Topic: help - SFC OP Game now crashing at start up

[Kid Carrson]

I' ve had SFC Op on my work computer for a good long time  (nearly 3 years).  It's the only game on the computer.  Just today, the computer began to crash when I tried to play SFC OP.  

It does the following:

it will crash to a blue screen and say one of these 3 things:  

0026:FFOB5A97 in VxD ...
0028:COOBD3BC in VxD ...
00187:BFF83BFC

The computer otherwise seems to be running OK.  It runs Windows 98 SE, it has a 1.7 Gig processor, 256 meg sdram.  The video card is a Geforce card that's been in the machine a few years.

My suspicion is that the video card is starting to go.  Does this make sense?  I've already unistalled and then reinstalled SFC OP, and no change in the results.  

Any help is appreciated.

Kid Carrson

 

[Cleaven]

Does the video (and everything else) check out if you run DXDiags?

I'm assuming its actually windows that is crashing and you need to reboot when you try and start OP. Or is it just OP which crashes and WIn98 is still running?

Do you have new AV software on the PC?  

[Kid Carrson]

Good questions.  I don't know how to check the DX Diags.   I did look in the Direct X file, went to the shortcut, and it appeared to show the diagnostics as A-Ok.  Am I looking in the right spot?  And what am I looking for there?

SFC OP played fine for 3 test games later today, and then began its same odd pattern of crashing to a blue screen with those types of phrases.   Sometimes it would crash during the game, then as I was setting a game up even before I started the game it would crash.  

OP would crash, but often the blue screen would say that you could continue, but you couldn't really.  Sometimes it would let SFC Op continue, but only for a little bit.  I'd try to exit out of the game, but it would then crash anyway.  You had to escape out, but most of the time (almost always) it would lead to a freeze / crash and restart of windows.  During the "freeze", the picture would go all scrambled and jumbled.  It seemed to get worse (more frequent problems) the more I tried to play the game.

Thanks for any more thoughts & insights.

KC  

     

[Pestalence]

It is best to reinstall Direct X 9.0b.. installing any Direct X on top of 9.0b will corrupt Direct X.

the Diagnostic will not show this when using the diagnostic tool.. but it is in the Microsoft Direct X FAQ.

I suggest running a search engine for the Direct X web site at microsoft ans redownload Direct X 9.0b.

if you really want to run a Diagnostic, go to Start Button, Click Run, Type in DXDIAG and click OK.

after the little green bar finishes and disappears at the bottom of the window, then go through all the tabs and run all available tests... this will determnine if Direct X is working.. but if you did install something like Direct X 8.1 on top of Direct X 9.0b, the tests will not show any corruption.. but Direct X 9.0b will be corrupted and will require reinstalling it...

this is mentioned vaguely in the Direct X FAQ on the Microsoft web site.
 

[Kid Carrson]

Guys.  Thanks for the help.  The problem was really quite perplexing.  Direct X was fine.  Everything checked out on the computer.  Then I tried the game on another work computer, and the SAME PROBLEM occurred.  YIKES!!!

No viruses were seen.  So what could it be?

The answer was the antivirus itself!   Norton's updates had somehow done the damage, but its most recent updates repaired the problem.  Problem solved.  All computers work fine again now.

I was so so ready to change the video card, wipe the hard drive, get a new computer.  I guess it always pays to doublecheck that our anti-virus software isn't the problem.

Thanks.

KC  

[Cleaven]

AV, can't live without it.  

[E_Look]

I am tired of Symantec's AV and even their utilities suite.  They are not filling the shoes of their DOS predecessors too completely.  They seem to take too much control over your system, too invasive.

I am casting about nowadays for a substitute I CAN live with.

[Cleaven]

It's a question of which is more invasive, the AV security, or the virus/worm/trojan.  

[E_Look]

Yeah, but I'm sure another company has something better...

[Cleaven]

Well that's the fundamental principle of capitalism and the free market. To build a better mousetrap, then stand back while the world beats a path to your door.  

