More problems - installing games

[MetallichicA]

Sorry for ONE MORE thread on this sort of thing, but it's impossible to troubleshoot with Microsoft or even the internet.

I installed Deus Ex on the new computer (it's got Windows XP). I got through all the settings and everything, and then went to the training mission to see if it was all ok. I got about halfway through it, and then it just quit and Windows gave me a fatal error message (no blue screen, just a window). Tried again, and the same thing happened, this time when I went to START the training mission. So I uninstalled it.

Then, I figured I'd try a different game, so I tried to install Unreal Tourney. It got to about 95% and crashed. The computer rebooted itself, and told me there was a fatal error, do I want to send a report, blah blah. The program didn't show up on the Remove Programs list (obviously) so I deleted its folder. Tried installing again, and the exact same thing happened. This time, I tried opening up the program from its folder. It got through the splash screen, and went into its intro video. About five seconds into that, it quit and gave me an error message.


What could be happening here? I tried the compatability wizard with Unreal, and it hung on the Unreal splash screen.

Thanks AGAIN heh. Sorry I keep bugging you all with this stuff, but sadly we know more about computers than most of the people we know here. :rolleyes:

[Schismx]

Are you using the default WinXP video drivers? If so, go to the NVidia(?) site and download the latest ones.

In fact, update drivers for all your hardware, if you haven't already done so.

[MetallichicA]

Does that relate to why I can't even fully install Unreal though?

[Atmo]

Does sound like a driver issue.

If you havent already installed it, install XP service pack 1 (http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/pro/downloads/servicepacks/sp1/default.asp) and run windows update.

Then install the latest stable Via 4in1 drivers (http://downloads.viaarena.com/drivers/4in1/VIA_4in1_443v.zip).

Then download the latest whql compliant Nvidia drivers (currently 40.72) http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=winxp-2k_40.72

If you installed the drivers for the onboard sound etc. that come on the cd with the motherboard it should be fine, but there may be an update available.

If you've installed the MSI live update software (also on the cd) it will let you know if there are any updates.

Also, there may be patches available for the games you're trying to run.

[Atmo]

Also, if you want to stop it from rebooting automatically (so you can see wtf is acting up), head over to control panel > system > advanced > startup and recovery > settings > untick 'automatically restart'.

To remove those annoying messages, go to error reporting (still in control panel > system > advanced ) tick 'disable error reporting' and 'but notify me when critical errors occur'.

Once you've done that, if it crashes you'll see the stop error screen (bsod), and you can see whats causing it.

[MetallichicA]

Ummm, forgot to let you know we got the computer all worked out. Started wondering if the FSB speed was set too high... we lowered it in BIOS and everything works smoothly now :) I still hate Windows XP though lol. Thanks again y'all!

[n_ick2000]

That's good that it works now, I suppose. Were you overclocking the FSB? If I have been doing my research right, if you underclock the FSB, that not only effects the CPU speed but everything else (for example the PCI bus speed) because they use the FSB as a reference for the speed. So, that would make it a huge bottle neck.

[MetallichicA]

We thought the FSB on this processor was 266, so we had it set to that. Nothing was overheating or anything like that, though. Once we knocked it down, the computer worked perfectly. Before, every time we booted up it told us it had "recovered from a serious error". Games wouldn't install or run, and we kept getting the BSOD every time we tried to do anything.