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Help! My games won't launch!!! :)

Started by Betty Gonzalez30 · · 👁 3 views · 22 replies

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Participants Betty Gonzalez30darkstag2Nicole Jamesboldhound8Anthony Bailey30Tyler Lee57Larry Collins6jadejackal33Douglas Garcia52Benjamin King2
Betty Gonzalez30 Betty Gonzalez30 Active MemberOP
55 messages
joined Dec 2003
#1 ·
I haven't touched a single video game on my PC in months, but I finally decided to download a few titles just to see if they still run. Turns out, they don't...
The issue is that the games actually launch, but then almost immediately the entire system just freezes up on me, forcing a full hard reset every single time.
I’ve already tried swapping through a mountain of different graphics drivers, but honestly, nothing seems to do the trick.
My setup is running Windows XP, an ATI Radeon 8500, and I've cycled through everything from DirectX 8.1 to 9.0c—tried it all.
Other than this specific headache, the computer runs perfectly fine for everything else.

P.S.
Right before the whole thing hangs, the monitor loses its signal and the little LED starts blinking—you know that thing where it goes into standby mode and just sits there flashing?

I'm totally lost on where to even start looking for the culprit. Could this be some kind of hardware failure?

Any help would be massively appreciated!
darkstag2 darkstag2 Newcomer
3 messages
joined Dec 2004
#2 ·
Could be overheating—GPU or CPU maybe?
Try popping the case open and checking if the video card memory is running hot... also, give it a quick dusting to clear out the buildup.
Betty Gonzalez30 Betty Gonzalez30 Active MemberOP
55 messages
joined Dec 2003
#3 ·
I went ahead and dusted everything off, but honestly, nothing seems to be overheating. Everything feels pretty normal to the touch, too.
Got any other bright ideas?
Nicole James Nicole James Regular
313 messages
joined Dec 2010
#4 ·
Make sure to double-check that all the fans are spinning up and functioning properly.
Betty Gonzalez30 Betty Gonzalez30 Active MemberOP
55 messages
joined Dec 2003
#5 ·
Alright, moving right along!

Of course I already checked that!!
boldhound8 boldhound8 Regular
437 messages
joined Oct 2007
#6 ·
Grab MBM 5 or Everest, run a test, and then hit me back with those temps.🙂

What games are you even trying to run?😕
Betty Gonzalez30 Betty Gonzalez30 Active MemberOP
55 messages
joined Dec 2003
#7 ·
Here’s what the temps are looking like:

Case: 70 °F
CPU: 104 °F

Sensor 3 was sitting pretty at around 68 °F, but then out of nowhere it jumps to 162 °F. Now Sensor 4 is throwing high-temp warnings too, also hitting 162 °F.

I have zero clue what Sensors 3 and 4 are actually tracking. GPU? RAM? Maybe that's the smoking gun right here...
Any idea how I can figure out what those sensors are measuring?

PS
I'm running a Gigabyte on 7 N400L motherboard.

Games: I tried running Broken Sword II, Serious Sam 2 (which gave me a real scare 🙂), and even The Sims 2 (my sister tried playing it), and the result is always the same—as soon as I launch them, the monitor just goes black. The screen stays powered on, but the indicator light kicks in and you hear that classic "shutdown" sound, so I'm guessing it's losing the signal from the graphics card. Then pretty soon, the whole PC just dies. 😢
boldhound8 boldhound8 Regular
437 messages
joined Oct 2007
#8 ·
Roger Wood50 said:Check out these temps:

Case: 70 °F
CPU: 104 °F

Sensor 3 was sitting pretty at 68 °F and now all of a sudden it's screaming at 162 °F, plus now sensor 4 is throwing a high temp warning too (also 162°F)

I have zero clue what sensors 3 and 4 are even reading. GPU, RAM...? Maybe that's the issue right there...
How the hell am I supposed to figure out what sensors 3 and 4 are actually measuring?

I don't have a clue what they're measuring either😕

Is this thing climbing Mount Everest or what?
Betty Gonzalez30 Betty Gonzalez30 Active MemberOP
55 messages
joined Dec 2003
#9 ·
MBM
I'm gonna go ahead and do a little digging on Google, maybe I'll actually stumble onto something useful for once.
Betty Gonzalez30 Betty Gonzalez30 Active MemberOP
55 messages
joined Dec 2003
#10 ·
Alright, listen up folks! 🙂
So, I just swapped out my graphics card, and everything is running smooth now, which pretty much confirms the old one was the culprit...
I'm trying to wrap my head around what actually went wrong and how to fix it...
I'm open to any and all theories—overheating, bad capacitors, whatever...
With this new card, everything is golden; movies look great, it breezes through every DirectX benchmark, you name it... until I try to actually play a game. That’s when the whole thing goes to hell...
C'mon, hit me with some ideas!!
boldhound8 boldhound8 Regular
437 messages
joined Oct 2007
#11 ·
Roger Wood50 said:Listen up, people! Pay attention! 🙂
So, I finally swapped out the card and everything is running smooth now. Case closed. Turns out that previous card was absolute garbage and was the sole reason for all my headaches. It was definitely the hardware that was failing me.
What the hell could be going on here? I need someone to tell me what the actual problem is and how the hell I’m supposed to fix it...
I want the full rundown—everything! I’m talking overheating issues, thermal throttling, whatever else might go wrong. Don't hold back on the details, just give me the whole damn picture.
Everything works like a dream with this card—movies look great, and it breezes through every single DirectX benchmark without breaking a sweat. But the second I try to actually launch a game? Everything goes straight to hell. It’s a total disaster.
Come on, throw some ideas my way! I need something good!

