Specific games cause my computer to freeze.

Hello all,

There are 3 games (that I know of) that cause my computer to completely freeze up (usually when the game.exe program starts to run).

First off, I'll give you my PC specs: (this system was built by me)

Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 OC'd @ 3.8GHz
8GB Mushkin DDR2 800 (no changes/overclocks with the RAM)
2 Sapphire HD Radeon 4870's in crossfire
500GB Western Digital hard drive
PC Power and Cooling 750W powersupply
Windows 7 Professional 64bit

So, the games that freeze my computer are:

Crysis (and all other Crysis games like Warhead)
Red Faction: Guerrilla
BioShock 2 (wont even let me install, it freezes at "Activating BioShock 2")

So what I mean by "It freezes my computer" is basically that. I try to open say Crysis, and windows does its little loading circle thing next to the cursor, and then just freezes. I cannot CTRL+ALT+DEL, or anything, I have to reboot. Does the same thing with Red Faction: Guerrilla, and BioShock 2 I cannot even install, it freezes at the "Activating BioShock2" part of the install process.

Now, this never used to happen up until about six months ago. Before that, Crysis ran fine, but I stopped playing it because it was boring. Then about a month later I tried running it again (no hardware/OS changes were made in that time period) and it just froze.

I have posted this on about 3 other forums with no luck.

Things I have already tried:

Restoring my CPU to stock.
Removing one of my GPUs (tried both of them in single form)
Trying every stick of RAM by itself.
Tested the powersupply and it checks out perfect.
All drivers are up to date, including all DirectX redistributables and .NET

The only thing I have heard that might make sense is something with the SecuROM on the games, but I'm not sure how to fix that.

Please somebody help me, I really want to play BioShock 2 and RF:G

 

I don't know about the other games, but the SecuROM in Bioshock 2 was supposed to come with a 5-machine install limit. It's possible it has kicked in through all your installation attempts and is blocking things. Since hacking it is a bad idea, not to mention illegal, you may need to turn to the game publisher to get help with that one.

 

Speaking of SecuROM, I downloaded the removal tool, and while running it, it froze my computer, so I think I found the problem, now how do I fix it?

 

While, the folder it leaves behind after installing includes an "autorun" program, I assume it is what starts the game. Trying to run that also freezes my computer.

 

Does 7 Pro come with the XP-download that Ultimate does? If it does, does the game run there?

 

You mean XP compatibility mode?

The problem with BioShock 2 at the moment is that it will not even install.

 

7 Ultimate lets you download and run a copy of XP in a virtual machine, similar to VMWare. So the game would literally run in Windows XP, just within 7. It's really cool.

Aaaand, I just now saw your comment about the SecuROM removal tool freezing the PC. D'oh! Sorry I missed it earlier.

To me, that implies very strongly that SecuROm is what is causing your problem. That's bad for two reasons: 1. Any other game using it is going to give you problems. 2. I don't know a thing about it. :-o

However, ignorance is no excuse not to try, right? Can you get a screen shot of the error and post here? I'm curious, and it would make me feel less like I'm flying blind as well. SecuROM is designed to prevent piracy, not to stop you from playing games you've legally purchased, so there's bound to be a way around this.

 

Well, I've tried a couple workarounds that somebody else told me to do on a differen't forum, and nothing worked. The thing is, I have several other games that use SecuROM and I have no problems playing them (for example, ARMA II). So for some reason I don't think its SecuROM.

 

And from the looks of it, Windows 7 Pro DOES come with the copy of Windows XP, so I'll try that.

 

Well, since I hate DRM and think it's a waste of time and money, I still think it's SecuROM. Not pure SecuROM, but the version that was put on the games that give you problems. It may be conflicting with leftovers from other games that you have uninstalled.

I'd still like to see screen captures of the errors, if you can reproduce the error. Something is obviously wrong, and knowing the exact error message helps.

What are the workarounds you have tried so far? Details, young padawan, details...

(Sincere apologies, but the second half of my NBA game is about to start. I'll check back in after the game )

 

Let me know how it works out, please?

*goes off to watch NBA game*

 

Well, the workarounds I have done are three things. First, I tried the SecuROM diagnosis tool, which froze my computer. Then I tried the SecuROM uninstaller tool, which also froze my computer. Then Finally I found a way to delete the SecuROM folder, which did delete it, but the freezing still continued on the games.

As for giving you a picture of the "errors" that would be kinda hard considering all my computer does is freeze, no error messages come up.

 

Sadly, my CPU doesn't have VT technology, so I cannot use the virtual XP mode.

=(

 

Ouch, and ouch. (Also ouch for me since my team lost tonight....)

I still say that if their diagnoses tools and uninstallers freeze the system, in addition to the software itself, then SecuROM is the problem. List your security software, please? And what happens if you turn off all of that, plus your internet connection, and then try to install the game?

 

I can't say much about Bio 2 or Red Faction as I don't have them, I have had problems with Securom before though but that was a while ago and I can't remember what I did for a work around.
But Cysis/Warhead can be very problematic especially in Win7.
I've come up against crashes, graphical crashes and sound glitching and eventually 5 minutes from finishing the game a complete refusal to run past a certain point.

Back up your save game, uninstall it, clean ALL folders out linked to Crysis, run cleaners, restart and reinstall it.
Some people have no problems while others have nightmares.

I doubt it's your hardware setup unless it does it with all games, try other games and see if you have the same issues, if not then it's doubtful it's your hardware.