Games crashing after installing SP1

[bossdodgers]

Since installing the SP1 I am now having problems with games crashing. These same games have been played using the same cards, drivers etc before installing SP1.

I am now on the 21.83 drivers but I have tried every set of drivers apart from the beta ones.

Every time I changed the drivers they were clean installs so there was nothing left from a previous installation to conflict.

The 21.83 drivers are the ones that were already installed prior to my SP1 installation and have previously caused me no problems whatsoever playing the same games that are now crashing. This rules out the overheating possibility as I have never had any problems at all.

The crashes can happen anytime between 5 minutes or an hour or so of playing. i then have to reset the system to reboot.

My system specs

AMD Athlon 1.4 DDR (PC2100)
Asus A7a266 ACPI Bios 1009
512 DDR RAM
GeForce 3 Ti500 (21.83 drivers)
Soundblaster Audigy (5.12.01.0253 drivers)
Direct x 8.1
Windows XP Home Edition (SP1)

I did do a backup before installing SP1 but as it has fixed a couple of other problems and is going to be necessary for future upgrades I dont want to uninstall SP1 if I can help it.

Any one had similiar problems or any idea what the problem could be?

 

[Teddy]

I read that you had no probs with the drivers before but have you even tried newer/different drivers?

Give examples of what games you are referring to.

 

[bossdodgers]

I have tried all the latest set of WHQL drivers except the latest 40.41 and 40.71 which are WHQL pending so are not certified.

The games I am having problems with at the moment are Jedi Knight 2 - Outcast (patched), Unreal Tournament (patched) No One Lives Forever 2 (demo), Star Trek Elite Force (patched).

With the exception of the demo all these games worked perfectly on the 21.83 drivers I am back on at the moment prior to the SP1 installation

 

[bossdodgers]

ok ive Just installed the 29.42 Detonator drivers with a clean install. Then i ran the refresh rate fix etc.Uninstalled the game (Jedi 2), reinstalled it and played for 10 minutes and it froze yet again.

I am sure this has got to be something to do with SP1 as I have played the game before with no problems on the same set up.

 

[stuy_b]

What sequence do you do the installations, as I have XPHome sp1, JediKnight2(patched), EliteForce(patched), on a Geforce2 Pro, which is much older than your card, running the 30.82s with no problems.

Correct sequence of installation is...

-XPHome
-SP1
-VIA4in1s & All device drivers (latest versions) 30.82s, XPlive driver pack. etc.etc.
-Applications & Games.

Any other sequence will cause problems.

http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/updates/#WindowsXP

http://www.techspot.com/drivers.shtml

 

[bossdodgers]

XP Home was obviously already on!
SP1 was installed a week ago.

Obviously you dont need to uninstall your device drivers to install SP1.

I then went to play the games which were already installed and worked perfectly before and the freezing began.

I then uninstalled the drivers cleanly and installed various certified drivers and then re-installed the game each time.

That would appear to be the correct sequence.

The only thing that you might have to uninstall prior to the sp1 would be Zone Alarm and you certainly dont need to uninstall all of your apps and games first.

This is obviously something to do with SP1 and certain set ups as some people are fine and lots are experiencing silly problems.

Anyone got any useful ideas please.

 

[stuy_b]

You need to do a fresh install m8, completely wipe ya PC, then install XP etc..etc

My ideas are not stupid, thankyou very much, you will find this to be the best sollution, simply backup any documents and images.

Read any techsite and they will agree a fresh install is best.

 

[bossdodgers]

First of all, nobody said you was stupid in the first place.

I have given enough information in my posts as to what i have already tried and the procedures i have taken are correct.

There is no need whatsoever to do a fresh install just because a SP1 has been installed.

The computer was running brilliant before the sp1 update and the only problems now are the game ones.

I like to try and solve any glitches rather than just reinstall everything just for the sake of it.

I have read lots of tech websites and none that i have seen mention anything about performing a fresh install just to get your system running how it was prior to the sp1 update.

