Fed up! I may never buy another PC game...
richar...@hotmail.com
may be in a venting mood now, but it may be permanent. As of this
moment, I will not ever buy another PC game. I may buy an expansion
pack or two for what I have. I may also buy a PC title on occation,
that REALLY, REALLY grabs my interest (I mean, outside of Civ 3, which
is expected out, I am going to pass on everything).
For those who have read the strategic newsgroup, this may sound like I
am crying wolf, but my reasoning now is different.
Anyhow, my reason to feeling this way was alluded to in a previous
post. This post generated a few replies where I was told I was clueless
by some, "buy a Mac", "get a game console", etc... I was told to grin
and bear it because the industry ain't changing.
What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
uninstalling games, that is it.
I have a genuine fear now that the next game I run will take down my
system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a new
one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime. I will
mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
So, it has been fun. But, it is time to move on. I don't like limiting
myself to console games as new games to get, but I have had enough with
the headaches I have gone through. It is one thing to write software
that is buggy and doesn't work. It is another to write software that
screws up my system. Something is wrong when I go through: Pharaoh,
Ultima 9, Freespace 2, and now Jagged Alliance 2. None of the games
load at all. Pharaoh runs in the background. Ultima 9 locks up at
start. Freespace 2 dies. Jagged Alliance 2 gives me a GPF upon
starting up. Never mind the application, Gizmos 98, which says a file
is corrupted or something and won't load.
By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
everything is ok, if you are competent.
Sticking with what I have now only (I know the games work and don't
screw things up), plus console games...
- Richard Hutnik
--
Visit DocReason's Strategy HQ for free games, reviews, and
support and opponent finding for obscure/orphan games at:
http://www.geocities.com/timessquare/fortress/7537/
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Rune Boersjoe
>have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
>past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
>it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
>system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
>repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
>uninstalling games, that is it.
>
>I have a genuine fear now that the next game I run will take down my
>system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a new
>one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime. I will
>mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
*LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL*
While I'll agree there are too many bugs in games, I don't see how it relates to
screwing up your system. The problem is WINDOWS - if you want to yell at someone
yell at Microsoft for making a shitty operating system. The rest of what you
describe as problems is hardware related.'
If you're going to be a computer gamer you're going to have to be aware of these
things, such as Windows being a crappy OS that occassionally needs a refresh or
ultimately reinstall, to get things going again.
Also, buying a Compaq to use as a gaming rig is not the cleverest thing I've
ever seen somebody do. They are corporate amateur desktops plain and simple,
they have so much intergrated crap in them that personally I probably wouldn't
take one if I had it thrown after me. Most likely I would strip it down and take
out what I could use.
Ergo, it's not so much the games as it is your hardware and operating
environment. You would probably do better to bark up that alley.
--
Only men and Sigourney Weaver should shave their heads.
#1460
EAC Space Program Director
ICQ UIN: 1104409
Reply by mail to jb...@jancomulti.com
sjconro
around? Maybe it's your system that is messing up your games? Based on the
problems you listed, it might be time to stop playing the blame game and
take your system in for a look by a PC guy you trust.Chances are you may
need to reformat or even replace your hard disc, and even if you've given up
on gaming, to make sure your system is up to other tasks. It's a coincidence
for me to read your post, because I have also recently decided to give up on
games, (for the near-future) not for your reasons, but because they are so
time consuming and I really need to use that time for more constructive
things. If you really have enjoyed games, maybe you should give them another
chance, and do you really want to miss out on "The Sims?"
richar...@hotmail.com wrote:
> The PC gaming industry may have lost a customer for good. Of course, I
> may be in a venting mood now, but it may be permanent. As of this
> moment, I will not ever buy another PC game. I may buy an expansion
> pack or two for what I have. I may also buy a PC title on occation,
> that REALLY, REALLY grabs my interest (I mean, outside of Civ 3, which
> is expected out, I am going to pass on everything).
>
> For those who have read the strategic newsgroup, this may sound like I
> am crying wolf, but my reasoning now is different.
>
> Anyhow, my reason to feeling this way was alluded to in a previous
> post. This post generated a few replies where I was told I was clueless
> by some, "buy a Mac", "get a game console", etc... I was told to grin
> and bear it because the industry ain't changing.
>
> What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
> have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
> past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
> it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
> system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
> repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
> uninstalling games, that is it.
>
> I have a genuine fear now that the next game I run will take down my
> system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a new
> one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime. I will
> mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
>
infoghost
>By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
>problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
>belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
>everything is ok, if you are competent.
Everything is ok if your compentent.
Don't blame your lack of knowledge on every pc game out there. I know
you don't want to hear this, but face the facts, you are PC retarded.