[Kid Carrson]

I' ve had SFC Op on my work computer for a good long time  (nearly 3 years).  It's the only game on the computer.  Just today, the computer began to crash when I tried to play SFC OP.  

It does the following:

it will crash to a blue screen and say one of these 3 things:  

0026:FFOB5A97 in VxD ...
0028:COOBD3BC in VxD ...
00187:BFF83BFC

The computer otherwise seems to be running OK.  It runs Windows 98 SE, it has a 1.7 Gig processor, 256 meg sdram.  The video card is a Geforce card that's been in the machine a few years.

My suspicion is that the video card is starting to go.  Does this make sense?  I've already unistalled and then reinstalled SFC OP, and no change in the results.  

Any help is appreciated.

Kid Carrson

 

[Cleaven]

Does the video (and everything else) check out if you run DXDiags?

I'm assuming its actually windows that is crashing and you need to reboot when you try and start OP. Or is it just OP which crashes and WIn98 is still running?

Do you have new AV software on the PC?  

[Kid Carrson]

Good questions.  I don't know how to check the DX Diags.   I did look in the Direct X file, went to the shortcut, and it appeared to show the diagnostics as A-Ok.  Am I looking in the right spot?  And what am I looking for there?

SFC OP played fine for 3 test games later today, and then began its same odd pattern of crashing to a blue screen with those types of phrases.   Sometimes it would crash during the game, then as I was setting a game up even before I started the game it would crash.  

OP would crash, but often the blue screen would say that you could continue, but you couldn't really.  Sometimes it would let SFC Op continue, but only for a little bit.  I'd try to exit out of the game, but it would then crash anyway.  You had to escape out, but most of the time (almost always) it would lead to a freeze / crash and restart of windows.  During the "freeze", the picture would go all scrambled and jumbled.  It seemed to get worse (more frequent problems) the more I tried to play the game.

Thanks for any more thoughts & insights.

KC  

     

[Pestalence]

It is best to reinstall Direct X 9.0b.. installing any Direct X on top of 9.0b will corrupt Direct X.

the Diagnostic will not show this when using the diagnostic tool.. but it is in the Microsoft Direct X FAQ.

I suggest running a search engine for the Direct X web site at microsoft ans redownload Direct X 9.0b.

if you really want to run a Diagnostic, go to Start Button, Click Run, Type in DXDIAG and click OK.

after the little green bar finishes and disappears at the bottom of the window, then go through all the tabs and run all available tests... this will determnine if Direct X is working.. but if you did install something like Direct X 8.1 on top of Direct X 9.0b, the tests will not show any corruption.. but Direct X 9.0b will be corrupted and will require reinstalling it...

this is mentioned vaguely in the Direct X FAQ on the Microsoft web site.
 

[Kid Carrson]

Guys.  Thanks for the help.  The problem was really quite perplexing.  Direct X was fine.  Everything checked out on the computer.  Then I tried the game on another work computer, and the SAME PROBLEM occurred.  YIKES!!!

No viruses were seen.  So what could it be?

The answer was the antivirus itself!   Norton's updates had somehow done the damage, but its most recent updates repaired the problem.  Problem solved.  All computers work fine again now.

I was so so ready to change the video card, wipe the hard drive, get a new computer.  I guess it always pays to doublecheck that our anti-virus software isn't the problem.

Thanks.

KC  

[Cleaven]

AV, can't live without it.  

[E_Look]

I am tired of Symantec's AV and even their utilities suite.  They are not filling the shoes of their DOS predecessors too completely.  They seem to take too much control over your system, too invasive.

I am casting about nowadays for a substitute I CAN live with.

[Cleaven]

It's a question of which is more invasive, the AV security, or the virus/worm/trojan.  

[E_Look]

Yeah, but I'm sure another company has something better...

[Cleaven]

Well that's the fundamental principle of capitalism and the free market. To build a better mousetrap, then stand back while the world beats a path to your door.