ScinteX

the latest driver would be quite old since 3dfx went bang a while back. Id suggest a new graphics card

theyre not dead at all........at least everywhere BUT the UK!! http://www.elsa.com/EN/ and the newest card so far (as of 21/09/2004) http://www.elsa.com/EN/news/detail.asp?newsid=250 trick now is to find someone who stocks the flippin' things! there was a lot of rumours about ELSA and who might buy them since they had money troubles in 2000ish. Seems now that they are in full flight- but just not in the UK at the moment. Nearest place is Germany.

i have a Sapphire 9800XT and i have to say it's been fantastic! i have no experience of the others so they might be better who knows. Id suggest a quick look at some hardware review sites. just did a quick search and got here: http://www.ultimatehardware.net/video.htm

SHHHH! It's a secret No one has seen inside a laptop because there is a great danger that the hamsters might escape. i think the goblins who make them might be upset if you let thier hamsters escape 8) Try here http://www.thisischris.com/feature/laptop.html Sounds silly but they are just umm smaller... with a keyboard stuck over the motherboard and drives, then sealed with a screen on a hinge... kinda

Try here! http://www.ntcompatible.com/thread28858-1.html

Of course you may still have a problem if your PC specs dont meet the minimum requirements and/or your graphics card is lacking enough power......... however the post above should resolve the errors for those who do have the correct hardware. I just found my original post that has the bit about a hardware checker that you can download http://www.ntcompatible.com/thread28858-1.html

OK OK here i am *again* LOL Funnily enough it seems that DirectX is more to blame than the SIMS 2. Just seen a client who had the same error. Different game tho (fink it was D-Day or somethin) When I went to install DirectX 9.0c it 'installed'.. or not. Seemed that 9.0c was already on, via the SP2 update. 2 things solved the error and this is sooooo simple! Number one,- get the newest drivers for your graphics card. if needs be, goto the manufacturers website. When I was with my client i got his drivers from ATI initially but they didnt want to install (the error msg gave it away ) so I went to compaq and got them from there. Anyhow they installed ok. Started the game and still got the same error. Number 2 - Now to revert 9.0c back to 8!!!! Go have a peek here: http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=522 I followed the directions (btw you need your XP CD for it) and DirectX was back to vanilla XP state. then I installed DirectX 9.0c. it worked! i keep posting this info up but it kinda gets lost and i have a prob finding it by the search.... so there it is4 u all from memory (and sry bout the lack of good grammer, spelllling, punctuation and probably readability!)

ooooOOOOO leave it wiv me

Yep I agree!! I found that slicing up my disk and storing my files on another partition is great because I can just wipe out XP and start again. i had to upgrade a family member's pc and i did this (this might be useful for those still wondering about SP2 as i was) startup the PC Get Acronis Partition Expert or Partition Magic Create a new partition Move all important files there (your own files, downloaded exes etc) Install Norton Ghost Create an image of the current PC. Wipe out the XP partition install XP, SP1, video, etc as above take a ghost image install SP2 take another ghost image install all apps and games and do your tweaks Take an image of that. i save all ghost images to the non-OS partition works a dream. now if my PC goes t1ts up i can eother go back to: XP SP1 (which I know works well) XP SP2 'fresh build' XP SP2+ apps and games (when it worked last ) if anything does go wrong, if it be a virus, bad app install,corruption or whatever I can turn back time. The only thing I'm not covered for is the actual disk failing (or natural disaster, fire, aliens landing etc). One day I'll put the ghost images on CD One day I'll put the ghost images on CD and keep them at work One day I'll put the ghost images on CD and keep them at a mates house One day I'll put the ghost images on CD and keep them on Mars........

after rereading everything + you dont quite know what u wanna do yet career wise ... PC it is! As for looks... well take a look over here - good looks out of the box Build a PC- not only is it a learning experience you get exactly what you want, branded quality parts and it can look good too. Thermaltake

PNG yeah 8) Never liked JPEGs lol Dont you guys ever remember 'hiding' files within JPEGS? It used to be a 'trick' however looking at it now... was a security prob!

