ALT-TAB to manual = crash

[S Gerät]

OK, there seems to be a big problem here if I try to have the PDF manual open and ALT-TAB to it mid-game. Both times I've done this, when I try to go back to the game, a blue screen appears with the following message:

"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL"

After that the computer reboots.

I had no other applications running apart from Norton & Zone Alarm. I'm running WinXP SP2 on an AMD 64 3400+ with 1GB RAM and my C drive still has 42GB of memory free.

Any ideas?[&:]

[Marc von Martial]

Can you give us more information on the "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". Normally the error dialog should show some number and for most of the part an .DLL or .SYS file that is causing there error. Based on this we can help you then. It can be an outdated Logitech mouse driver or outdated graphic card drivers for example, but also a variety of other things.

[jpinard]

Oh that's bad. That is reminiscent of the ATI + VIA bug that wiped hard drives. Chances are this is not necessarily a WatW bug, but running it along with Adobe has uncovered a lurking monster. I've dealt with this first-hand, so give as many details (not a dxdiag report) of your hardware, and what drivers you're using.

[S Gerät]

OK, it's happened again. This time I was able to copy down some more info from the screen before reboot:

"Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.

Technical info:
STOP : 0x0000000A (0x9D906240, 0x0000002, 0x00000000, 0x8051EC1C)

Beginning dump of physical memory."

There was no mention of any .dll or .sys files after this.

BTW, my graphics card is an NVIDIA FX5700 with the latest drivers installed.

Well, I'm not touching the game again with this going on....[:(]

[Marc von Martial]

Okay, if no .DLL is specifically mentioned we need to get your system up to date.


- Please make absolutly sure you have latest drivers for your hardware running, from grpahics card to sound card, chipset and even the mouse or keyboard (if drivers are available).

- Make a Windows Update and install all updates available.

- Reinstall (uninstall any old version first) latest Acrobat Reader 7.


Run GGWAW again and try if the problem goes away. If not you should do a Memory check. For example with this application: http://hcidesign.com/memtest/download.html
It can be bad RAM or bad allocated Memory in general.

Sorry for the problems.

[Erik Rutins]

I would also recommend trying to run GGWaW in a window instead of full screen (in the game options) as it sounds like you're having these problems tabbing away from the full screen version.

The problem itself sounds like something that should hopefully be fixed with a thorough update of system drivers and shutting down background software while running, but it's tough to be sure without starting that process.

Regards,

- Erik

[Paul Vebber]

I found that my laptop had an old and very "cluttered" windows install... After reinstalling it all my crashing and weird video problems went away. ITs good PC hygiene to Take your hard drive down to parade rest (FDiska dn reformat- and do a reinstall every 6mos to a year based on how often you use it and add and remove software. My Beta machine I do every 3 or 4 months and its always amazing the performance boost it gets and the niggling problems that go away.

[Rocco]

Hi,

This happens to me as well in full screen mode, but windowed mode can switch no problem.

The only thing that sucks about windowed mode is the window being stuck at what looks like 1024*768.

I would note that my HD is 40GB with only about 7GB free.

On a side note, I also got the message about running low on virtual memory while playing. It said windows was increasing virtual memory and
that open programs may not respond while this took place. I was, however, able to continue playing after this took place.

Hope this helps

Rocco

[S Gerät]

OK, I've solved it (I hope - fingers crossed! [:D]).

I was using an old version of Adobe Acrobat to read the PDF, so I upgraded to Adobe Reader 7.0, and now the problem has disappeared.

Thanks a lot to everyone for their prompt and helpful suggestions - much appreciated.

Now to get stuck into the game...