Black Screen on Startup

Archived from groups: alt.games.civ3 (More info?)

"KoolAid" <joe@blow.com> wrote in message
news:4q9bg09f6t2dd8hvf4so6e3i410prshfkd@4ax.com...
> when ever i try to start Civ3/ptw/conquest it does the load screen
> then the monitor turns off, but i can still hear the game, and i can
> hear it changing selections when i press arrow keys. GEforce video
> card and i've messed with all the settings. anyone have any idea's?
>
>
>
I don't know anything about that particular card but if you've set
everything as low as it can go and it still doesn't work.
Then I suggest:
1) check to make sure you have the proper DirectX installed.
2) make sure your video/audio drivers are up to date (sometimes this works
but not always).
3) if you are on a low memory machine (i.e. 256 mb or less) goto startup/run
type msconfig. Choose selective startup and clear the checkbox next to
"load startup group items." Apply, OK and reboot. Try your game. If it
works, then a normal boot up has too much stuff running in the background
for the game to work.

To see if low memory could be an issue: Right click on My computer. Choose
properties then the performace tab. There should be a line "System
resources free: xx%" xx% being the percentage of memory free for use at
that moment. Each system is different, but I would say that 90% free and
above is where you want it to be. If your % is lower, then try the msconfig
option above.