vista with war3

[magnebula]

I didnt know whether to put this in the vista forum or here, so i picked here.

My Problem: Unable to minimize correctly.

What Happens: Ever since I got Vista Home Basic, I've had plenty of compatibility issues with my games like the rest of the gaming community. However, I have a problem with my Warcraft 3. When I try to minimize the game, the screen distorts, and it becomes either black or dark green, with stripes going across on a slant. If I try to get to the task manager, the color of the screen turns to a brighter green. I can't navigate anything, cant restore anything, nothing. I cant exit with Alt + F4, makes the color turn to a black. I just mash my key board until I log myself off, log back in, and when I log back in Warcraft will be either minimzed or exited. Or I have to restart my computer.

I have an NVidia GeForce7 7900 GT, with updated Vista drivers.

By the way, I get the same distortion when I boot up Warcraft 3 with other windows present on the desktop, everything else must be minimized.

[Indoril Nerevar]

Hi,

Can you post a screenshot of the "stripes going across on a slant"? Sounds like you've got a faulty video card.

One thing to note, however: minimising games is not a good idea. Most games will have problems when you minimise them - including crashing, wierd graphics effects, etc. The general rule regarding minimising games is "Don't do it!"

[magnebula]

I'll work of getting an image of the lines. My video card is fine though when I run and monimize more intensive games, like HL2 and FEAR on max settings and what not. It hasn't been overheating, and has only started as soon as I installed Vista Home Basic. When I had WinXP it was fine.

I'm not entirely ruling out the fact that my GFX Card might be damaged/faulty, but theres too much other evidence that supports the fact that it is not. I will post pics later today.

[magnebula]

Upon rying to Minimize:
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/4299/img1005tu7.jpg

Another without the Flash
http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/9195/img1006bw9.jpg

Upon hitting Alt + F4 after trying to minimize
http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/2008/img1007jt0.jpg

Upon hitting Ctrl + Alt + Delete
http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/35/img1008dd5.jpg

I was unable to replicate the black screen, but here are the pics. Let me know if links are broken. Thanks.

[Indoril Nerevar]

Do you have any similar problems with any other games? Have you installed the latest correct drivers for your video card?

Those pics definitely look like a damaged video card. Do you have another video card (or can you get one from a friend or family member)? If so, pop it in your system, and see if you get the same problems. Let us know how you go.

[magnebula]

Thats the odd thing. With every other game that I play, I have no problem what so ever; HL2 (and all of my mods), FEAR, UT2K4, etc., all of which are far more graphically intensive. I do have the most recent drivers for my video card, directly from NVidia. I've never seen any problems like this before, and its really an annoyance when I accidently hit the Windows key on my keyboard during a DotA match.

EDIT: I don't really have access to another video card short of buying one so I dont know how I'll be able to do that.

[Indoril Nerevar]

Have you tried reinstalling the game? Click "Common Game Issues" in my signature, and make sure you've done all the steps there.

Do you have any patches or no-CD cracks installed for this game?