All my games have stopped working

[DeW-R]

Hi,

Straight to the point really. None of my games seem to work anymore. It started with HL2, now all my games no longer work.
These are the things I have tried to fix the problem.
* I've updated and down graded my graphics drivers
* Done a full virus and spyware check, I even bought stopzilla which didn't help
* Done a mass clean up up my computer, inside and out. Vitually no dust on either GFX or CPU so Temps are low.

I've looked on event viewer and it shows there's a problem with ati2mag.sys. I believe there is a malware so the same name that pretends to be a system file and I believe this could be the problem.

Not sure if posting specs will help, but who knows.

Athlon 3000xp
Radeon X800XT
2 gig of Ram 2 x 512 kingston 1gig corsair
On board sound

Can anyone help?

Cheers

Ry

 

[jtickner1]

You could try a system restore to before the games stopped working. What happens when you try to run them exactly?

 

[Blind Dragon]

Go back to event viewer click on that event with ati2mag.sys

Right click it and select show all instances, get the event id and source

Then go to www.eventid.net and check what your error means

You most likely have the wrong drivers

 

[DeW-R]

Hi, thanks for the replies both of you.

Unfortunately Jtickner, my earleist system restore is a few days ago. When doing a mass clean up I tend to turn it off so that viruses etc aren't stored within system restore, it woulda been the first thing i'd do! haha, it's certainky the easiest! Cheers anyways!

Hey blind dragon, i'm sure my graphics drivers are correct, sa bit of a bummer really. They are radeon catalyst drivers. It's pretty much step by step when going to download them as you may be aware. Cheers again

 

[DeW-R]

Just an update:

Battlefield 2 seems to run fine and dandy and that's demanding on my graphics card. Also, the temp was low after an hours play. Strange,,
About to test fear which another game that's demanding

 

[mopar man]

What do you mean by "don't work"? Will they not start? Do they get very low fps?

Please explain.

If I missed the explanations I am sorry.

 

[DeW-R]

Some of the games don't run. When clicked on they go to a black screen, it stutters a few times then goes back to the windows desktop screen.
A couple of games come up with weird messages. Bloodrayne 2 says Cannot configurer vertex shaders', fear says "Could not initialize graphics system"
It's defo a grahpics problem but I can't find out what, any ideas?

 

[sghiznaneck]

Do you have another graphics card that you can swap out and try?? Sounds like the problem is with the card and not software/other hardware.

 

[DeW-R]

No, unfortunately I don't have another card lying around. I think it's strange how battlefield 2 works just fine? It's as demanding a game as fear yet fear doesn't work, even more so, bloodrayne 2 doesn't work and that is very undemanding. I might just do a format....Annoying but it could be my only choice :*(

 

[mopar man]

Can you ask around and find a gpu someone could loan you?

If not then you might as well try doing a reformat.

Good luck!

 

[DeW-R]

Awww well, I don't know anyone with a spare Gfx card. I think i'll try some other drivers etc And see if any others work....If not, the inevitable format might well do the trick
Cheers all

 

[TheJediSlayer]

Well, I know I'm not great at all with computing, but what good would a format of his HDD do? If it's with the hardware itself (Video card.), then I hardly see what little difference a reformat will make. Yes, perhaps it'll work again, I have no idea. However, I think it might be a good idea to buy a cheap graphics card and try it before dealing with the hassle of reformatting and it possibly not working. Oh, and I know not all of your games will run or work on a cheap GFX card, so if you do have any games that are low tech and aren't working, then I say it's worth the try. You could also check on the warranty of your current GFX card and if it's still valid, you might be able to get a replacement if you suspect a broken GFX card?

 

[DeW-R]

I hear what you are saying. But i'm pretty sure it's not broken. It still runs Battlefield 2, as well as ever. I'm sure it''s a driver problem. I've downloaded driver cleaner and hoping that'll sort it. Fingers crossed

 

[mopar man]

Yes, if that doesn't work, try a repair before you format. JediSlayer, I too see what you are saying, but I don't think its a hardware problem, myself.

 

[TheJediSlayer]

Well, if it's still running BF2, then yeah, you guy's are probably right. Hope it works, man. Oh, and I'm just throwing a wild hunch out here, but could it having something to do with the registry on Windows XP or whatever Windows system he's operating on? I know that thing can become cluttered and messed up beyond belief, so maybe a possible clean out of that may solve his problems?

 

[cos]

The original suggestion of a system restore might be yer only man. Happened to me before. Downloaded an ATI catalyist update, don't know if i downloaded the wrong 1 or wether it was corrupted in transit, but it messed up my graphics till i restored.

 

[DeW-R]

It seems it was a problem with direct x. I reinstalled direct x C and everything is working spick and spam now. Didn't even have to do a format, phew! Thanks all for you suggestions. I can get on and play half life 2 on difficult again not wahey!!