dual core duo, vista 32, games unable to play

hi.
i have quite new computer: asus F5RL series with already installed 32 bit vista home premium.
i made a contract with one web page - gamenext and every mongh downloaded their games for discount prices.
and there the problem started

ANY of those games make my computer behave mad. sometimes it terminates some application (touchpad, explorer, desktop something, and states that some of those "has stopped working".
sometimes it just terminates the game.
but most of times it makes nasty sound and blue screen with sudden restart of my computer happens. but the blue screen is just empty blue screen, no information about it.

i tried to find a solution. nothing helped. asus was not able to help, registry cleaner was useless (discussed this after purchasing and paying full price for reg cure and asked money back when this software could not solve my problem. they tried to help me, too, the communication was really good, but after all that they also stated that my problems are beyond the capability of their software)

i reinstalled whole vista, but it did not help.

i downloaded all known patches and service packs, nothing worked. (there may be some i may not have found thou)

i have got superantispyware, spybot, ESET smart security and so on...

but when i tested the cores, the computer just switched off and this may be the problem. or maybe not...

i also have acer laptop with xp and probably just a normal core, but the games ran perfectly.

now, do you somebody have any idea what else should i try to solve my problem? i really want to enjoy my games that i paid for.
if you want to know which games they are, just go and look at gamenext web site. atlantis, bejeweled, 7 wonders... and some others: all do the same. most of time i am not able to finish just one round.

when the game freezes (blue screen does not happen), it showes error messages: access violation ...
but there are so many different codes of access violation. i have saved some of them, if someone would be interested i can post them.

 

Check your temperatures with HWMonitor. Sounds like it might be overheating. ( http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php)
Also, check to make sure you have the newest drivers for your laptop.

Before someone else says it/asks, the laptop has ATI Xpress M200. No, not designed for gaming, but look at the games - it can handle it.

 

I doubt it's overheating.

I've had a genuine overheating problem and the laptop doesn't close programs, it compeltely shuts itself down from the fail safe in the BIOS. Also, if it does that, if you try to restart it within the next 15min or so(or when the laptop is still warm), it will not start and re-shut itself down.

Seems his Windows is having issues, but I find it odd that re-installing Windows from scratch did no good.

 

D'oh, forgot to mention the obvious!
Run a memory and hard drive test first!

 

It sounds like corupt memory to me. run the self dignostic at boot up menu. generally press the f12 key during boot up to bring the self dignostic up

 

Yeah I had a bad stick of ram and for 2 months I had crashes and errors I thought were related to Vista and drivers. I re-installed windows, I updated all my drivers, and looked up every error code I could find. I had superfetch problems, windows explorer errors, program crashes, but no system reboots. I downloaded a memory test program and ran it with only 1 stick of ram fine for 10 mins. Put the other stick in and the computer crashed within seconds. After the headache replacing the ram was cheap and easy so I would check it first.

 

thank you for all your responses.

one by one.

yes, my laptop used to be overheated, but i have got a cooling mat with three fans and it really helps. it only overheats when i make it work hard (games, downloads, antispyware check), but normally it is ok.

i do not know much about computers and things around, so maybe it would be helpful to let me know, where and what latest updates i can find specifically for my laptop?
and what memory tests and where to download safely?

and i have not quite understood what sticks did nofxman mean. i am just a simple user and i am not familiar with some slangs about computers.

i am going to try the boot up with f12 now. hopefully i will not damage something

many thanx

 

are you sure, it was f12? nothing worked, just f2 or f8, but havent found any self diagnostic test option...

 

Test memory with memtest. Download here http://www.memtest86.com/. Either run the installable file or use the ISO and burn it to a CD-R. Then restart the pc with the disc in the drive and let it do its job.

Test the hard drives (and fix certain errors) with checkdisk. Use the start menu search, type chkdsk and run it. Allow the program to run to completion.

EDIT: I think 660hpv12 means the Windows memory test. I would suggest running memtest regardless. The Windows utility, in my experience, is not as useful. It has not picked up errors when memtest has detected errors within seconds of running.

If you want to use the Windows diagnostic test, type memory in the start menu search. The tool is the first (only) result. Run that and it will reboot and test memory on startup.

 

many thanx!
i`ll try it tomorrow.

 

to billiam:

well, i have just started your secon option: chkdsk from startmenu, but it seems doing nothing...

i also downloaded the memtest, one zipped, if unpacked it is named rawrite, but when i click on it, i do not know what to type in the black field... it wants something from me.

i think i will really need a step-by-step instruction, please, bear in mind, i am absolutely useless with computers but when i get a good guide, i can do pretty well.

 

for chkdsk, press the start button and type in CMD, then right click and run as adminstrator, and type in chkdsk -r

 

"the drive, the patch or the file name is not valid"

that appears after i press enter after "-r"

 

chkdsk /r C:\

would be proper syntax

 

again, running CMD as an administrator, type exactly as you typed, but the same message as before.

 

Sorry, did you put that all as one command? It's not three separate commands.

 

well, all as one command type where?

i followed instructions from harper, CMD type to search, right click for an administrator and then typed his.
then you came, you typed your path.
so i typed yours instead of his, all at once, with space, and if it did not work, then without, i tried both but none worked for me.

but dont be suprprised, about computers: what can go wrong, will go wrong when i do something with it. just patience, please

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as frustrated with you if that's what you thought. Was just trying to confirm.
What happens if you type "chkdsk /?" in that CMD window that opens (follow harper's instructions to open the CMD window). Type "chkdsk /?" without the quotes, just what is inside.

 

well, i did not put a question mark there before. (good hint
but after i did it, it showed several lines of abbreviations and explanations what each means.

/F says that fixes errors on the disk. should i try it?
or /R ? this checks for errors... but you already know it, dont you?

