Is there any hope? Games don't load, various programs fail

MetalDetektor · 11-12-2008, 03:09 PM

Spontaneous and persistent slowdowns/hang-ups - is there hope?
This problem arose pretty much out of nowhere. I've actually had surprisingly good luck with Vista, it's been a couple years now and things generally have gone pretty smoothly.

Just yesterday, everything suddenly began running really poorly. The hard-disk "thinking noise" goes on much longer than it did before, firefox and winamp and other programs will freeze for a few seconds, then sometimes unfreeze and other times just stop responding and I'll have to ctrl-alt-delete.

Beyond these issues, which really I can live with, none of my games will load anymore. They'll start, but like for example Fallout 3's opening screens go MUCH more slowly. It will go from "Bethesda" to the next title card or whatever in like thirty seconds, and it never reaches the title screen, although the music keeps playing. Dead Space gets to the title screen, and you can attempt to load or start a game, but it will just continue loading indefinitely.

Far Cry 2 actually does start and does work, but the load times are significantly longer than before. Am I dealing with a failing hard drive here? It's relatively new, only a year and a half or so old. Is there some virus or problem I haven't found? Is there any hope? Not being able to continue playing Fallout has really got me down. I've run virus scans with what free programs I could find, nothing was found. I scheduled a few disk scans, and the results told me everything was fine. It's like someone poured death syrup into my computer that interferes with everything and won't allow gaming at all.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks in advance

MetalDetektor · 11-13-2008, 10:30 PM

I guess there isn't any.

**jcgriff2** · 11-13-2008, 10:50 PM

Hi. . .

4 areas to check w/ in Vista -

» Problem Reports and Solutions -
START | type wercon.exe into the Start Search box - hit enter | view "See Problems to Check" first, then the other selections on the top left of the screen.

» Reliability Monitor -
START | type perfmon /rel into the Start Search box and hit enter. View the Reliability Monitor looking at the red X's and the information below.

» Event Viewer -
START | type eventvwr.msc into the Start Search box and hit enter | view the various logs starting with the Administrative logs - looking for the date/time of an Explorer app crash.

» Device Manager -
START | type devmgmt.msc into the Start Search box and hit enter | click on View - enable hidden devices | Look for red/yellow flags

You can also run a Vista Health report -
START | type perfmon /report - output will be in web browser

Make sure all drivers up to date from manufacturer and that all Windows Updates in as well

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.

11-12-2008, 03:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
MetalDetektor Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 2 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64	Is there any hope? Games don't load, various programs fail Spontaneous and persistent slowdowns/hang-ups - is there hope? This problem arose pretty much out of nowhere. I've actually had surprisingly good luck with Vista, it's been a couple years now and things generally have gone pretty smoothly. Just yesterday, everything suddenly began running really poorly. The hard-disk "thinking noise" goes on much longer than it did before, firefox and winamp and other programs will freeze for a few seconds, then sometimes unfreeze and other times just stop responding and I'll have to ctrl-alt-delete. Beyond these issues, which really I can live with, none of my games will load anymore. They'll start, but like for example Fallout 3's opening screens go MUCH more slowly. It will go from "Bethesda" to the next title card or whatever in like thirty seconds, and it never reaches the title screen, although the music keeps playing. Dead Space gets to the title screen, and you can attempt to load or start a game, but it will just continue loading indefinitely. Far Cry 2 actually does start and does work, but the load times are significantly longer than before. Am I dealing with a failing hard drive here? It's relatively new, only a year and a half or so old. Is there some virus or problem I haven't found? Is there any hope? Not being able to continue playing Fallout has really got me down. I've run virus scans with what free programs I could find, nothing was found. I scheduled a few disk scans, and the results told me everything was fine. It's like someone poured death syrup into my computer that interferes with everything and won't allow gaming at all. Anyway, I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks in advance

11-13-2008, 10:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
MetalDetektor Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 2 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64	Re: Is there any hope? Games don't load, various programs fail I guess there isn't any.

11-13-2008, 10:50 PM	#3 (permalink)
jcgriff2 Moderator, Microsoft Supp Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Palm Springs, California / Southern New Jersey Posts: 10,046 OS: Windows 7, Vista Ultimate My System	Re: Is there any hope? Games don't load, various programs fail Hi. . . 4 areas to check w/ in Vista - » Problem Reports and Solutions - START \| type wercon.exe into the Start Search box - hit enter \| view "See Problems to Check" first, then the other selections on the top left of the screen. » Reliability Monitor - START \| type perfmon /rel into the Start Search box and hit enter. View the Reliability Monitor looking at the red X's and the information below. » Event Viewer - START \| type eventvwr.msc into the Start Search box and hit enter \| view the various logs starting with the Administrative logs - looking for the date/time of an Explorer app crash. » Device Manager - START \| type devmgmt.msc into the Start Search box and hit enter \| click on View - enable hidden devices \| Look for red/yellow flags You can also run a Vista Health report - START \| type perfmon /report - output will be in web browser Make sure all drivers up to date from manufacturer and that all Windows Updates in as well Regards. . . jcgriff2 . __________________ . . . . . . . . BSOD Posting Instructions B Expecting a reply and waiting > 36 hours ? Send a PM to me containing a link to your thread My availability will be limited through ~ December 1, 2009