games lockup PC

games freeze, whether they are loaded from a page on the net, or loaded software...once they freeze, PC locks up



win98se
64 ram
pent II

 

Have you tried changing the hardware acceleration setting?

 

games lockup

Yeup! I turned up the acceleration, in fact, since i did that.......its worse!

I was wondering, if reformatting the harddrive wouldnt be a better idea? a few months back, when all my trubbles started..we had trubbles with our server on that pc, it runs like its 20 yrs old...im not sure if my daughter did something and was afraid to tell me, or if it was server related.....not too sure how to reformat, this pc, one from dell or with bells and whistles on it, i can....but this one was built for me....and im very leary bout reformatting, so much has been changed, and im not really even sure bout what i have in it anymore.....ugh! any help is greatly appreciated.......

kix

 

Have you tried turning the acceleration down? You say it runs like it's 20 years old. Do you run scandisk and defrag often?

I would hold off on reformatting right now. That seems a bit extreme. What game are you using when it freezes? What site are you viewing?

Hang in there, we should be able to find a solution.

 

pc freezes

HI Mike........thanks.......
Yep, i sure have, i had it almost alll the way down and the games wouldnt even play.....i have no trubble on my pc, or other pcs, so, i know its hers........

the game (s) im using are ....barbie games for girls....(secret agent), weakest link, and tonite.......elf balls.... no matter which game.......or site i play on.....they freeze......i cant use ctrl, alt delete to find the prog havin trubble. nor can i escape....the only way out is to crash the pc........ also, i know this pc, can and should show webcam abilities.....tho it doesnt ! wahhh!

i know this is probably something simple, that im overlooking....im not a wiz on the pc. but i can follow directions............(just dont take me into DOS, without Detailed intstrutctions )

Kix......

 

pc freeze

forgot to mention......i do run scandisk and defrag, the pc isnt on that often, (cuz of the way it runs) but when i do boot it up, i most all of the time DEF and SCANDSK, just did it today as a matter of fact, the temp folders are cleaned out also, and the trash is empty...

kix

 

Kix,

I haven't forgot you. I've just been trying to think of a solution for you. If you close all your programs except Explorer, through Ctrl-Alt-Delete, can you play the games and visit the sites? If so, one of those programs are the problem. You will then have to close one program at a time to find the culprit.

 

pc games freeze

hi.....i cant tell you how much i appreciate the help........
the only progz i have running are ....explorer and systray...i dont let very much load when i run any of my pc's. minimum is best, right? other than systray and explorer, the only other thing running is whatever game or site im on....if its on the net i that i play....then rnapp runs also.

tyia
kix

 

Problem sounds familiar.

Having the same problem both on and off the Net leads me to an IRQ conflict.

What do have for a Modem ?

If you have a PCI Modem it could be caused by a Conflict between it and the audio card and is locking up on the audio side.

Did the thing ever work properly and if so were any changes made just before things started hanging up ?

Or it could be just the the Audio card needs to be removed and re-installed. I had to do that AFTER I upgraded Directx to Directx7.

Do any games work if you try them before going online ? MY guess is no.


BillyBob

 

hi billybob


the modem i have is AOpen FM-PM 56K Speakerphone PCI Modem

no, i cant usually play any games for any length of time...they work for a bit, then they freeze the PC

the games work fine on other pcs, just not hers.

so i guess the answer is no, they never worked on her pc.

i do notice, sometimes.....her pages, on the net will hang. like,,,,,,,,,,,,show in sections. other times, her windows, when you try to move them, will duplicate themselves. till they either catch up.....or the pc locks up.

im at my wits end. i will try anything, as long as someone walks me thru it, opening it up? hmmmmm, im verrrrry leery there....i dont know what any of the parts look like.....to me, a piece of dust, could be a chip to you...........so......i tend to stay out of the guts of it. i was contemplating a site i heard about, that if you had a cam, they would give you on site tech help, but i cant remember the site addy.

thanks,,,, kix

 

OK folks what are your thoughs on this either being a confict with the modem or;

I am beginning to lean more toward a Video problem now.

What kind of a machine are we discussing here ?. The how to fix may well depend on it.

I myself had pretty much the same problem(s) with Win98 SE. I had to use ALL default ( the ones shipped with SE ) Video, Audio and mouse drivers to maintain any stability.

