Hi Maria,
What did the techs at the manufactures site have you do?
I'm going to assume that they checked all your drivers, and
settings and confirmed that their game is also XP compatible,
yet tried installing it using the different compatibility modes...
Since they checked the obvious, let's troubleshoot other issues.
Rather than go through one step per post with you, I find it's
best to present all the troubleshooting steps I use in one post.
Start with the first one, and post back if you have any questions!
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/startup_pages/startup_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
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.
References:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php is a good site about this as is:
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/columns/mcfedries/03june16.asp
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. 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.
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.
_________________________________________________________
| I posted this message lst week and I have yet to get a
| reply.
|
| Subject: Software Conflict
| From: "Maria Adams" <
[email protected]> Sent:
| 9/10/2003 4:44:24 PM
|
|
|
|
| Two weeks ago I purchase one of Jumpstart's Educational
| games for our daughter. After installing the program and
| clicking on play I couldn't the program ro run. This
| window kept poping up each time that I tried to run the
| program.
|
| Atlas Runtime Module: Atlas Runtime Module has
| encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry
| for the inconvenience etc....Please tell Microsoft about
| this problem.
|
| In order to install this game you have to change the
| settings to 640x480 or whichever is the lowest plus 16-
| bit. I have worked with the company of the Jum Start
| products, but they recommended that I make contact with
| you on this matter. They were not able to help me. This
| is the first time that I have had a problem with one of
| their games. The name of the game is Study
| Helpers/Spelling Bee.
|
|
