ATI Radeon 9250 XP Pro Issues

Hi all ...

Im new here but already finding this site very helpful! Just thought I'd ask a question in regards to my AGP video card.

Its not the best card I know, but still I thought once I built my pc & installed OS everything would be right ... but it wasn't! Its taken me a while to get it to the stage im at now & I was hoping sum1 might give me some insight.

What happened was everything was running fine graphics wise on OS WinXP until I installed Quake 2. I only wanted it so I could play Action Quake online but my pc kept crashing onto that blue screen error msg. Then it started crashing when listening to music, or running more than 1 program ... really stressful stuff! I configured & mucked around heaps with ATi settings, WIN settings & even tried BIOS settings but nothing worked. I had Service Pack 2 installed & all the recent windows updates installed prior to all of this.
Anyway I got the s*#!ts & decided to format. Now everything is fine because I haven't re-installed Quake2 (im scared!) & because I haven't upgraded to SP2 or d/l any windows updates. Do u think this is why the problem occured? or is it more in-depth? I run Zone Alarm & NAV2005 registered so I mean I dont really need the upgrades or Service Packs ... do i??

Tonight I might re-try & install Quake2 ...

Anyway help me if u can (or just read & laugh ... either way!)

Cheers

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

What was the blue screen error message? We need to know.

Yes you should update your Windows.

Go HERE and read my post. A message for all newcomers.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:

I think I'll laugh. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

No I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you.

I'd say, if your specs are okay, do everything in this order:

Format/reload XP.

Load chipset drivers.

Installed latest DirectX9 from Windows updates. It's recommended to have DX9 installed BEFORE loading your video drivers. Do no other updates at this time. If you have to load your internet connection hardware now, do so to get online.

Load latest video drivers from www.ati.com and download JUST the driver and control panel. Install thoes.

Load any other drivers (modem, sound etc..), get latest from manufacturer web sites if possible.

Load latest service pack for Windows. SP2 of course.

Load rest of Windows updates, all critical and all recommended but NOT drivers.

Load Antivirus and update it. I know some would say load the AV first and foremost but I say it can interfere with loading your updates and drivers. As long as you are just getting updates it's not like you're downloading infested files. HOWEVER, you MUST have at least SP1 loaded from the getgo or else viruses like Sasser can infect you within SECONDS of connecting to the Internet. I leave it to you when to install AV.

Then install your game. Check that your system requirements meet the game of course. And adjust the game's video settings to use Direct3D and so forth.
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This is generally a good order to install things when reloading. Note that I don't think that video card actually supports DX9. But you still want the latest DX on there just the same.
If the game REQUIRES DX9 and/or Hardware T&L and your card doesn't support one or both then that can be the issue right there. You need a better card.

Good luck.