Games stop working...SP2 involved??

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.games (More info?)

Hi Gunslinger,

After the game has failed to start after you click PLAY:
Check the Task Manager, and End Task anything with your
username next to it except for explorer and taskmgr.

Next, try starting the game using the Start menu shortcut.
Let me know if you have any questions. :-)

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my MSN Zone.com and Gaming Help Site: http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits
MS Assisted Support: http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=assistance
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________

"Gunslinger" <Gunslinger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:E10AE956-836A-49C5-AE09-52BCA90C3AF5@microsoft.com...
> Two of the PC games I own have been working fine for months, but now they
> have stopped working. When I put the CD into the CD rom, I get the launcher
> and hit "Play". But, instead of the game icon and the usual startup scripts,
> I only hear the Rom running, but nothing happens after that. I've tried many
> different ways to startup the games, I've done the patches and done
> uninstall/reinstall and still nothing. I haven't had any error messages.
> The games in question are Max Payne 1 and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.
> The strange thing is the expansion packs for MOH run fine. The main game
> does not
>
> The only thing out of the ordinary (but not really) that has happened since
> the last time I played them was a Windows update running. With the new SP2,
> I've had to unblock some of my PC games, and they all ran fine until recently.
>
> My question is, what aspect of the computer could be causing a startup
> problem, and is there any processes or tasks I can try to see if everything
> is okay with the games themselves? Not sure if this is a driver issue, an
> SP2 issue, or something else all together. All of my other games work fine.
>
> Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.games (More info?)

Thanks for your reply, Jimmy. When you say open the task manager and End
Task things, are you referring to the Processes tab and ending those tasks
with my user name? When I've brought up the task manager after hitting play,
there's nothing listed there. When the launcher is up, yes, there is that
task showing.

I've tried the Start Menu shortcut and get the same thing. I've also tried
the CD Rom icon, I've tried Start-Run, I've gone into the game folders on My
Computer and I've also tried running it from the DOS window. Still nothing.


Thanks for your help.

"Jimmy S." wrote:

> Hi Gunslinger,
>
> After the game has failed to start after you click PLAY:
> Check the Task Manager, and End Task anything with your
> username next to it except for explorer and taskmgr.
>
> Next, try starting the game using the Start menu shortcut.
> Let me know if you have any questions. :-)
>
> --
> Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
> Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
>
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.games (More info?)

"Gunslinger" <Gunslinger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1D966757-7E9F-40DD-8EEC-AA7BE5626129@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for your reply, Jimmy. When you say open the task manager and End
> Task things, are you referring to the Processes tab and ending those tasks
> with my user name? When I've brought up the task manager after hitting
> play,
> there's nothing listed there. When the launcher is up, yes, there is that
> task showing.

Yup that's what Jimmy was referring to other stuff in the background not
being running.

> I've tried the Start Menu shortcut and get the same thing. I've also
> tried
> the CD Rom icon, I've tried Start-Run, I've gone into the game folders on
> My
> Computer and I've also tried running it from the DOS window. Still
> nothing.

Tried uninstalling (backup any saves, sometimes in My Documents and
sometimes within the game's folder itself) rebooting and then installing?
Oh and where did you download SP2 from?

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.games (More info?)

"Gunslinger" <Gunslinger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E10AE956-836A-49C5-AE09-52BCA90C3AF5@microsoft.com...
> Two of the PC games I own have been working fine for months, but now they
> have stopped working. When I put the CD into the CD rom, I get the
> launcher
> and hit "Play". But, instead of the game icon and the usual startup
> scripts,
> I only hear the Rom running, but nothing happens after that. I've tried
> many
> different ways to startup the games, I've done the patches and done
> uninstall/reinstall and still nothing. I haven't had any error messages.
> The games in question are Max Payne 1 and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.
> The strange thing is the expansion packs for MOH run fine. The main game
> does not
>
> The only thing out of the ordinary (but not really) that has happened
> since
> the last time I played them was a Windows update running. With the new
> SP2,
> I've had to unblock some of my PC games, and they all ran fine until
> recently.
>
> My question is, what aspect of the computer could be causing a startup
> problem, and is there any processes or tasks I can try to see if
> everything
> is okay with the games themselves? Not sure if this is a driver issue, an
> SP2 issue, or something else all together. All of my other games work
> fine.
>
> Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Check your video driver hasn't been overwritten by the duff MS one. IE.
Do you have OpenGl installed?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.games (More info?)

>
> Tried uninstalling (backup any saves, sometimes in My Documents and
> sometimes within the game's folder itself) rebooting and then installing?
> Oh and where did you download SP2 from?
>
> --
> Paul Smith,


Yes, I've tried uninstalling, rebooting, then installing again. My SP2 just
came automatically in an update.
> Yeovil, UK.
> http://www.dasmirnov.net/
> http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.
>
> *Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*
>
>
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.games (More info?)

>
> Check your video driver hasn't been overwritten by the duff MS one. IE.
> Do you have OpenGl installed?




I'm not too computer savvy as far as the hardware aspect, but it seems like
I have OpenGL on my computer. It comes up when I do a search for files with
that name. How would I check to see if it's been overwritten?



Thx.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.games (More info?)

I did like you said and did End Processes on the tasks with my login attached
(with the exception of taskmgr and explorer), and tried to open the game.
Still nothing.

The game process flashed on the list during the failed startup for a second
before disappearing.


I'm completely frustrated!

"Paul Smith" wrote:

> "Gunslinger" <Gunslinger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1D966757-7E9F-40DD-8EEC-AA7BE5626129@microsoft.com...
> > Thanks for your reply, Jimmy. When you say open the task manager and End
> > Task things, are you referring to the Processes tab and ending those tasks
> > with my user name? When I've brought up the task manager after hitting
> > play,
> > there's nothing listed there. When the launcher is up, yes, there is that
> > task showing.
>
> Yup that's what Jimmy was referring to other stuff in the background not
> being running.
>
>
>
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.games (More info?)

"Gunslinger" <Gunslinger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4109FF78-08D6-4668-9B6E-F168E9094A92@microsoft.com...

> I'm not too computer savvy as far as the hardware aspect, but it seems
> like
> I have OpenGL on my computer. It comes up when I do a search for files
> with
> that name. How would I check to see if it's been overwritten?

If it was an OpenGL issue then you'd get an error message.

"Could not load OpenGL subsystem" for example.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.games (More info?)

Welcome to the real world that the ads etc. never mention. In many ways it's
far worse than even cars nowadays where if a sensor misbehaves the damn car
won't start or run.

"Gunslinger" <Gunslinger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:093EDDFE-B5C0-45E5-8D1B-48C71810E77D@microsoft.com...
>I did like you said and did End Processes on the tasks with my login
>attached
> (with the exception of taskmgr and explorer), and tried to open the game.
> Still nothing.
>
> The game process flashed on the list during the failed startup for a
> second
> before disappearing.
>
>
> I'm completely frustrated!
>
> "Paul Smith" wrote:
>
>> "Gunslinger" <Gunslinger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:1D966757-7E9F-40DD-8EEC-AA7BE5626129@microsoft.com...
>> > Thanks for your reply, Jimmy. When you say open the task manager and
>> > End
>> > Task things, are you referring to the Processes tab and ending those
>> > tasks
>> > with my user name? When I've brought up the task manager after hitting
>> > play,
>> > there's nothing listed there. When the launcher is up, yes, there is
>> > that
>> > task showing.
>>
>> Yup that's what Jimmy was referring to other stuff in the background not
>> being running.
>>
>>
>>
>>