Hi MrGBojangles,
Your good video drivers might have been replaced or corrupted...
Updating video card drivers can solve most gaming issues. Here's some
simple abc's to always keep in mind. a. Shut off download accelerators,
firewalls and antivirus programs when downloading or installing updates;
b. Check for game patches:
www.avault.com/pcrl/patches_list.asp?letter=a
c. Make sure you meet the game's minimum video and system requirements;
d. Check for known issues with your video card at the game's web site.
1. Before you update your drivers, I recommend that you update DirectX
from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx
Here are the steps I recommend you use to update your driver. If you've
never done this before I recommend you also look over the Installation hints
and Release Notes both of which are linked to from their download page.
2. Download the latest drivers from:
www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
3. Save the .exe driver in My Documents\My Drivers\nVidia
4. Restart the computer in Safe Mode by pressing the F8 key
about once every second as it's rebooting to pick Safe Mode.
5. Click Start / (settings) Control Panel / System / Hardware
Device Manager / expand +Display Adapters / right click on
the adapter, pick "Uninstall", and click No if asked to reboot.
6. Use Control Panel / Add-Remove programs to uninstall the
previous driver (exe)software which may have been installed.
7. Restart the computer in Safe Mode by pressing the F8 key
about once every second as it's rebooting to pick Safe Mode.
8. If Windows prompts you to install the adapter, click "Cancel".
9. Double click the nVidia driver we saved to My Documents\My
Drivers\nVidia folder in step 3 to install.it. If it complains about
Windows Logo Certification just click "Continue". This is normal.
10. After you reboot, go to Control Panel / Display / Settings and
choose 32 bit Color Quality, and 800x600 or higher Resolution.
TROUBLESHOOTING:
Test your drivers using DXDiag: Click Start / Run / type: DXDIAG
Click the "Test" buttons in the Display, Sound, Music & Network Tabs;
If any of the Display options are Disabled and you cannot Enable them,
your most likely solution would be to update your Chipset Drivers as per
my website:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Video.html#v11
Your program might not support dual monitors, or "dual head" video cards
You can disable the extra video output in your display properties control
panel. Click Start>Settings>Control Panel>Display>Settings>Advanced.
Along with your Video card, Sound Cards, Motherboard Chipsets,
and Video Monitors may also require updated drivers. Even your
motherboard's BIOS may need to be updated for compatibility with
your Video card. These steps are listed at:
http://NibblesNbitsVideo.tk
Perhaps the old Nvidia drivers did not completely uninstall. If that's the
case, use this utility to completely uninstall the drivers and go to step 7:
http://content.guru3d.com/index.php?page=detonatorrip&menu=0
The latest video drivers sometime don't work with a particular game.
(Check the Video suggestions in the readme.txt file in your game folder/CD)
If there's no suggestions, try an older (WHQL) driver, and/or if you still
experience problems try a Beta driver, or even an Omega driver instead:
BETA Drivers:
http://download.guru3d.com/
OMEGA Drivers:
http://www.omegadrivers.net
There you have it, if you have any questions feel free to post them!
--
Cheers, Windows_XP_MVP_Shell/User
Jimmy S.
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
Visit my MSN Zone.com and Gaming Help Site:
http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits
MS Games Help and Support Center:
http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
MrGBojangles Wrote:
=================
| I have a GForce 4 card that came with my Dell about 4 years ago. The
| grandkids have played Midtown Madness just about that long with no
| problems. Suddenly about 2 weeks ago the game started acting up.
| Symptoms are very slow, nearly glacial, loading of game. Never really
| loads fully after it zips through the preliminary car selection etc
| with no problem. Then it hangs...and hangs...and hangs...
| The only way to get ot is to manually hit the power switch.
|
| I also noticed that Allied Assult does the same thing now so I don't
| think its that MM game itself.
|
| The grandchildren are getting anxious and so am I. Does anyone know
| why this would suddenly happen. I have not changes any settings etc
| and the kids are always supervised so I've ruled out any mischief.
|
| Any help is greatly appreciated.
|
| Cheers,
| Bojangles