What are you running now?😕

Scrub those old drivers off your system. Seriously, just wipe them out. I just stumbled onto this massive breakdown over at Guru3D regarding that Detonator rip, and honestly, it’s a total mess. If you’ve been trying to get your hands on these older files, you need to pay attention because things aren't exactly playing nice with modern setups. The whole situation is basically a headache waiting to happen if you don't know what you're doing. We're talking about legacy software compatibility issues that feel like they're straight out of a nightmare. You try to run these old-school rips, and suddenly you're staring at a crash screen instead of actually playing the game. It’s frustrating as hell. One big thing to watch out for is how these specific versions interact with older OS environments. If you're still messing around with Windows XP for nostalgia's sake, you might think you're safe, but even then, the file integrity can be hit or miss. And don't even get me started on the driver side of things—trying to get an old ATI Radeon 8500 to play ball with certain DirectX calls in these ripped builds is like trying to teach a cat to bark. It’s just not happening without some serious tinkering. If you're looking for stuff like Broken Sword II or maybe even trying to fire up Serious Sam 2, you really have to verify every single file. These rips aren't always "plug and play." You might find that a version of The Sims 2 runs fine, but a different rip of the same game is completely broken. It’s inconsistent, it’s annoying, and it’s a waste of time if you don't vet your sources. Bottom line: Don't just download blindly. Check the checksums, check the compatibility, and for heaven's sake, make sure your hardware can actually handle the quirks of these specific rips. Otherwise, you're just inviting a headache. I don't even know where to start with this. It's just ridiculous. Check this out. If you're still messing around with ancient hardware or just trying to get some legacy software to behave, you need to grab this driver right now. I’m talking about the ATI Radeon 8500 drivers. Seriously, don't even think about trying to run anything decent without getting your drivers straight. It’s a total lifesaver if you're trying to squeeze some life out of an old rig or just setting up a dedicated machine for some retro gaming. I've seen people struggle with this stuff for hours because they're too lazy to just download the right file. Don't be that person. This link takes you straight to the goods on MajorGeeks. It’s straightforward, it works, and it saves you the massive headache of hunting through sketchy mirror sites that are probably going to give your PC a virus. Just click it, install it, and move on with your life. It's not rocket science, people! Just go ahead and install the new ones already!
Anthony Bailey30 Anthony Bailey30 Newcomer
5 messages
joined Jun 2005
#12 ·
So, did you end up fixing things by swapping out your graphics card?

Alright... generally speaking, this kind of thing happens when you perform a downgrade on your monitor setup. You might replace a larger screen with a smaller one and then completely forget to install the specific monitor driver—and please, don't laugh at me here! Not every monitor follows a universal VGA standard or behaves like a standard xx" color monitor. Alternatively, you might install the driver but totally overlook adjusting the horizontal and vertical refresh rates. This becomes particularly "hazardous" with certain games that, instead of intelligently scaling to match your hardware's capabilities, stubbornly insist on demanding the exact frequency and resolution they were previously "shaking out" on your larger, more powerful monitor...
Betty Gonzalez30 Betty Gonzalez30 Active MemberOP
55 messages
joined Dec 2003
#13 ·
So, I swapped out my graphics card and everything seems fine now, but there's a catch—this card is just a loaner. I really need to figure out what's going on with my actual GPU so I can get back to my own setup, but honestly, I'm stuck. I don't even know where to start troubleshooting... I don't even know what the actual issue is...
My monitor settings and everything else look perfectly normal
Any bright ideas?
Tyler Lee57 Tyler Lee57 Member
15 messages
joined May 2004
#14 ·
Lower the resolution and the refresh rate
Betty Gonzalez30 Betty Gonzalez30 Active MemberOP
55 messages
joined Dec 2003
#15 ·
It’s just not doing anything 😢
anyway...
boldhound8 boldhound8 Regular
437 messages
joined Oct 2007
#16 ·
Roger Wood50 said:It won't work 😢
period...

For the third time, what kind of graphics card are you running and what game are we even talking about?
Tyler Lee57 Tyler Lee57 Member
15 messages
joined May 2004
#17 ·
He mentioned that the Radeon 8500 is actually the root of the problem.

Do you have any tweaking tools installed?
boldhound8 boldhound8 Regular
437 messages
joined Oct 2007
#18 ·
Tyler Lee57 said:He mentioned the Radeon 8500 is also part of the issue.

Yeah, sure, but he didn't say what he swapped it with. If he’s trying to run dual graphics without wiping the old drivers first, then obviously nothing's gonna work... that's exactly why I posted those two links on the first page.

Also, which games are we even talking about? An 8500 is basically a relic at this point, so it's no shocker if it can't handle anything modern...

Man, give me a break. He comes in here begging for help, but he's just wasting everyone's damn time.🙄
Larry Collins6 Larry Collins6 Newcomer
1 message
joined Dec 2010
#19 ·
Since we're already talking about The Sims 2, could someone please explain why I can't actually get it to work?
I went through the whole process of installing the game along with all the necessary components, but I can't even get past the launch screen. It just keeps throwing some sort of error at me. I had no issues running the first game, but for some reason, the sequel is being completely difficult. If anyone happens to know what's going on, I'd really appreciate the help. 😕🤷
jadejackal33 jadejackal33 Newcomer
1 message
joined Dec 2010
#20 ·
Larry Collins6 said:Hey guys, since we're talking about The Sims 3, can someone tell me why I can't get it to work??
I installed the game and everything, but I just can't launch it. It keeps throwing some kind of "error" at me. I played The Sims 1 back in the day without any issues, but this one is totally stuck. If anyone knows what's going on, please let me know. 😕🤷

Use a good crack? 🤦
Or just buy the original... then you won't deal with those errors. 😁

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