If you are going to publicly whine about this, expect some backlash. A
pc is like a car, there are certain things you have to do to keep it
running smooth. I don't blame gas eveytime my car malfunctions. Sure,
there are some pc games that are less than stellar in the Bug-Free
department, but rarely does one take down your pc. Learn how to set up
your pc from scratch. Learn how to defrag and diskscan. Know what
updating your drivers is.
ig
Ryan Franklin
> screws up my system. Something is wrong when I go through: Pharaoh,
> Ultima 9, Freespace 2, and now Jagged Alliance 2. None of the games
> load at all. Pharaoh runs in the background. Ultima 9 locks up at
> start. Freespace 2 dies. Jagged Alliance 2 gives me a GPF upon
> starting up. Never mind the application, Gizmos 98, which says a file
> is corrupted or something and won't load.
Well, to be fair, Ultima 9 fails to run on _lots_ of systems. JA2 locked
up on me a few times until I downloaded the new Miles Sound System .DLL
(from www.jaggedalliance.com).
But really, I've been using a lot of games, many of which have crashed at
inopportune times, and the only times that bad things have happened beyond
in-game problems were due to accidentally resetting the machine in the
middle of it accessing the hard drive, accidentally letting a stupid
installer program overwrite _any_ driver with a newer (or older) version,
and one bizarre incident where Windows "forgot" I had a video card in my
machine (fixed by removing and reinserting the video card). Apart from
that, everything's been groovy. I keep my hard drive up (scandisks
regularly and defragging when necessary), I'm willing to tweak my settings
(turning off antivirus software, etc) to see if it improves game
performance, and apart from a lot of junk in my registry that I haven't
gotten up the guts to start messing with yet, all in all my 3-year-old
machine has weathered the buggy PC game blizzard quite well.
I know it's slim consolation, but you might want to find a Wintel guru in
your neighborhood to check out your machine. Even _with_ all the buggy
software out there, there's no reason why your PC should be getting hosed
so severely. Maybe Compaq screwed you and gave you a subpar hard drive,
maybe some of your drivers are messed up, etc., etc.. I mean, consoles
are fun, but if it turns out that it's your computer that's at fault, you
could be playing _both_ PC and console games.
--
worth a shot
ry...@chronic.lpl.arizona.edu
David Dunham
wrote:
> What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
> have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
> past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
> it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
> system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
> repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
> uninstalling games, that is it.
You can run our new game King of Dragon Pass right from the CD, without
installing anything.
OK, it makes a registry entry under Windows (or a preference file under
Mac OS), and keeps track of your history in a temporary file. But no
DLLs, hardware switches, etc.
I hope you'll give it a look before you go cold turkey :-)
--
David Dunham A Sharp david@SPAM_B_GONE.a-sharp.com
http://www.a-sharp.com/
"I say we should listen to the customers and give them what they want."
"What they want is better products for free." --Scott Adams
wier...@hotmail.com
It isn't him. It's his damn system. Well probably it is him a little ,
but comer on! He's got a compaq POS there. Anyone who has a Compaq,
Packard Bell, Hp , or Dell is going to have a system running a
modified Windows enviorment loaded to the gills with so much useless
crap. Have you ever had a Compaq user try and close out all his
background tasks? The first responce is, whoa I've got 15 things in
there! If the guy had been smart and gotten a shop to build him a
system he wouldn't have had all these problems.
Wierd Bob
On Mon, 03 Jan 2000 12:30:00 -0500, infoghost <igh...@maine.rr.com>
wrote:
Nathan Engle
> >What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
> >have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
> >past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
> >it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
> >system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
> >repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
> >uninstalling games, that is it.
> >
> >system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a new
> >one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime. I will
> >mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
> *LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL*
>
> While I'll agree there are too many bugs in games, I don't see how it relates to
> screwing up your system. The problem is WINDOWS - if you want to yell at someone
> yell at Microsoft for making a shitty operating system. The rest of what you
> describe as problems is hardware related.'
Frankly I think practically all of what he described
is probably hardware-related. After working as a sales
rep at CBM many years ago I developed a severe allergy
to *any* floor model. People beat the crap out of those
things (just to see how durable they are) and they get
squat in terms of maintenance. If it was in good working
order the store would usually just as soon leave it in
place since it just has to be replaced. It's only when
it developes visible flakey problems that might deter
sales that the store gets interested in getting the thing
off the sales floor.
> If you're going to be a computer gamer you're going to have to be aware of these
> things, such as Windows being a crappy OS that occassionally needs a refresh or
> ultimately reinstall, to get things going again.
>
> Also, buying a Compaq to use as a gaming rig is not the cleverest thing I've
> ever seen somebody do. They are corporate amateur desktops plain and simple,
> they have so much intergrated crap in them that personally I probably wouldn't
> take one if I had it thrown after me.
