Hi everyone!

I recently bought a Laptop of eBay here in the UK. The Laptop is the HP Pavilion dv3505ea.

Now basically the seller said the laptop is fully working, I put the game BMW M3 Challenge but when I load it the screen goes black/blank and I can not get out of it and back into Windows unless I hard force the laptop off. The laptop has a Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS graphics card. The laptop has Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

I tried the same game on my fathers Laptop a HP G60-217EM. He has got a Nvidia GeForce 8200M, which I believe is a lower end graphics card and it worked perfectly. His Laptop has got Windows Vista Home Basic 32-bit.

Can anyone help me please, I want to know if it is a fault with the graphics card or Vista before I leave feedback for the seller on eBay.

Many Thanks in advance

Hi bj00uk

The first thing you want to check is all your "Software & Driver Downloads" have been completed and up to date: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/p...&lang=en&cc=us

Do note: A "working" laptop, means Windows is working, and all hardware works. It doesn't necessarily mean every game may work or not

Thanks for the quick reply, You are right working does mean windows, but it is a very low powered game even my P4 machine handles it to a good extent.

I have already updated the drivers before I posted on here, I knew I forgot to mention somthing. :-(

Also try clicking on this big button, and check nVidia drivers are most definitely up to date:

Hi, Thanks once again for the reply. The scan also showed I have the latest driver

As you have forced Windows to turn off, you will need to run a CheckDisk on your drive

1. Open the command prompt with administrative privileges by typing cmd in the search box in the Start Menu and right-click cmd.exe in the search results and then select Run as Administrator.
2. Type chkdsk /R on the command prompt, and then press Enter (you may need to answer "Y"es then restart.

Note: One space after chkdsk in that command

Ahhh the good old chkdsk,
the laptop has been on chkdsk for the last 10 -> 15 mintues, taking a very long time on "CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)..."

Oh just read the reply
It says you replied 7mins ago, so it must be done by now
Sometimes it takes a while though

Hi, no its not done yet, could it mean there is a serious problem?

I've seen chkdsk /r take hours to complete on a big hard drive

Has %complete and stage number changed? allow up to 30mins for %complete to change before you start worrying

Hi, it took more the 30 minutes, but it has now been completed. The game still does not work and the screen goes black/blank and I can not get out of it and back into Windows unless I hard force the laptop off

Boot into Knoppix and see if you still have the problem. At least then you'll know if it's Windows or your hardware. See Step 2 in How to recover your folders/files when Windows won’t boot

/* EDIT */
Ooops. Or are you saying this ONLY happens when you run the game? (in which case, never mind the above advice)

Hi, LookinAround,
Yes the original question is about the game and graphics cards, kimsland suggested driver update which made no difference and chkdsk which too a long time but also made no difference,

Thinking the game could be the problem I uninstalled it and then re-intsalled it, still it did not work. I installed another game this time Monopoly 3D, which worked on my older pentium m laptop and my father's G60.

Any ideas to what could be the problem?

Are you running Vista Service Pack 2, Download information at HP HERE
Have you confirmed DirectX is fully updated: General download information at HP HERE

Hi, I will install service pack 2, how do I check if DirectX is updated? The link goes to windows update advisor to update vista.

I heard DirectX 11 would not work because this is not a DirectX 11 graphics card, is that true?

Good point

But here's how to download DirectX: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179113

Hi, kimsland
Tried the SP2 and DirectX but still no luck

Any other suggestions? Do you feel the graphics card is the problem,

Is this just 1 particular game?
What happens generally (on other games etc)
It may be some conflict with just that game and your hardware, things like Bios updates, and checking on the Internet for anyone else having similar issues may help

I'm not totally satisfied that its faulty hardware
You would have to re-install Windows clean, to prove that

It's not just that game, I tried Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 which the seller told me worked on it when he had it. I tried Football Manager 09, Championship Manager 06 and Monopoly 3D, all of which worked on my old laptop

I have done clean install, using the HP recovery, which formats it, installs vista and then install all the drivers and HPware it was one of HP's suggested step I take,