BillyBob

 

Here is Her PC

Main Board
Brand/Model System Manufacturer Product Name
Type Desktop
BIOS Award Software International, Inc. 4.51 PG 06/25/98
System Board First International Computer, Inc. VA-503+ PCB 1.X

Processor
Brand/Model AMD K6-2 with MultiMedia Extensions
Nominal Clock Speed 300 MHz
Measured Clock Speed 300 MHz
External Clock Speed 66 MHz
CPUID Information 0x058C 0x8021BF
CPU Load 1%
Level 1 Cache 64 KB
Level 2 Cache 1024 KB

Memory Configuration
RAM installed 64 MB
Windows RAM 64 MB
Total RAM slots 6
Available RAM slots 5
Max RAM module size 256 MB
Memory Type I
Level 1 Cache 64 KB
Level 2 Cache 1024 KB

Disk Drive Letters. Removable or floppies not listed.
Description Drive C
Partition format FAT32
Cluster size 4 KB
Drive label No Label
Size 8040 MB
Free space 6921 MB (86%)
Drive health OK
Last scan Sat Oct 27 2001 Sat Oct 27 2001
Data fragmentation 3%
File fragmentation 3%
Last defrag Sat Oct 27 2001 Sat Oct 27 2001
Junk files 84 MB (1%)
Cached speed 39.96 MB/s (107%)
Uncached speed 1.84 MB/s (92%)

Disk Drives
Drive letters C
Removable media No
Brand/Model GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE47
IDE details Master, DMA

Disk Controllers
Hard disk controllers on the system:
Vendor Product
(Standard hard disk drivers) Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
(Standard hard disk drivers) Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)
VIA Tech VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller

CD/DVD Drives
Here are the CD and DVD drives on the system:
Model Type Max Read Speed Max Write Speed
E-IDE CD-ROM 48X/TKU CD-ROM 8448 KB/s (48X) N/A

Video Board
Description
Brand/Model Trident 9440 PCI
Resolution 800x600 pixels
Colors 16 million
DirectX version 4.07.00.0700
OpenGL version 4.00
Acceleration options Enabled
Performance 1.81 MP/s (98% of 2 similar)

Windows Configuration
Description
Common Name Windows 98 SE
Full Version Windows 98 4.10.2222 A
First Install Wed Jan 24 2001
Free Resources 90%
Fonts Installed 41
Windows Scripting Version 5.0.531.7
CPU Load 1%
MaxPhysPage Limit No Limit
Min File Cache None
Max File Cache None
Swap File Status Enabled
Min Swap File None
Max Swap File None

Running Programs
These are the programs running at the time this computer was tested.

Description Application File Name
genius MouseMate Panel Unknown C:\GMM98\GMOUSE.EXE
Microsoft Internet Explorer Windows C:\PROGRA~1\INTERN~1\IEXPLORE.EXE
Windows Explorer Windows C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
Win32 Kernel core component Windows C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL
Multimedia background task support module Windows C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MMTASK.TSK
WIN32 Network Interface Service Process Windows C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
Windows 32-bit VxD Message Server Windows C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.EXE
Protected storage server Windows C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PSTORES.EXE
System Tray Applet Windows C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SysTray.Exe
WMI service exe housing Windows C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WMIEXE.EXE

PC Database
System AMD K6-2, 300MHz 15 500 MHz Processor
Memory 64 MB 20 256 MB
Disk 7.85 GB 27 10 GB
Video Resolution 800 x 600, 24-bit N/A 800x600, 16-bit


kix

 

Video Board
Description
Brand/Model Trident 9440 PCI
Resolution 800x600 pixels
Colors 16 million


DirectX version 4.07.00.0700
OpenGL version 4.00

This may be the POSSIBLE cause or part problem.

May need at least DX7.0a.

Acceleration options Enabled
Performance 1.81 MP/s (98% of 2 similar)

BillyBob

 

sooooooo, i have to replace the video board? if so, with what?

i hve to go offline for a bit, i will be back later.......if you wnt....you can add me to buddy list on any of the messengers, i have them all........please add this name....
thanks.......
kix

 

No. The video board dioes not need replacing.

Just Directx needs to be updated.
Directx files

 

pc games lockup..

Its been updated..........right after i started having the problems.

grrrrrrr.......i know,, like you, its something very simple, and i will feel soooo silly after the problem is fixed......it must be something were all overlooking...aside from me, paying the guy that built it, 75.00 per hour, plus parts.....i know it will be an easy fix....

kix

 

BillyBob,

Do you think an uninstall and reinstall of the video card and drivers would help? I'm running out of suggestions.

 

pc locks up

im at microsoft updates now, there is an update there for video, im taking it and will see what happens.......

i could try the card and drivers.......never had to do that before,,,,,how to do it, without messing it up? (hold my hand?)

kix

 

Do you think an uninstall and reinstall of the video card and drivers would help?

Could very well help.

I know Win98 has default drivers that work very well with the video card.

But, I had all kinds of Video problems ( with any card ) when using SE. SE did not seem to like any drivers other then the ones shipped with it. GGGRRRRRR !!!! Real big time PITA.

jessferkix

Two things that * MIGHT * help.

Boot Windows into the Safe Mode and remove the display Adapter(s) form the Device manager. Shut the machine down ( power off ) wait about 30 second and restart and let Window re-install the card.

Then go to the site I listed and get at least Directx7.0a and install it.

At the moment these are the only things I can think of.

BTW. Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to fix.

BillyBob