No, I'm not. But it may be quicker than trying to figure out what is
corrupted.
If you are running SP2 on the hard drive but only have an SP1 cd then
you should make yourself an SP2 cd now. I use a program, nLite, to make
what is called a "slipstreamed" cd from the XP hologrammed cd and the
current service pack. It is easy (provided of course that you have a cd
burning program).
1. Download and install nLite.
http://www.nliteos.com/download.html
2. Download the SP2 package for IT Professionals. (save it to your
desktop where it is easy to find)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en
3. Following the guide on the nLite website as needed use your XP SP1
cd and the SP2 download to create a new XP SP2 cd image (.iso). Burn
the .iso file to cd as is.
Using the new cd, run the system file checker to see if that fixes your
issues.
Start>Run, type "cmd" in the Run Box and hit Enter.
At the prompt in the Command Window, type "sfc /scannow" and hit Enter.
SFC will ask for the XP cd and that's why you need the XP SP2 cd and not
your original XP SP1 cd. It will only replace system files that it
thinks might be corrupt.
If that doesn't do the job, then do a repair install.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx
A repair install will replace all your system files with good copies
without requiring you to reinstall your apps.
Clearly you're suggesting that this problem can only be fixed by
reinstalling Windows. I feared as much.
If something is amiss with this one game, why doesn't scandisk identify
and "repair" it?
Will a "repair install" relplace ALLWindows files? Return Windows SP1,
the original IE and WMP?
Before you do a reinstall, try a repair install instead so that you
don't have to reinstall all your apps and files.
The game is played many times every day, and the lockups occur at
roughly one week intervals. I have no problems with any other
computer functions.
I've swapped out the video drivers more than once. There are never
any events recorded. Dr. Watson finds no faults. I've run Scandisk
successfully.
I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling Windows games. To no avail.
This began happening regularly months ago. Must I reformat and
reinstall the entire OS? Can anyone suggest a cause--or a solution?