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Skwege
12-30-2003, 06:25 PM
I put together a new machine in August of 03. Everything worked beautifully for well over a month. Then things went to hell.
Several first person shooter's (Soldier of Fortune II, Allied Assault, and The Call of Duty Demo) run into errors whenever I enter the game. I can get through the start menu, loading screen etc. The problem arises once the actual gameplay starts. It just crashes automatically, and gives an error, and sends me back to Windows.
Other games like Medieval: Total War, GTA Vice City, won't load at all. Doesn't give an error message or anything. I double click on the run icon and nothing happens.
I tried reinstalling each game. After each new installation the game will work fine for 2-3 uses, and then the problem re-occurs.
This has become excessively frustrating. I have reformatted both my HD's three times, to no avail. I tested a different graphics card, same problem occured. Tried out a different processor, same problem. I even turned off the onboard soundcard and tried a different soundcard, and didn't help.
I really don't think it is a heat issue, because that wouldn't attribute to the games working fine for two months, and then starting up this problem. Also as I said, they work fine after a new installation, just for a few uses.
On a side note I have begun to get many other errors. MSN Messenger frequently crashes and won't load. As well as many different errors show up in Windows, that I need to reload so the error window will cease popping up. Also I have been occasionally getting "System Failed Memory Test" during POST.
Only thing I can come up with is that the Motherboard has gone bad. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions for what my problem may be. I even took it in to very well reputed repairman and he couldnt get it fixed.
Should I just take the dive and buy a new motherboard and try it out?

I would greatly appreciate any new ideas or help. I'm just extremely frustrated.

Thanks,
Eric


Here are my system specs

Operating System System Model
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (build 2600) ASUSTeK Computer INC. A7N8X2.0 REV 2.xx
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
1.73 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. A7N8X2.0 REV 2.xx
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD ASUS A7N8X2.0 Deluxe ACPI BIOS Rev 1007 10/06/2003
Drives Memory Modules c,d
115.75 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
81.91 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8160B [CD-ROM drive]
SONY CD-RW CRX175E [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

Maxtor 4D060H3 [Hard drive] (33.82 GB) -- drive 1, s/n D3038RLE, rev DAH017K0, SMART Status: Healthy
Maxtor 6Y080P0 [Hard drive] (81.96 GB) -- drive 0, s/n Y2MW7M4E, rev YAR41BW0, SMART Status: Healthy 1024 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'DDR1' has 512 MB
Slot 'DDR2' has 256 MB
Slot 'DDR3' has 256 MB
Local Drive Volumes

c: (on drive 0) 81.95 GB 65.13 GB free
f: (on drive 1) 33.81 GB 16.78 GB free

Logins Network Drives
ERIC-OWZPMXEJCM\Administrator
ERIC-OWZPMXEJCM\Eric
NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE
NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM

Installed Microsoft Hotfixes Printers
DataAccess
Q823718 (details...) on 12/11/03
DirectX
DX819696 (details...)
Internet Explorer
Q330994 (details...)
Q824145 (details...)
SP1 (SP1)
Windows Media Player
WM817787 (details...)
WM828026 (details...)
SP0
Q828026 (details...) on 12/13/03
Windows XP
SP1
Q324720[SP] (details...) on 12/11/03
SP2
KB810217 (details...) on 12/11/03
KB817778 (details...) on 12/23/03
KB820291 (details...) on 12/23/03
KB821253 (details...) on 12/13/03
KB822603 (details...) on 12/23/03
KB823182 (details...) on 12/11/03
KB824105 (details...) on 12/11/03
KB824141 (details...) on 12/11/03
KB824146 (details...) on 12/11/03
KB825119 (details...) on 12/11/03
KB826939 (details...) on 12/11/03
KB828035 (details...) on 12/11/03
Q327979 (details...) on 12/13/03
Q814995 (details...) on 12/23/03


Click here to see all available security Hotfixes.

Marks a HotFix that verifies correctly
Marks a HotFix that fails verification
(Failing hotfixes need to be reinstalled)
An unmarked HotFix lacks the data to allow verification hp photosmart 1115 series on \\DENISE\hp photosmart 1115 series

Controllers Display
Standard floppy disk controller
NVIDIA NForce MCP2 IDE Controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] RADEON 9600 SERIES [Display adapter]
RADEON 9600 SERIES - Secondary [Display adapter]
Sony HMD-A240 [Monitor] (16.1"vis, s/n 8069379, April 2002)
Bus Adapters Multimedia
Silicon Image SiI 3112 SATARaid Controller
NVIDIA PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller MPU-401 Compatible MIDI Device
NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio
NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio Codec Interface
NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) MCP Audio Processing Unit (Dolby(R) Digital)
Standard Game Port
Communications Other Devices
1394 Net Adapter
3Com 3C920B-EMB Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller
NVIDIA nForce MCP Networking Adapter
Network Card MAC Address: 00:26:54:0E:9D:1B
Network IP Address: 172.16.1.36 / 16 OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
PS/2 Compatible Mouse
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub

kiosk
12-30-2003, 06:30 PM
likely cause are faulty RAM chips, not the mainboard.