 

Yes, /R stands for recover which also implies (forces) /F. If you run /F you may lose data, if you run with /R any damaged data will be recovered to C:\Found.000\
I was just confirming that your chkdsk command is functioning, which it is.

Let's go one step at a time. What happens if you do chkdsk /R? It will either ask for a disk to chkdsk, or (more likely) it will default to your current volume (which will be C: ). It will tell you it cannot lock the volume, should it run on reboot? Type y, hit enter, then restart the computer as you normally would. Then let it do it's thing.

 

done.
it took ages, but successfully finished.

what is next?

 

Next? Hope it doesn't crash. This is one of the possible fixes for your problem - are you still having the issue?

 

yes, i still have the problem. game has stopped working in middle of duel just now... maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!

 

It's time to do the memtest for real.
Click this link: http://www.memtest.org/#downiso
Download "Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)"
Unzip the file
Hang on to that file you just unzipped, it's important.
Download IMGBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
Install and run IMGBurn, click write, and browse to the file you just unzipped.
Click burn.
Reboot, this time booting from the CD. It will likely do it by default if the CD is in the drive, if not, I'll go over changing it.

 

ok, time for a silly question: how to reboot from the cd?
i opened it, click on BOOT, then another boot after that but the message says: this file is invalid for use as the following: security catalog...

ps: please, dont tell me i have burned wrong thing, this was probably my last cd in the house!

 

Just restart the computer like normal with the CD in the drive. Most laptops will boot from CD before hard drive.

 

yes, that was what i did firstly, but nothing happend. laptop started as usually.
then i tried to reboot the other way.

 

I have never personally used this program but it looks like you can download and try it for free. It may be able to find a problem and it looks easy to use and should test not only your ram but your entire pc. Also it doesn't require running it from a bootable disk which should make it easier to try yourself.

http://www.passmark.com/products/bit.htm

 

Ok i just downloaded and ran it. Funny thing is it ran 120 ram tests for me and reported 120 errors... I haven't noticed any problems so I'm not sure of its accuracy plus my computer never crashed but it can't hurt to run it.

Just found this program, its not quite as easy to use but if you read about it I think you can do it. Its free and very small.

http://hcidesign.com/memtest/download.html

 

You'll have to enter the BIOS to change the boot sequence. On Asus laptops, you hold F2 on the intial start-up screen to enter BIOS. Once in, move to the 'boot' heading. Look for 'boot order' or 'boot priority' or something to that effect. Choose it (press enter) and you should see a list of devices, your HDD and ODD. You will need to change the order of boot devices so that your disc drive is the 1st boot device. Exit setup, save changes, and if memtest doesn't load, restart the laptop and it will load then.

 

great! i am going to try it, but in back of my mind there is hep`s message: "Next? Hope it doesn't crash. This is one of the possible fixes for your problem - are you still having the issue?"

what could crash? can it damage something? loos data? i need to know this before i do the final thing.

many thanx.

 

No, running a memtest will not damage anything. I meant you've completed one troubleshooting step, hope that is fixed the problem!
Since it clearly didn't, you'll have to do the next step, which is running a memtest.
When your computer starts there should be a splash screen giving you a set of keys to hit to enter the BIOS, and another key to hit to enter the boot menu.
On an asus, the boot menu key should be escape, so...
1) Turn off the computer
2) Wait five seconds
3) Press the power button and tap escape repeatedly for a second or two
4) Select CD/DVD whatever drive as the first boot device
5) Let memtest do it's job

 

good, i did as you said.
test passed, no errors found.

what else?

actually, it said that test was complete and no error found, but in the up right part it seemed it was still running. still counting percentages and random something.
and what is ECC? in the bottom line was: cache ON, ECC OFF, test std (i suppose standard), Pass 1 (after it was finished), Errors 0. and at the very end - right was ECC Errors, empty, i mean no number, if i remember right...

what is ECC?

 

ECC is error checking and correcting. It's specialized memory, generally a lot more expensive and mainly used in servers. Don't worry about it
Okay... time for a hard drive test.
I suggest this tool for testing:
http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?st=pn&param=GWSCAN512

 

reformat and re-install

 

vistas?

already DONE. couple of weeks ago. DID NOT HELP. though it was only reinstalled, did not reformat, i am still not clear about these two terms: isnt it the same? does the reinstalling of OS not erase everything and make my laptop as a newborn baby (except of bios)?

 

ok, what does this mean: "Note: GWSCAN 5.12 must be run from bootable media because it runs in MS-DOS. Please refer to the Program Use section for instructions on how to run GWSCAN."?

do I have to burn it on cd again? i will need to buy more cds tomorrow then...

and how about writing zeros? what is that about? will it replace data on my hard disc? (i have 200 gb)

 

Your data will be fine using GWScan. It's simply a testing tool.
It needs to be run from bootable media, like a CD. But you also need something to boot from, like an MS-DOS shell.
Gateway's website has information on how to create a GWScan bootable disc.
http://support.gateway.com/s/HARDDRV/Misc/GWSCAN512/GWSCAN512su46.shtml

 

hi guys, i am here again.
after a busy time i finally managed to get blank cds today and was ready to make a bootable media to test harddrive.
everything went ok until i got to this step: # In the Internet Explorer - Security Warning dialog box, click Run.

internet explorer did not offer me anything like that.
i have it in my computer, i could read information on wordpad, but could not find this, as it is a step 4 on this website:
http://support.gateway.com/s/HARDDRV/Misc/GWSCAN512/GWSCAN512su46.shtml

or where can i find those files extracted and the way how to burn it on cd?

i thought i have done something wrong so i have put it in a bin and downloaded again. but not even the wordpad does not appear automatically, and it only asks me if i want to replace those files that already exist...