Crashing Games

[Danlrey]

I started having problems with ALL my PC games crashing a short time after playing. The games just stop and the PC reverts back to the desk top mode without showing any error messages. I can restart the game by double clicking the icon again, then play a little while then the game will stop again and go back to the desktop. Anybody have any ideas as to what is wrong?

I have an AMD Atlon XP-3000, ATI 9700 pro all-in-wonder, 1GB RAM, Maxtor 250GB HD, Windows XP pro.

The video card has updated drivers. The HD had the disk clean program run and was defraged just before runnig any games. I tried running Lead Foot Off Road Stadium racing, CFS1, CFS2, CFS3, Pacific Gunner among others and they all just quit after a short period of time.

danrey@cableone.net

 

[zerozero]

From your post, it seems that this is a new problem.....
Did you add any new hardware to your computer?
Did you add any new software or upgraded you OS?

Here is what you can try. Either use ctrl, alt, del keys and stop any program from running in the background or download a program such as end-it-all which will do it for you

 

[Danlrey]

Thanx for the info on the program that may be running in the background. Where can I get the program "end it all"? I'll try that and then see what happens. I should have done that first, I forgot about those programs in the background.

No new hardware was added, no new software that would conflict with the games. "I THINK"

danlrey

 

[zerozero]

type end it all in a google search.

 

[Dave]

I found end it all here. You still must click on a link to go to the PC Magazine download. That might work there.

Dave

 

[Danlrey]

OK!!! I just dwnlded the utility. I will install it and run it. Then I'll see if that helps any. I hope the program is compatible with XP pro.

Tanx for the info.

 

[Danlrey]

I installed another utility called anti crash in addition to the end it all program. I turned off all the background programs that were not needed, then continued with what I was doing. Then I got a pop up message from the anti crash program which says "intercepted crash" then it went on to say that the potential crash was a memory leak.

What the H*#^ does that mean and how do I fix it?

 

[zerozero]

memory leaks sometime happen if you are trying to run 2 similar hardware (i.e. 2 sound cards, one integrated and one added or 2 video cards one integrated and one added etc...)
go into your control panel, switch to classic view, select system, hardware, device manager tab.
do you see any conflicting hardware(marked by an exclamation mark to the side of the hardware)?

check for your sound card and video as these are the 2 most likely to cause you your problems. (click on the + to see if you have more than one installed)

If you do have more than one, do the following:
click on the one you don't one and select disable or uninstall (be carefull not to remove the item you're currently using.

You can also do the following:

Reboot your computer and hit DEL to enter BIOS.

Depending on your BIOS, you should find a place where it states something like INTEGRATED DEVICES which will list all devices integrated on your motherboards such as sound and video cards.

click on them and disable them....

Your original post mentions an AGP video card so if you see an integrated one, that will be the one.

If you're not sure about your sound card, check on the back of your computer......

Do you have another slot to which you can plug your speakers and joystick other than the one your plugged in?

If so, are your speakers plugged in the PCI slot (horizontal slots on your tower) or on your MoBO jack....

disable the integrated video card and make sure your speakers, mike and joystick are plugged in your external sound card.

Save your settings and reboot.

Hopefully, that will do the trick.... If not, post here again with all your system hardware details and we'll try it again.

If you flashed your BIOS with a newer version or resetted it to original configuration, this might have caused your internal devices to be re-enabled.

Since you say that no new hardware was installed, it would be my guess

Good luck

 

[Danlrey]

OK, I'll do that and see what I find out. I don't have but one video card installed and only one sound card installed. One is an ATI 9700 all-in-wonder pro, and the other is an NVIDIA 5.1 sound card.

I will do some checking as you suggest and see what I can find. I thnk I found out what is making my games stop working after a short time of operation. I noticed that when I move the mouse, that is when the game stops and reverts back to the desktop. Could that be because of the wallpaper changer that is installed on my PC? It is set to change the wallpaper every 10 min. So I guess when then time to change starts it must cause the game to shut down. Is this a possibility? If so I'll disable the changer when I play the games.

 

[zerozero]

Yes, you may want to try this before fooling around with the BIOS.
Did you reset your BIOS lateley?
What make is your motherboard if you know.
As I said, check the back of your computer and see if you have another port for your sound in a different place, if so, you do have an integrated sound card. Same with your monitor hook-up. Is there another jack for it, if so, you also have an integrated video card (which is usually very crappy).