Hi all,

If anyone on here can offer assistance I will be eternally grateful as I am now tearing my hair out...

I recently installed a new Sata drive and ram into my system and did a complete format/partition reinstall of windows XP (Service pack2). The only reason for this was a system upgrade and more HDD space. Anyhoo, windows itself works fine, the problem begins when I try to run games such as EQ2 and Guild Wars. After about 3 mins the game just completely freezes with a high pitched sound. No error messages appear, no crash to desktop....just stops and I have to press the reset button to get out. I also installed Dungeon Siege which needs comparatively little ram, video memory etc and the exact same thing happened.

I have installed all the correct and latest version sound and video drivers, all works fine in DX9, I have followed fixes from other sites e.g disabling fast writes, lowering acceleration....all to no avail.

Prior to installing the new HD and Ram I used to run everything fine on the system, was just running out of space and thought the upgraded ram couldn't hurt! Hence the feeling that this is a driver error or conflict somewhere. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. System specs are as follows: -

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System Information
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Time of this report: 3/5/2006, 22:00:34
Machine name: CLARE-MAIN
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
System Model: A7N8X
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2600+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.1GHz
Memory: 2816MB RAM
Page File: 144MB used, 4562MB available
Windows Dir: D:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

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DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: No problems found. DirectDraw test results: All tests were successful. Direct3D 7 test results: All tests were successful. Direct3D 8 test results: All tests were successful. Direct3D 9 test results: All tests were successful.
Sound Tab 1: DirectSound test results: All tests were successful.
Music Tab: DirectMusic test results: All tests were successful.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found. DirectPlay test results: All tests were successful.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

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Display Devices
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Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6200
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 6200
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_00F3&SUBSYS_98831462&REV_A2
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.8198 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 12/10/2005 03:06:00, 3955456 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
Mini VDD Date: 12/10/2005 03:06:00, 3536768 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-43B3-11CF-D457-89B803C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x00F3
SubSys ID: 0x98831462
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_B ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A
Deinterlace Caps: {212DC724-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{212DC724-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{212DC724-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{212DC724-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: All tests were successful.
D3D7 Test Result: All tests were successful.
D3D8 Test Result: All tests were successful.
D3D9 Test Result: All tests were successful.

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Sound Devices
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Description: SB Live! Wave Device
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0002&SUBSYS_80641102&REV_0A
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: emu10k1f.sys
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.3509 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 8/14/2001 15:17:52, 775296 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Creative
HW Accel Level: Full
Cap Flags: 0xF5F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 5000, 48000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 33, 32
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 33, 32
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: Yes
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Registry: OK
Sound Test Result: All tests were successful.

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
Description: SB Live! Wave Device
Default Sound Capture: Yes
Default Voice Capture: Yes
Driver Name: emu10k1f.sys
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.3509 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 8/14/2001 15:17:52, 775296 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x41
Format Flags: 0xFFF

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Sorry for the novel any help greatly appreciated =) Let me know if u need any other info.

Thanks,
Fyeri

Welcome to D-A-L

As a first step (test) I would remove the new RAM you added and see if things work OK.

The new RAM may be mismatched with your previous sticks.

If the issue remains the same with your old RAM then we can move on to other options.

Thanks for the reply =)

I have already checked this, it was the first thing I did. The same thing still happens. Also I bought 3 completely new sticks and fully replaced the two 512Mb sticks I had to avoid this problem.

I currently have 3 Kingston 1Gb DDR 400 sticks in. I also tried only running with 1 stick, then 2 sticks etc. I really don't think the RAM is the problem......I've exhausted all options I can think of on that front.

Thanks,
Fyeri