware removal
tools in Safe Mode.

Once you know your computer is clean, if the problems with the games
persist, please post back. Be sure to tell us what you've already done
to troubleshoot.

Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"

Thanks for replying I have a fully up to date Norton AV 2004 and Adaware pro
6, both are used regularly so I don't think a virus or spyware is to blame.

 

[Malke]

Rusty wrote:

Thanks for replying I have a fully up to date Norton AV 2004 and
Adaware pro 6, both are used regularly so I don't think a virus or
spyware is to blame.

That's why it is nice to give a full description of the problem and what
has been done in the *first* posting. That's not a particularly beefy
video card, and maybe it's just not up to the job. It *should* be, but
maybe it's not - certainly the LOTR game would do better with a
stronger card. Even so, perhaps your video card's fan is failing. Open
the machine and observe all the fans - see what is going on with the
hardware.

Malke