Hi Jimmy,
Here's the solutions that have worked for that type of issue so far.
The only things we haven't completed yet are parts of #1 and #4
Hardware issues can cause freezing, black screens and other
errors. Also, your drivers should always be kept up to date.
Try the following steps one at a time to try and resolve the issue.
I hope this helps. Please post back if you have any questions!
1. 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
2. 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 Motherboard Monitor Utility:
http://mbm.livewiredev.com
3. A faulty power supply can cause STOP errors, random reboots,
and black screen lockups. One way to test for that is to check the
wattage sticker on your power supply and then calculate your need
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/ (Min. 350 for gaming)
4. Test your RAM using:
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
--
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.
_________________________________________________________
Jimmy Wrote:
=================
| thanks for the help Jimmy but i had already tried all of this stuff, i
| upgraded the drivers for the card to the latest right after i formatted and
| reinstalled xp. i have DX 9.0c and all the games are usually up to date. my
| bios is at the latest but i will try the other bits
|
| im positive it isnt the power supply as when i upgraded the rest i got a new
| case complete with 400W PSU and as for cooling i have 2 fans in the case 1
| on the card and another fan in the PSU that only goes on if it needs too
| || Hi Thomas Kuck,
||
|| Agreed.
|| Folks seem to want to try software solutions first though. ;-)
||
|| Cheers,
|| Jimmy.
||
|| Thomas Kuck Wrote:
|| =================
||| Hi JS,
|||
||| overheating or insufficient power supply comes to mind. Might want to
||| give the guy the run down on it.
|||
||| Jimmy S. wrote:
|||| Hi Jimmy,
||||
|||| 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!
||||
||||
||||
|||
|||
||| ---
||| avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
||| Virus Database (VPS): 0610-0, 03/06/2006
||| Tested on: 3/8/2006 8:50:32 AM
||| avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software.
|||
http://www.avast.com
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