Try running your system with only one RAM stick at the time, and see if errors occur again. Try to isolate the RAM stick that causes trouble, as this is the most likely cause.

Skwege
12-30-2003, 06:36 PM
Thanks for the suggestion, I will definitely test that out.
The 512 stick I bought when I put the machine together, however the two 256 sticks were from my old machine.
I'll let you know.

Budfred
12-30-2003, 08:18 PM
It also sounds like you may be infested. If you are visiting the same site after each format and reinstall, you could be getting reinfested, especially if you are not using good security. Do you have a firewall, updated and active antivirus and do you run spyware scans. If not, start with the spyware scans and see what you find... Links are at the bottom of my post, Spybot and/or AdAware....

Skwege
12-30-2003, 09:43 PM
Well I tested out the RAM suggestion, didn't help unfortunately.
I have many different spyware programs, and they haven't pulled up anything out of the ordinary.
I am really pulling my hair out on this one.

Budfred
12-30-2003, 10:52 PM
How about firewall and antivirus?? You may need to run HijackThis and post the log to see if you have any nasties in there...

Skwege
12-31-2003, 12:29 AM
Logfile of HijackThis v1.97.7
Scan saved at 8:22:07 PM, on 12/30/2003
Platform: Windows XP SP1 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\System32\sstray.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\rmctrl.exe
C:\Program Files\Winamp3\winampa.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Desktop-shooting.exe
C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Multimedia\main\launchpd.exe
C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\DllHost.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\WINZIP\winzip32.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Eric\Local Settings\Temp\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.yahoo.com/
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {7559B76E-0222-4d77-9499-CCE9EB4EDC2F} - C:\PROGRA~1\AdShield\AdShield\AdShield.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msdxm.ocx
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nForce Tray Options] sstray.exe /r
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATIPTA] C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RemoteControl] C:\WINDOWS\System32\rmctrl.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinampAgent] "C:\Program Files\Winamp3\winampa.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NeroCheck] C:\WINDOWS\system32\NeroCheck.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Supernova] C:\WINDOWS\Desktop-shooting.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ATI Launchpad] "C:\Program Files\ATI Multimedia\main\launchpd.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [AIM] C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe -cnetwait.odl
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Maintain Block List... - C:\PROGRA~1\AdShield\AdShield\maintain.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: Add to &Block List... - C:\PROGRA~1\AdShield\AdShield\suppress.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: AdShield Option &Settings... - C:\PROGRA~1\AdShield\AdShield\settings.htm
O9 - Extra button: AIM (HKLM)
O9 - Extra button: Messenger (HKLM)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Messenger (HKLM)
O9 - Extra button: AdShield (HKCU)
O12 - Plugin for .bcf: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPBelv32.dll
O16 - DPF: {02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B} (QuickTime Object) - http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab
O16 - DPF: {62475759-9E84-458E-A1AB-5D2C442ADFDE} - http://a1540.g.akamai.net/7/1540/52/20030530/qtinstall.info.apple.com/abarth/us/win/QuickTimeInstaller.exe
O16 - DPF: {9F1C11AA-197B-4942-BA54-47A8489BB47F} (Update Class) - http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/CAB/x86/unicode/iuctl.CAB?37966.5467361111

Budfred
12-31-2003, 12:46 AM
Bad news:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Supernova] C:\WINDOWS\Desktop-shooting.exe

is

X
Supernova
<filename>.exe
Added as a result of the SURNOVA (or SUPOVA) VIRUS! <filename>.exe is the chosen name

You can try to use HJT to fix this, but you may want to run an online antivirus scan first to see if it can find and kill it. You can find links to several in mjc's security thread... (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15179)

halovivek
12-31-2003, 02:40 AM
hallo,
my suggestion is to uninstall all the games and delete it (delete from the recycle bin) restart your system. then if you know administrator password in the windows go to the desktop click my computer right click that one .
then go to properties - click advance tab. there select performace option make page value to atleast 2gb for games. then apply and say ok
then go control panel .click add/remove programs then click on the add new programs.
clik from cd or floppy and instal the software.
then whether if you are having doubt about that the video card is giving problem then please check in control panel add/remove hardware