General Help for Windows and Games

[SkeleBear]

I have an e-machines PC and I can change my video card. In fact, when I got it, it was using an onboard type and I got a new nVidia and disabled it, no problem. I have since upgraded the video card twice and am now using a  GeForce 7800 GS (it has a huge heatsink/fan on it).

I know this is an older thread, but I just wanted to add that about e-machines, because they are not like HPs or Dells, where it really is almost impossible to upgrade it yourself. At least my model isn't.

Actually, Rogue, I'm glad that you have an e-machine that is upgradeable. When I first started playing the Sims (the original), it was on an older e-machine that wasn't upgradeable, and quickly became a nightmare. When I last shopped a new pc, the newer and more tech-friendly e-machines were among the ones that I looked at before settling on the HP s7320a.

The downside to the s7320a (microtower HP Media Center PC) is that it is incredibly limited on it's ability to be upgraded. Fortunately, I've little cause to consider needing an upgrade so far. If it boils down to it, I'd likely be upgrading to another system, and not just another card.

[jase439]

Are you running the game in full-screen or in a window?  What is the exact model of the nVidia chipset you have?

[FeistyRedhead]

I have a ATI radeon xpress 200.. [ dont laugh- it came with the computer I bought in feb of this year.] I know I have an AMD dual core processor with a 1gb in memory, yet when I installed pets, my system slowed to a mind numbing crawl.... I have downloaded and tweaked everything I knew to do, what can be done that will see me through until feb [tax refund time for those not in the states] and a brand new screaming video card?

[BeosBoxBoy]

Feisty - I am not certain there will be much that can be done to help.  The game has a lot of overhead (hidden things like attractions and such).  Maybe decreasing game video settings to the basement may help.  I don't know.  An ATI Radeon Xpress 200 seems a pretty crappy card for a dual core system =/

[ivory_lei]

Wow... thanks so much for these tips.

[trl]

I am getting a new graphics card and I am wondering what you think of these cards in relation to playing The Sims 2; are these sufficient for good game play, not the best choice or way more than I need? It seems the more I read the more confused I get. I don't have to have the top of the line card (although who wouldn't) I just want to have better game play. My computer was set up more for business than gaming and it struggles with all the 3-d graphics of the Sim2. Thank you in advance for the help.

GEForce6600 OC 512mb DDR2 PCI Express or maybe GEForce6200 OC 256mb DDR

This is how I feel about this:

QUOTE: Beosboxboy:

 but I am also a person capable of critical thinking, I would perhaps go with a less bloody cutting-edge of technology video card with more solid drivers, but then again I like black & white movies without the applied false-colouring by Turner.

[BeosBoxBoy]

TRL - if you can use the PCI-express card - by all means go with it.  512 MB of Video memory is far superior to 256; the exact models may vary in particulars, but if you can list links for these items I will give you a detailed opinion.

[trl]

Thank you for taking the time to help. You are always so generous with your limited time. My husband and I have decided to get a new computer after the holidays so I won't upgrade old Betsy LOL. I will keep all you have said in this thread when I put together my new machine. Thanks again. You are a doll!

[Dinki]

I have a problem with defragmenting my drives. I uninstalled all games and I wanted to defrag before installing them again. But the damn thing is getting stuck on 10% of analyzing... help please! ::

I have my hard drive in three parts and the problem is with two of them.

[BeosBoxBoy]

dinki - if your computer is set up so it is always connected to the internet, try disabling the network connection.  You might also try doing the defrag in safe mode.

Generally when defrag gets stuck like this it means there is too much activity of some sort.  Make sure to turn off your anti-virus software, also use CTRL+ALT+DELETE to use Task Manager to stop everything but Explorer under your Windows user name, and disable the network (even if it is just disconnecting the wire). Empty your web browser cache, empty the recycle bin, and light a candle and give a little Hail Mary action.

It may take a long time to analyse the hard drive if you have a lot of small files (lots of stuff in the downloads folder and a lot of Internet cached files  can be a bitch!)  On my 200 gigabyte drive is takes over an hour to analyse.

Try removing the pagefile by disabling the pagefile in My Computer:

see this web page for instructions.

After you reboot, you should manually delete pagefile.sys from C:\ - you will have to be able to see hidden and system files to do this.

Now try running the defrag without the page file.

If it still locks up, you may have to disable the windows restore thing.  It has an evil habit of getting full of viruses any way, so this is something I recommend doing.

If it still locks up on analysing, run CHKDSK on all the hard drives with the /F /R switches, like this:

click start
click run
type CMD
click ok
type CHKDSK E: /F /R
hit ENTER

This is assuming E is not the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM :lol:

It will long time to do this.

Hopefully you won't have to go that far.

[Dinki]

Thanks much Yakov, it did help - disconnected the net and closed what I could (though I do it too before loading the game) and it took around 2 hours to defrag the C drive. I`ll try the D tomorrow

There was a difference, cause before it was showing 10% right from the start and this time it started normally from 1%

I really appreciate your help, I would never figured it out by myself.

[FeistyRedhead]

Feisty - I am not certain there will be much that can be done to help.  The game has a lot of overhead (hidden things like attractions and such).  Maybe decreasing game video settings to the basement may help.  I don't know.  An ATI Radeon Xpress 200 seems a pretty crappy card for a dual core system =/

HP are bastards... What can I say.. I pm'd you with the specs of the new card and my compudrama

[Dinki]

I`m back with more

My game won`t start and instead of it my computer reboots. It`s like putting CD in cd-rom makes it restart... I tried many times and it`s driving me crazy, the same happens every time plus sometimes it reboots twice or more in a row or shows that  emergency mode screen... and I have to take the CD out finally, cause it keeps on rebooting.

It happens with any CD. I can`t load the game!

Somebody please help me before I go crazy...

[BeosBoxBoy]

Dinki - it is possible that your computer's DVD/CD-reader is going bad.  Another possible problem is that your powersupply has a problem - as you open the door of the DVD/CD-reader there is a power fluctuation that it reads as a reboot impulse.  You may also have a bit of dirt on the motherboard - too small for the eye to see easily - so use can of air to spray out the dust.

Last but not least - maybe you have something like a virus that is trying to use the DVD/CD-reader because it thinks it is a hard drive?

[Dinki]

Thanks for response

It seemed to stop after I used that Jay`s cleaner thingie, but reboots still happen, mainly while the Cd-rom starts to spin the CD

Umm ehm... the dust thing is possible, cause I had some dust producing works here. I`ll clean it.

About virus - I have a good program (pay one) and I hope it`s working ok

How do I know if it`s the power or "going bad" thing? can any other activity cause reboot? how do I check it?