No games work??

Ok, bottom line no pc game I have tried will run for more than 5 min. at the max. The games in question are as follows: Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, Halo, and Half-Life 2.

System: Windows XP Professional
A7n8x-e
AMD Athlon (tm) XP 2100+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.7GHz
1024MB RAM
DirectX 9.0

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce FX5200 w/ 128MB memory
version: 6.14.0010.8421 Date: 03/09/2006

Sound: Nvidia(r) nForce(tm) Audio
version: 6.14.0462.0000 Date:04/13/2005

And my games continuously freeze up to the point where the only way out is to hit the reset button. CNTRL, ALT, DELETE doesn't even work. Though sometimes it only closes the game. I have contacted Lucasarts and the still have no answer for me. When I do get the error report all it says is this:

(((Error caused by Jedi Academy: no specific solution available

Thank you for submitting an error report.

Problem description

An analyst at Microsoft has investigated this problem and determined that an unknown error occurred in Jedi Academy. This software was created by LucasArts, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd..

Recommendation

Microsoft has researched this problem with LucasArts, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd., and they do not currently have a solution for the problem that you reported. Below is a recommendation to take that may help prevent the problem from recurring.

Contact LucasArts, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. for support or product updates.

Additional information

If this problem continues to occur with the latest product updates for Jedi Academy, we recommend you obtain assistance and troubleshooting information directly from LucasArts, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd..)))

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated on this, I really need help.

 

man oh man, what a small world we live in.....

the same thing happens to me....ive still havent found a cure...

my specs are:
System: Windows XP Professional SP2
MSI K7N2 Delta ILSR
AMD Athlon (tm) XP 3200+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.19GHz
1024MB RAM
DirectX 9.0c

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 6600GT AGP w/ 128MB memory
version: 84.21 Date: 17/03/2006

Sound: Nvidia(r) nForce(tm) Audio
version: 5.10 Date: 17/09/2004 (thats the last driver to be released for the nforce2 platforms)

 

ok this is starting to bug me.

i was just playing a nice game of SWAT4 wen the PC f***ed up. had to reset the entire PC

 

Could it be a heat issue? Have you tried taking the side of the case off? I am just guessing, but you could also try keeping your 3d card as far away as possible from other cards.

 

havent tried taking the cover off. may have a go.

my case is full so theres no more room for the GFX card....

 

I have taken the cover off as well and completely cleaned my computer. My PC temp runs at about 135f - 160f. Now I was told that was not too hot.

 

hmmm....so that means that method above wont work for me either.

tywalker, r u running 5.1 speaker setup?

 

hmmm....so that means that method above wont work for me either.

tywalker, r u running 5.1 speaker setup?

No, mine is set to (desktop stereo speakers). Is that what you mean?

 

well do u have 5.1 speakers?

 

well do u have 5.1 speakers?

Got me? this is what I have. Benwin model# CLT15

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005UPG1/103-7648246-5615808?v=glance&n=172282

 

lol ok so u dont have surround sound then

 

Nope.

 

Could it be a Power Supply Issue?

 

Well for both a couple of ques:

Have you gone to the game sites and searched for any and all patches, upgrades, etc, etc?

Have you updated to the latest Video Drivers? Here is a good site but make sure uninstall and install the newer drivers with Drive Cleaner Pro and do it properly!!!:

http://www.guru3d.com/

It could be an overheating issue do you both have a diagnostics app so the next time it occurs you can quickly check your temps/rpms/volts in firstly BIOS and then within the OS via an app:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

Personnally tywalker I would be very irritated with the Error message you recieved and if you don't sort it quickly and readily I would DEMAND my money back. This is obviously a problem they are aware of, it seems your system specs should far surpass the minimum required and thus they shouldn't promote or sell a product that doesn't serve it's function!!!!!

 

@anhedonic
my power supply is rated at 450W so dont its that

@bold eagle
my games are up-to-date. video drivers are up-to-date too. havent checked for overheating yet. will try that....

 

I have updated all the drivers video and audio. I also have all the latest patches. I have even uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers. I am just about at wits end. It is like a mystery or something.

 

tywalker well you could try and assess whether it is an overheating issue but like I said contact the developers and let them know of your displeasure and if they baulk give em a revving!

