XP Crashing in Games. Is this going to be Resolved?

[Greg]

Okay, here are the specs on my system. I hope somebody
reads this since alot have already replied---

CPU - Athlon XP 2000+ 1.7ghz
Mobo - MSI KT3 Ultra-2 w/Updated BIOS
Mem - At first, 1 stick 256ddr PC2100 CORSAIR mem.
Later - 1 Stick 256ddr PC2100 ECC Corsair Mem &
1 stick 256ddr PC2100 ECC Simpletech Mem.
HD - MAXTOR 7200rmp 40GB Hd
PSU - ANTEC 430watt
Soundcard - Sound Blaster AUDIGY - Gamer
Video Card - AOpen Nvidia GeForce4 MX440 64meg DDR.

Now I'm not Overclocking anything and my system stays
pretty cool as far as I can tell. I do have it set in my
bios though for the warning on my CPU temp at 75 degrees
Celcius. The fan on my CPU is the original that came with
my chip. I tried pulling out the two ECC sticks & using
the original but the same things happen. Also the games I
played originally were the Demos of Battlefield 1942,
Devestation, & Medal of Honor - Allied Assault. I also
have the full version to Half Life & Counterstrike.. they
crash now along with the others but usually my computer
simply reboots out of nowhere. Also, when my games
crash.. the sound distorts for a brief second and
EVERYTHING freezes.. no ctrl alt del, no nothing. Have to
reset it. It is a royal pain & i'm not sure what to do.
Haven't tried that Memtest.. how does it work?

Thanks -Greg

 

[Chris H.]

Greg, seemingly random reboots and oddball error messages of failures when
"brain power" is required is a sign of RAM problems. I'd run with one
memory stick and see if you're still having problems. Windows XP is highly
sensitive to mismatched RAM. They may seem the same, but what you've listed
aren't. Just a minor difference in the timing will result in errors.

 

[Greg]

-----Original Message-----
Greg, seemingly random reboots and oddball error messages of failures when
"brain power" is required is a sign of RAM problems. I'd run with one
memory stick and see if you're still having problems. Windows XP is highly
sensitive to mismatched RAM. They may seem the same, but what you've listed
aren't. Just a minor difference in the timing will

result in errors.


Well.. I did run Memtest86 with just my original stick of
Non ECC ram and it passed all tests. When I updated the
Bios, I made sure that everything was set to the default
settings & then reset it back to what it was. I didn't
change anything under DRAM timing.. so I don't get it. I
will check again when I get home, at work now. Is there
anything else I can look into?? Everything I have in my
computer is not even a year old since I bought
it.. ..Also, two other things.. When I try to run
Checkdisk in windows either in the Command prompt or under
My Computer - C: drive - Properties - Tools.. it keeps
saying that it cannot lock the drive because it is in use
by another program.. I don't know which one it is & i know
i didn't set it to do so. Any help would be
appreciative.. I'm desperate to get this resolved any way
possible. Thanks Chris.. & Happy 4th of July!

==Greg

 

[Greg]

Oh.. I forgot to add.. In CounterStrike, the computer
randomly reboots.. but under Any other game, including
Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Full Game) the sound makes
a "krrck" sound & the whole game freezes. No error
messages, nothing under the Admin Options under
Applications. ... Really strange isn't it? One error
that DO see in Applications is a program called DCOM (I
think) it constantly errors every time I start my computer
but I don't know what it is. Thank you!

-Greg

 

[Greg]

Okay, I will try that.. but only one problem I think. When
I do set it to scan on boot, it only goes to level 3 and
then starts up windows. The only time I've EVER seen it go
past that was when I had Norton System Works schedule a
Scan.. then it went through all the checks. Just one other
thing, my File System is NTFS.. in case that changes
anything. I do appreciate the help you're giving.. I need
someone that can give me things to try. Also, I was
using two sticks at the start.. but then I went to my 1
stick and problems still occur. .. If you know anything I
might want to check in the BIOS, or where I can look up
info on how to set it.. lemme know pls. Thank you!

 

[Chris H.]

Could you in future posts please quote the post to which you're responding?
It makes it much easier to follow the thread.

Okay, you mentioned Norton. Do you have it set to do a boot scan? Try
uninstalling it and see if you're having the same system problems. Norton
has a way of fouling things up.

 

[Doug G.]

Oh.. I forgot to add.. In CounterStrike, the computer
randomly reboots.. but under Any other game, including
Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Full Game) the sound makes
a "krrck" sound & the whole game freezes. No error
messages, nothing under the Admin Options under
Applications. ... Really strange isn't it? One error
that DO see in Applications is a program called DCOM (I
think) it constantly errors every time I start my computer
but I don't know what it is. Thank you!

-Greg

Do you have the latest Hyperion 4in1 drivers v4.48 installed?
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=300

Have you ever posted your system, and CPU temps here?

Pickup CPU Burn from here http://users.ev1.net/~redelm/ Run the
program you use to check your system temps in one corner so that you can
watch it, and run CPU Burn from a DOS box at the same time. What does
you CPU temp get to after about five minutes of running this?

Doug