Computer locks up in Games

TLAM Strike · 05-25-10, 09:33 PM

Occasionally my computer will lock up in games (its only happened in games, not in any 3d modeling software like max). Its happned in Europa Universalist III, Shells of Fury, Call of Duty I. Very low end games will not seem to lock it up like Harpoon I. Anyone have any ideas, below is a report on my rig.

Quote:

--------[ EVEREST Home Edition (c) 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Quick Report
Computer UGM-109A-TLAM-N
Generator ************
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date 2010-05-25
Time 22:25

--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name UGM-109A-TLAM-N
User Name ***************

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Celeron D 320, 2400 MHz (18 x 133)
Motherboard Name MSI P4MAM2-V (MS-7095) (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 CNR, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset VIA VT8751A Apollo P4M266A
System Memory 1024 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award (03/30/05)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM2)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter GeForce 6200 (256 MB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 6200 (256 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce 6200 AGP
Monitor Dell M780 [17" CRT] (5322DE6CXF89)
Monitor NEC MultiSync FE700 [17" CRT] (0587953BA)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Creative SB Live! Value (CT4780) Sound Card
Audio Adapter VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller

Storage:
IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller Virtual CloneDrive
Disk Drive WDC WD400BB-00FJA0 (37 GB, IDE)
Disk Drive WDC AC313500D (12 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive ELBY CLONEDRIVE SCSI CdRom Device (Virtual CD-ROM)
Optical Drive LG DVD-ROM DRD8160B (16x/48x DVD-ROM)
Optical Drive Optiarc DVD RW AD-7200A
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 12935 MB (2351 MB free)
D: (NTFS) 38154 MB (2840 MB free)
Total Size 51089 MB (5191 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse PS/2 Compatible Mouse

Network:
Network Adapter VIA Compatable Fast Ethernet Adapter
Network Adapter WPN311 RangeMax(TM) Wireless PCI Adapter (192.168.254.1)

Peripherals:
Printer HP Photosmart C4200 series (Copy 1)
Printer HP Photosmart C4200 series
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB2 Controller VIA USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller

Problems & Suggestions:
Problem Disk free space is only 7% on drive D:.

kiwi_2005 · 05-25-10, 09:49 PM

okay just my opinion.

1. The old Celerons were not gaming cpus - office work more like it.
2. You have 7% of disk space left try freeing more up
3. 6200 grfx card, the 256ram type?

Your games are old though where the above mentioned shouldn't really be the problem apart from the lack of disk space.

Antivirus? Turn it off or uninstall it just to see, i use to get lock ups that would happen every couple of seconds and last for 1-2 seconds at a time, drove me nuts i use to disable the anti-virus as well so never thought it would be that, till i deleted the antivirus altogether and the lock ups ceased.

TLAM Strike · 05-25-10, 10:26 PM

Ok I just cleaned up about 7 GB worth of old stuff. And yes my GFX is 256 meg.

I'll burn off a couple more GB of old movie files and erase them and see how it goes tomorrow night.

Oh and my AV program is AVG. Is that been known to cause lockups when gaming? I played SH4 for about a year with no lockups without AVG installed because my computer was not linked to the net.

kiwi_2005 · 05-25-10, 10:39 PM

one AVG version that came out was real bloated so i read but that would of been fixed with an update.

I see this though:
Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Creative SB Live! Value (CT4780) Sound Card
Audio Adapter VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller

If im right do you have two sound cards enabled? The SB live is the card if im correct and your got the VIA AC'97 on-board? You can disable the AC'97 in BIOS so only the SB live is using up resources.

Another option is do a full disk fragmentation of your drives sometimes a defrag fixes a lot of problems.

Wolfehunter · 05-25-10, 11:23 PM

Ya I think kiwi is on the right track. Two sound cards might be borking your games.

SB should be a better one.

Also your Celeron is outdated. I remember them being tough chips you maybe able to overclock them without any heat issues. There very stable. Last time I heard about that was over 7 years ago.

CaptainHaplo · 05-26-10, 08:20 PM

Does the vid card have a fan on it - or is it one of those ones that used passive cooling? Could also be an overheating situation - some games pushing the card just a little too hard. Make sure the heatsink is clean, and if it has a fan that its running smooth.

05-25-10, 09:49 PM	#2
kiwi_2005 Eternal Patrol Join Date: May 2004 Location: Aeoteroa Posts: 7,382 Downloads: 223 Uploads: 1	okay just my opinion. 1. The old Celerons were not gaming cpus - office work more like it. 2. You have 7% of disk space left try freeing more up 3. 6200 grfx card, the 256ram type? Your games are old though where the above mentioned shouldn't really be the problem apart from the lack of disk space. Antivirus? Turn it off or uninstall it just to see, i use to get lock ups that would happen every couple of seconds and last for 1-2 seconds at a time, drove me nuts i use to disable the anti-virus as well so never thought it would be that, till i deleted the antivirus altogether and the lock ups ceased. __________________ RIP kiwi_2005 Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.

05-25-10, 10:26 PM	#3
TLAM Strike Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Rochester, New York Posts: 8,633 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 6	Ok I just cleaned up about 7 GB worth of old stuff. And yes my GFX is 256 meg. I'll burn off a couple more GB of old movie files and erase them and see how it goes tomorrow night. Oh and my AV program is AVG. Is that been known to cause lockups when gaming? I played SH4 for about a year with no lockups without AVG installed because my computer was not linked to the net. __________________

05-25-10, 10:39 PM	#4
kiwi_2005 Eternal Patrol Join Date: May 2004 Location: Aeoteroa Posts: 7,382 Downloads: 223 Uploads: 1	one AVG version that came out was real bloated so i read but that would of been fixed with an update. I see this though: Multimedia: Audio Adapter Creative SB Live! Value (CT4780) Sound Card Audio Adapter VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller If im right do you have two sound cards enabled? The SB live is the card if im correct and your got the VIA AC'97 on-board? You can disable the AC'97 in BIOS so only the SB live is using up resources. Another option is do a full disk fragmentation of your drives sometimes a defrag fixes a lot of problems. __________________ RIP kiwi_2005 Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.

05-25-10, 11:23 PM	#5
Wolfehunter Crusty Capt. Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 2,752 Downloads: 40 Uploads: 25	Ya I think kiwi is on the right track. Two sound cards might be borking your games. SB should be a better one. Also your Celeron is outdated. I remember them being tough chips you maybe able to overclock them without any heat issues. There very stable. Last time I heard about that was over 7 years ago. __________________

05-26-10, 08:20 PM	#6
CaptainHaplo Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,404 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	Does the vid card have a fan on it - or is it one of those ones that used passive cooling? Could also be an overheating situation - some games pushing the card just a little too hard. Make sure the heatsink is clean, and if it has a fan that its running smooth. __________________ Good Hunting! Captain Haplo