I found a way around an oddly performing machine- wipe out XP and start again! OK so normally I wouldn't recommend it however it provided an ideal environment for the loading of XP SP2. Format C partition Load RAID driver XP Load in device drivers for chipset, video card, directx SP1 SP2 Addtional updates Tweaks Apps & Games Runs like a dream now :-)

oops...sorry ds3circuit... didnt mean to just elbow my way in then!

A Mac sounds like a good choice. My Mac is great, but its cursed with Outlook and IE (compatability u see:() Can u have a play on a friend's mac? The only problem with a Mac is the lack of support from the games industry. But just going on your requirements above, Mac looks good

You could get one or two of these babies

And stop polishing my bell? LOL 8) ooer hehehe

I was wondering about getting it today... i was in the shop.... however i left empty handed! Might try again 2mo after reading some reviews. Like you i have dabbled in Simcity gotta love it! On a handier note; i had problems with emulation software too. Also had problems with burning software (Nero and Roxio). However I found a fantastic free bit of software for burning CDs. Its simple and to the point: DeepBurner FREE version is great

ahhh the wonder increases!

Is it a Dell? If so do not delete it!!! Only delete if a)you have spoken to Dell or know someone else that has done it successfully. The reason I say this is that there is a 'hidden' diagnostics partition. If you delete it you can not get it back (obviously). However, that aside, the system will hang at BIOS POST for about 3 minutes while it looks for this partiton - in a strange format-(not FAT or NTFS) - this is why it looks empty in the NTFS/FAT32/16 world. Then it will ask you to press F1 or F2 to complete booting. So I'd be careful! Incidentally this also happens if you get a whole new hard disk. Apparently if you get a new disk from Dell it works ok since it has this partition already configured on it. Don't know if this happens on every Dell...however I have seen it on a Dell Dimension. Also I'm unaware if other OEMS do this.

oops.... so I meant to say "problem" lol...... nevermind x)

Hi Kev, try here: http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/ There are quite a few boards with NF7 in the title, so choose the correct link in the page above. You'll see that when the page has loaded there is a link on the right of that page saying "user manual". Download and enjoy Its a bit of a whooper at 8.3Mb (132 pages), and the ABit site seems a bit slow at the moment so it may take around 15 minutes to get I see that the PDF guide is also in a zillion languages, so have a good scroll to find the English part. The manual does seem fairly cr*p actually as i just downloaded it! It doesnt really explain about the soundstorm stuff. Heres a quick one on ports me old mucker: The black hole is the Center / Subwoofer port, the orange is the Rear left and right speakers port, the green is the Front left and rear right speaker port, the blue is the line-in port, and the pink is the mic port. For normal desktop speakers (just the two) u would use the green hole. The line from your amp (line out or headphones) goes to the blue hole. Be really really careful where the hifi output comes from.... if u use a speaker out or headphones line from your amp you have to be really really careful not to blow the chips in your PC! They dont like loud signals....... The Windows part to getting it to work can be tricky since it does depend on the sound hardware. As a general rule though, double click the speaker by the clock and make sure line-in slider is up. If u dont have a speaker icon by the clock then go Start ==> Settings ==> Control panel ==> Sounds and audio devices ==> Audio tab ==> Sound recording pane ==> volume button. Have fun

Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso Brasso hehehe

I found a really good link (LOL).... bundles! yep thats an easier way. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Bundles.html

