| Won't start on XP Pro [message #20666] |
Thu, 15 May 2003 08:56   |
eBax
Messages: 11
Registered: May 2003
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Thanks for the replies but I have finally got it to work. Now if this is in a "Read me" file somewhere or if this was posted before please forgive me. Also, I apologize for the length of the post but it is mainly about the way I found the solution not necessarily just the solution itself. Take what you want from it.
As I suspected, the wwconfig.exe program was the culprit. This is the executable for the configuration file that you can set your video, sound and stuff before you play the game. If you can't open this file for one reason or another you can't play the game so it has to be a video or a sound conflict (drivers, corrupted file, ect.).
What I did was ran the "dxdiag" first with video with everything working fine then the sound tests. Well, dxdiag stopped the sound testing half way through stating that there wasn't any sound buffering feature and that the tests would be stopped. There was no error stated but rather a statement down at the bottom in the note section that not all the tests were performed - I never had this happen before and I have to admitt that I thought the sound tests were all completed properly because I never had an issue with sound. Also, once I realized that the sound tests were half completed I didn't think my on-board sound was any good anyway and wrote it off as "well, what do you expect for an integrated sound chipset?".
Well, knowing what I knew about video drivers and to never use the drivers that came with the video card I decided to update to the "latest" sound drivers so I visited the MSI website, found my motherboard and all the drivers that came with it. I compared the revision dates and saw that the MSI website had the latest release and downloaded them, installed them. I then ran dxdiag and was able to complete the sound test entirely. Getting a little excited I decided to play some BF1942 (thinking this should increase my fps - and it did) then I remembered to try Renegade and thought maybe it is a sound issue that was preventing me from playing and Voila! The configuration program popped up (like it should when you start the game for the first time) and then the game started up.
No problems now - plays beautifully. In retro-spect there were some other variables that may have contributed to the mis-installed drivers in the first place, they were:
I tried to uninstall DX9 using a DX9 un-installer program (that failed to work). I learned a little late that if you do not have a game or video card that doesn't need or utilize DX9 fully THEN DON'T INSTALL IT. DX8.1 is all I needed, DX9 lost a lot of FPS in my games. DX9 works but is slowed me down.
I also discovered that my Aureal Vortex2 sound card is NOT supported in WinXP and will not be (you should see the forum on this sound card, yikes!!!) So I had to go to the integrated sound on the motherboard to keep the sound from fading 5 minutes into any game or application until the next computer restart.
And lastly, check for driver updates. Now nVidia drivers is a different issue but finding the manufactures latest drivers for you motherboard, bios and sound is nothing but a smart idea. Check the release dates and update accordingly.
Again, Sorry for the lengthy post but this ended up being a silly oversight on my part and I considered myself fairly apt at getting a computer to work. With all the programs one would install and uninstall it is no wonder something gets fouled up along the way.
Hopefully someone can use the thought process to identify their own problems.
eBax
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