That is why i said has anyone got any useful ideas so dont take it personal as i just want to solve this problem without stripping down the whole computer lol

 

[purush]

Have you tried a 'Repair Installation' ? just uncheck window updates it will install without touching the drivers. This procedure involves about half an hour to forty minutes most. Perhaps you are aware of how to do a repair installations, without insulting your intelligence may I humlbly suggest that you can do a repair installations from within windows. After inserting the XP CD click install and choose clean install and press 'enter' on the first prompt and then press 'R' on the second prompt. Uncheck 'automatically update windows' May be this will help. Hope you will get your favourite game working again. I say this because one of my games had a similar problem and I managed to get it working again after the above mentioned procedure.

 

[bossdodgers]

Hi Purush,

You havent insulted my intelligence lol.I appreciate any input and pro-active suggestions.

A quicker and good way of checking the integrity of the system/files is by inserting the Windows XP installation disc and click Start, Run and type sfc /scannow

This checks your system file against the XP disc and repairs as neccessary from the disc.

I have also tried that as it has proven useful before but alas it didnt work.

I think that the SP1 upgrade has upgraded some files that are used for the graphics acceleration eg opengl etc and it is causing a conflict I am going to have a fiddle with advanced settings and also see if i can find out which files have been altered

Keep you posted

 

[bossdodgers]

Just a quick update.

I have fiddled about with the opengl settings and i noticed that anisotropic filtering was set to disabled so I set it to 2x initially and i have just tried jedi knight 2 with everything set to max detail and played it for approx 45 mins without freezing.
This doesnt neccessarily mean its fixed however because it can freeze anytime between 10 mins and hour but its ok up to now.

I will try it again tomorrow night and see how long it goes for and keep you posted

 

[purush]

I certainly hope the above mentioned tweak has fixed your problem, so you can get on with your favourite game. I shall keep my fingers crossed for you. Good luck. You are very persuasive and won't rest until you find a way. That's a marvellous quality that should enhance your life. Keep it up and don't give up easily. As in computers one has to surmout all or most of our routine aggravations in life with stern mind and firm determination one has to succeed and succeed you must. One final remark perhaps your video card drivers need to be reinstalled, just a thought.

 

[D3viuz]

slipstream if not done

I have slipstreamed the sp1 final m$ release into my xp pro cd i have and everything has seemed to work fine.Also, using ntfs is always a good thing when reformating,works good with current nvidia drivers. Also do a memory check just to see if your ram is in good working order,as gaming is very hard on the memory

 

[Nedreplan]

Problems too

I had the same type of problems too..also with Jedi Outcast II and also with Mafia.
This is how I fixed it.
I made an intergrated version of Windows Xp He Sp1.
Installed the Application Acc for the Intel chipset.
40.71 driver for the Geforce4 card.
The latest driver pack for my Audigy soundcard.
Downloaded the Indeo codec package (Indeo 3.2, 4.5, & 5.1 video, and the 2.5 audio codecs) from: http://www.ligos.com/indeo.htm
as it is needed for some games..like Cossacks and many more.
With the September 2002 update to Windows XP (known as Service Pack 1), Microsoft is no longer distributing any version of the Indeo codecs with its operating system.This only affects users with new PCs that are shipping with Windows XP Service Pack 1, or clean installs of Windows XP SP1 on an older system. Installation upgrades of SP1 and the use of Windows Update does not remove existing Indeo codecs from your system. In the meantime, Ligos will continue to make Indeo 3.2, 4.5, & 5.1 video, and the 2.5 Audio codecs through this website. Indeo Video 5.1, however, is not currently certified to operate correctly on Windows XP systems....but I have had no problems with it at all..

After that both games are running perfect.

 

[bossdodgers]

Problem possibly solved.

After trying everything I could possibly think of and a few of the posted suggestions I uninstalled SP1 and installed the 40.72 drivers with the fix. Reinstalled the game and it played for over two hours without freezing.

Thanks for everyones help

 

[koko]

i've heard of similar probs with sp1. i have yet to install it. this only reinforces that old saying, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

i think i'll wait a bit before installing sp1.