hi waffler its almost a contradiction, but not quite. of course if you spend more cash then you will usually get better kit. But i am sure we can help you out. i would suggest (at least this is the case here in the UK) that buying the individual components is not only cheaper, but you can get exactly what you want and reap the rewards that decent branded components can give you. It also depends how posy you wanna be. For example, I decided that UV bits, UV lights,fan controllers, whizzy coolers and RAM with activity LEDs was right up my street.........however if you want to build it in a fairly reserved (and possibly cream) case then thats ok, since it will keep the price down a bit. i consider my machine to be a very good gaming PC - so to save me a headache I will price it up for you here, but without the bling bling bits! Also where nessesary i have chosen different bits just to save on the price. The most important parts are... fast RAM, fast disks, good mobo and good video card....and a CPU (doh!) Abit IC7-MAX3 mobo: - £120 (DFI Lanparty is more like £150-60) 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB SATA 8MB Cache - £90 all in. (I use two WD Raptors but that will cost more like £150!) Intel Pentium 4 "Prescott" 3.0GHz (800FSB) £120 Corsair 512MB DDR XMS4000PT CAS3 £92 (if u want LEDs you're looking at £120).. DDR500 is a must Sony DDU1612 DVD-ROM £17 Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro Atlantis Ultra 256MB DDR2 £195 (9800XT is a few quid more) Coolermaster Jet 4 ICB-V83 CPU Cooler £20 Iyama Vision Master Pro 455 19" CRT DiamondTron £160 (TFT if u want?!) Coolermaster Cavalier 3 Case £70 Antec TruePower 430W PSU £55 Razer Viper 1000dpi Gaming Mouse £35 IdeaZon Zboard with Crossfire Gaming Keyset PS2 £40 Total....£854 minus the monitor. Have I missed anything that does seem a bit too cheap!! Add on a few quid for a few leads here and there. Now u can save a fair bit here just by shopping around, taking advantage of special offers, and not using a 2nd monitor (switch between the two PCs with your existing monitor). Also you could build it in a £20 case however I always like good cases since it shows off my hard work (and hard earned cash) more Not sure if you really want to go the PCI Express route just yet. Its gonna be worth it if you want to get a £300 card else Id stay with AGP. Again, that price above could change quite a bit- the graphics card is the most expensive part and since you want a gaming PC that is liable to grow! The mobo is picked so you can overclock easily- and the RAM supports that choice. Im running a P4 2.8 at 3.2 with no problems of excessive heat. So a slight overclock is not such a bad thing. You may want to save further by hunting out a P4 2.8 (800MHz FSB) and overclocking it a bit more. There's two disks in there so you can set it up in RAID 0 and have nice fast read/write speeds. Again you can save a few quid if you dont go for a gaming mouse or gaming keyboard. i used to think buying bits and making a pc wasnt worth it. I can say now that this machine of mine is plenty fast enough- and its the quality and architecture that does it, not just the CPU speed and RAM size that these shops seem to be saying is the be all and end all. if u r in the UK I suggest a look at this site as it only does the finest performance parts for PCs: http://www.overclockers.co.uk and also here for (possibly) getting the best price: http://www.ebuyer.com or maybe even here http://www.dabs.com If you like posy stuff secretly then try looking here: http://www.thermaltake.com.. Xaser V & Tsunami Dream rock I'd aim for £1000... that would last you quite a few years indeed.

Hi & welcome. Did you run a spyware cleaner recently (ad-aware, spybot etc)?? If so that may have caused the problem. I can't remember the name of the spyware however when your cleaner (quite rightly) cleans your PC, the removed components of the spyware can leave your PC doing what you describe. To fix it, its quite simple. Please don't type in the quotes when you do this otherwise the commands won't work For XP (Windows 2000 is virtually the same procedure however there are some slightly different options to get into Recovery Console):- Insert your Windows XP installation CD-ROM and boot from CD-ROM : (note : some Windows XP Revovery CD-ROM's do not allow to start the Windows SETUP, in such cases you can try to use to create Windows XP Boot Floppy disks and boot from floppy). On the "Windows XP Professional Setup" menu, select "R" for Recovery Console. You will be prompted to select the Windows installation to repair (usually just "1" ). You will need to enter the Administrator password. Change the C:\Windows prompt to: C:\Windows\System32. Type in "cd c:\windows\system32" and hit enter. Then type "copy userinit.exe wsaupdater.exe" --This next bit is sometimes required, however I suggest you double check anyhow. Reboot into Safe Mode (keep pressing F8 when your PC boots up and select the option from the menu that appears). Click "Start", "Run" and type "regedit" and click OK. In the Registry Editor navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon Right click the "userinit" value on the right hand side and click "Modify". Change the value "wsaupdater.exe" to "userinit.exe". Reboot normally.