problem while playing games

[seventeenmonkeys]

This is actually a problem one of my friends is having.
He has windows me and often when he plays games (anything from windows pinball to baldurs gate 2) the wiondow he is playing in minimizes and he has to maximize to start playing again.
Does anyone know why this is happening and how he can fix it?

[sea69]

I would update drivers, failing that I would suspect a shortage of available graphics ram. Without more (system) details it would be hard to pinpoint what the precise- problem is. As I am not a 'gamer', I am not familiar with how 'graphic intensive' these games you mention are.


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"Remember your 'unique'... just like everyone else!"



[This message has been edited by sea69 (edited 03-30-2001).]

[seventeenmonkeys]

his system is really not geared for gaming even though it is fairly new. it has integrated graphics and only 64 megs of RAM. But the problem is that it does for practically any game.
Also if it is due to lack of system resources then what exactly is making it do that.

[Rick]

If it's a DOS or Directx game.
The first thing I would have to suspect is the Windows Menu key on the key board.
If while in a game you press the menu key .
The window will minimize and default you back to the desk top.

I'd also have to look at what windoz is checking for on a regular basis.
IE. Scanning for new disks and so on.

To see what resources are being used.
Press the 3 finger salute to windoz ( CTRL,ALT,DEL) Only ONCE. Then wait for window to open and look at what is running in the back ground

[mjc]

Also if he is using a Logitech (http://www.logitech.com/) wheelmouse that may be interferring with the games. Look around for the games registry patch, it's on the drivers page.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Do Vulcans even have to debug?

[seventeenmonkeys]

thanks for the reply but i know he doesn't have a logitech wheelmouse but i do and i never had these troubles.
The problem occurs with any games he plays an all the games he has are pretty new.

[Randy_tx]

Sounds like a potential direct X problem OR that the vid card doesn't support the type of direct X necessary to run the games.

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

[mjc]

1. The Logitech problem only happens in some games, I had a problem with one and the patch cleared it up, also it depends on what you have the wheel configured to do.

2. Which version of DirectX is on his system? What kind of integrated video (is it an i810 motherboard or some other)? WindowsME sholud be using DX8. There is also a DX diagnostics tool buried some where in Windows, you can search for it in the find box, just type dxdiag in find and when it comes up run it. It should tell you if there are any problems with DX8.

3. Lack of systems resources would be do to too many things running in the background. Hit <ctrl> <alt> <del> once and see what is running, if you see anything that you don't really need then you can end it and see if that makes an improvement. Post back with what is running and maybe we can figure out what isn't needed.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Do Vulcans even have to debug?

[seventeenmonkeys]

i don't know what kind of motherboard he has but he has a celeron proc and the computer is a hewlett packard which is why i don't know what kind of motherboard it is.

[mjc]

What model HP? If it is a Pavilion series check the HP site for recent Intel chipset updates (graphics drivers) also the video memory on many HP computers is "shared" that is they have on board video that shares memory with the rest of the system by allocating some RAM for the video memory. You cannot change how much is allocated, the MOBO just dynamically assigns it on an as needed basis. If he hasn't disabled some of the standard HP installed items that run at start up then they could be hogging resources. One that should be disabled is Backweb it is used for automatic updates from HP, the amount of resources it consumes does not equal the actual value of running it. It slows down your internet connection and consumes "system resources" but provides infrequent service.....a quick run through their forums turned up this list of items that can be disabled:
Task bar display controls-This allows control of resolution from the desktop (icon in lower right)

Reminder-For reminding about bills, etc (Financial Software)(if you use this feature then do not uncheck it)

Task Monitor-Monitors program usage in order to create a "Top 50" list of programs to be sorted during a defrag

ATICwd32-Provides System Tray access to common display functions on ATI Rage Pro video cards.

ATItask-Provides System Tray access to common display functions on ATI Rage Pro video cards.

ATIKey-More ATI features

HPScanpatch-A patch for use with certain types of scanners (5100c)

EAPCIsetup-For the sound card

Hpsysdrv-Keeps track of recoveries

Scheduling Agent-the agent that auto runs scandisk, defrag, and other tasks

TweakLco-For HP Icons
AOL Tray-icon in the system tray for AOL

MS Works calendar reminder-for the MS Works calendar

HP Registration-You are already registered

Encompass-Java browser

VSEcomr.exe-Virus scan

Imgicon-Iomega utility that displays the ZIP drive icon in Windows Explorer

WebscanX-McAfee Web Scan Internet Filter


Now not all of these will be on his system but some of them will be there! This list is far from exhaustive but it just a sampling of what could be running on an HP and HP tech support recommends shutting them down in cases where the system isn't performing well.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Do Vulcans even have to debug?

[seventeenmonkeys]

thanks for the help!!! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif