Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 - BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH - HELP!!!

[joeban1]

Hello, I hope someone can help me. I have Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 with the Soaked! and Wild! expansion packs. The game loads up fine, and works for a few minutes. But for some reason, it just suddenly crashes and I get the 'blue screen of death' (or I think that's what it's called). It is usually titled 'PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA' although it has been called various things in the past.

At first, I thought that this was simply a one-off-glitch but now it has become a very annoying and consistent problem.

I have uninstalled and re-installed, checked for new patches, checked for updates... EVERYTHING!!! Windows nor Atari seem to have any tips for resolving my issues.

My computer is fully up-to-spec with the game requirements.

PLEASE HELP!!!!
Thanks!

(I thought I should also say that the game works fine until you enter a game mode. So I can scroll the menu without issues until I start or load any game type)

[koala]

Hi, welcome to TSF

Please post back with the full BSOD message, including the Stop code.

Is this the only game you're having problems with?

Does the game work if you uninstall the game and expansion packs and then reinstall the game with no add-ons?

Are your graphics driver, chipset drivers and DirectX all up to date?

[joeban1]

Hey, thanks for helping Koala.

I have found out that the message only appears when playing a loaded game (weird, huh?). It's fine when you start a new game, but as soon as you load it the next time you play, the PC dies.

I have checked for driver updates and updated DirectX. This made no difference.

The message that appeared a couple of minutes ago is as follows;

'A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (this message differs consistently)

Technical information:

***STOP: 0X000000D1 (0X00000000, 0X00000002, 0X00000000,
0X00000000)'

It then blames any new installed programs or hardware (there are none).

As I own other games consoles, I don't use my PC much for gaming. However, I do own Age of Empires III and Medieval: Total War. These both work fine.


HOPE THIS HELPS!!!

[koala]

From http://www.updatexp.com/stop-messages.html

Stop 0x000000D1 or DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

The Stop 0xD1 messages indicates that the system attempted to access pageable memory using a kernel process IRQL that was too high. Drivers that have used improper addresses typically cause this error.

Possible Resolutions:

* Stop 0xD1 messages can occur after installing faulty drivers or system services. If a driver is listed by name, disable, remove, or roll back that driver to confirm that this resolves the error. If so, contact the manufacturer about a possible update. Using updated software is especially important for backup programs, multimedia applications, antivirus scanners, DVD playback, and CD mastering tools.

Microsoft KB articles:

STOP 0x000000D1 Error Message When You Turn Your Computer Off
STOP 0xD1 Error Message When You Start Windows XP
STOP 0xD1 Second Mylex AcceleRAID SCSI Controller Causes Error Message
STOP 0x000000D1 WRQ AtGuard Program causes error message in Windows XP

Make sure all your drivers are up to date.



EDIT:
You could also run memtest on one stick of RAM at a time to test for any errors.

Direct link to pre-compiled bootable ISO (click the link to download the zipped ISO file)
http://www.memtest.org/download/2.00...+-2.00.iso.zip

Unzip the file and burn the ISO to CD (as an image, not as data) to create a bootable CD. Reboot and go into the BIOS. Change the boot order to 'CD first', save settings, insert the CD and reboot. This will start the program. Run for one RAM stick at a time (very important, to prevent false readings) for at least 10 passes each. Any errors usually indicates a fault with the RAM.

[joeban1]

Hey again Koala.

I updated my Graphics Driver. I then double... triple and quadruple checked for any other updates... SO IM SURE THEIR ARE NONE!!!

I then ran your test... and found nothing.

But hey, guess what? I loaded my game and...

'BAD_POOL_HEADER'! JOY!!!! (Note this is different to the last message)

The 'STOP' code was also different this time...

***STOP: 0x00000019 (0X00000020, 0XFF32D4D0, 0XFF32D598, 0X0A190002)

Does this mean that there is something new wrong with my PC?

[koala]

If there were no memtest errors, then we'll concentrate on the drivers for now. This new BSOD has several possible causes, one of them being drivers.

When you updated the graphics driver, did you uninstall the old one first, then reboot into VGA mode to install the new one?

Have you reinstalled the chipset drivers? You can find these on your motherboard CD or download from the motherboard manufacturer's website.

As the errors only appear during this one game, try uninstalling it and the expansion packs, then reinstall just the game.