 

What about the motherboard? It is not even a year old but how do you update that? Could that be a possibility.

 

The only aspect of the mobo that can be updated (as far as I'm aware) is the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) but this should not have any impact upon the fuctioning of a game except within it settings. Check your mobo manual and you will find the differing options in this, also here are a couple of generic links:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/04/bios_from_a_to_z/

http://www.rojakpot.com/show.aspx?fileID=18

The modifying of some of the settings may improve things but I doubt "flashing" the BIOS (updating) will achieve any improvement wrt to games imo, especially if it is less than a year old.

 

tywalker - I had the exact same problem running Jedi Academy under windows XP SP2, and the same thing happened when playing Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher bay - I don't know if my problem is the same cause I have different system specs, but this is how I worked around it and never had any problems since:

I got the JK III 1.1 patch upgrade from Lucasarts - http://support.lucasarts.com/patches/jediacademy.htm - and a no-cd patch on top of that (although I'm sure the no-cd patch is not necessary), also changed the properties (right-click on desktop shortcut) to make the game run under windows 2000 conditions and with a 600x800 screen resolution (also what I did to make Riddick work) - try it, who knows

 

Hmmm, I read the f.a.q. from Nvidia and it mentioned the motherboard updates and chipsets. Also I tried your solution geekinthemaking and I was like fired up the game lasted like 5 min longer than normal then it locked up right about the time I got ready to settle in. So I am not sure it lasted a little longer.

 

for some reason, i reckon its a sound surge thats locking up our PCs mate. its something to do with the sound, but not sure what though.

 

Dang this is really annoying. I have realized another symptom though. When I try to play for the 1st time after a long rest it lasts about 7-10 min. If I try again right after it will only last about 2-5 min then on the 3rd or 4th try it will completely lock up, resulting in the only way to get out of a frozen screen being to restart my PC. After that the PC will reboot itself about 3 times in a row as soon as it gets to my desktop. After that it will usually run normal.

 

u know wat mate, i think its time we upgraded our systems and leaves these bug ridden ones behind

 

I know, right!! I am about to go nuts. I read here http://forums.filefront.com/showthread.php?t=256001
that I apparently have a wishy-washy graphics card after I heard I have a good one. I don't know what to do about this.

 

bummer tywalker sorry that settings thing didn't do much more than raise false hopes

 

Ok now I uninstalled my drivers so I could reinstall them and somehow lost my internet connection. O am typing this on my dad's PC. Oh and the games still dont work.

 

ok ive just done another test to determine wats wrong.....

last night i decided to uninstall SWAT4 and instead installed F.E.A.R. obviously it crashed so i decided to check for overheating. so i switched off the computer for the night. this morning i switched it on and jumped straight into F.E.A.R. while the comp was cold. lo n behold it crashed. so thats overheating ruled out.

but heres another twist.....i came back from work this evening to find out ma lil bro has been playing FIFA 2005 happily on my machine without any crashes. so that got me thinking......is my comp having problems playing high performance games? even with my comp specs of: athlon xp 3200+, 1GB RAM, nvidia geforce 6600gt??

 

Weird, is there just no explanation, is there no end to the suffering?

 

ive got another problem mate. look up my thread 'games wont work properly' in the hardware section. its on the 2nd page.....

 

I think that may be the issue since someone at Lucasarts said that is what they thought as well.

 

Look both off you need to look at this thread:

http://forum.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=85030

In a nutshell it discusses some of the recent "Copy Protection" methods used by developers to stop pirating. One in particular is "Starforce" which has been shown to cripple owners computers and in the worse case destroy their optical drives. You should attempt to ascertain what your games "Copywrite Protection" is and research this to note whether this is a contributing factor! Aks those at Lucasarts after you have read the thread and demand answers into their protection methods for that software. Corporate greed has gone to far this time when the few greedy CEO's use measures to "protect their rights" at a signifcant erosion of the many (the innocent consumer). Why should you be punished for BUYING their software

 

No I dont see anything like that in there. But that is some yang though, talk about a not worth it.

I also have now used ASUS probe and it says my power fan is below threshhold, could that be it?