I agree to some extent. Personally I hate having
*any* PC that uses custom proprietary odd-sized components
that can only be replaced by calling the manufacturer
and paying their price for new parts. My PC at home is
cobbled together from a bunch of 100% generic standard-
sized components, and it works like a charm. When things
break I replace them out of pocket for a lot less than
out-of-warantee proprietary parts acquisition would run.
> Most likely I would strip it down and take
> out what I could use.
i.e.- disk drives, memory, and monitor. Maybe keyboard
too, although from a floor model I'd replace that in a
heartbeat too since that's the part that gets the most
abuse. Bear in mind, however, that when you take parts
out of a flakey system and try to transfer them forward
to a new system you run the risk of just moving your old
problems into a new home. The value of the drives and
memory is probably not that much - possibly as little as
$200 depending on what you've got, and chances are good
that they have no warantee whatsoever. When I can get
brand new waranteed 10GB IBM Deskstars for $140 these
days it makes any crappy old hand-me-down drive look
pretty pukey by comparison.
> Ergo, it's not so much the games as it is your hardware and operating
> environment. You would probably do better to bark up that alley.
It's probably a mix of all three, but if the hardware
underneath isn't stable then bugger any chance of doing
anything at all challenging with the system.
--
Nathan Engle
Shop Steward Electron Juggler's Guild, Local #1
nen...@indiana.edu http://php.indiana.edu/~nengle
"Some Assembly Required"
Joe Sampson
>What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
>have run on it.
No matter what some of the other posters have written, it is true that
poorly written, buggy software can in fact screw up windows. Buggy
software causes crashes and memory issues that can lead to corrupt files.
Windows itself is not a very reliable operating system and unfortunately
every so often you do have to reformat the hard drive and reinstall
windows, something that you should look into, BTW. If you choose to re-
install, do not just use the standard restore disk route. Just reinstall
windows, there should be a seperate windows directory on the restore disk.
That way you dont get all the unneeded filler crap that compaq stuffs onto
your hard drive.
I would also suggest that you either take a windows class at a local
community college or read up on the care and maintenance of computers. The
experince that either would provide would be invaluable and you would have
the tools to diagnose and remedy problems you have with your computer
yourself without having to rely on a pc savvy friend or pay for the
service.
I myself am sick of the whole pc game fiasco. I am tired of the ungodly
amounts of money I have to pump into my computer to keep up with pc games.
I am buying a new videocard later this year, and then that's it. When my
system chokes on the newest games, I will defect completely to consoles.
Here's hoping that my computer will at least be able to run Deus Ex before
I retire it...
--
Sincerely,
Joe Sampson
Rico Suave
system, and I *never* have problems running games (even the infamous Ultima
9). Compaq make some of the crappiest game machines - they're all made of
low cost, low performance, low reliability components
<richar...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:84qk8k$ekb$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> The PC gaming industry may have lost a customer for good. Of course, I
> may be in a venting mood now, but it may be permanent. As of this
> moment, I will not ever buy another PC game. I may buy an expansion
> pack or two for what I have. I may also buy a PC title on occation,
> that REALLY, REALLY grabs my interest (I mean, outside of Civ 3, which
> is expected out, I am going to pass on everything).
>
> For those who have read the strategic newsgroup, this may sound like I
> am crying wolf, but my reasoning now is different.
>
> Anyhow, my reason to feeling this way was alluded to in a previous
> post. This post generated a few replies where I was told I was clueless
> by some, "buy a Mac", "get a game console", etc... I was told to grin
> and bear it because the industry ain't changing.
>
> What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
> have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
> past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
> it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
> system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
> repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
> uninstalling games, that is it.
>
> I have a genuine fear now that the next game I run will take down my
> system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a new
> one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime. I will
> mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
>
> So, it has been fun. But, it is time to move on. I don't like limiting
> myself to console games as new games to get, but I have had enough with
> the headaches I have gone through. It is one thing to write software
> that is buggy and doesn't work. It is another to write software that
> screws up my system. Something is wrong when I go through: Pharaoh,
> Ultima 9, Freespace 2, and now Jagged Alliance 2. None of the games
> load at all. Pharaoh runs in the background. Ultima 9 locks up at
> start. Freespace 2 dies. Jagged Alliance 2 gives me a GPF upon
> starting up. Never mind the application, Gizmos 98, which says a file
> is corrupted or something and won't load.
>
> By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
> problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
> belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
> everything is ok, if you are competent.
>
Rico Suave
> It isn't him. It's his damn system. Well probably it is him a little ,
> but comer on! He's got a compaq POS there. Anyone who has a Compaq,
> Packard Bell, Hp , or Dell is going to have a system running a
> modified Windows enviorment loaded to the gills with so much useless
> crap.
I agree the first three brands suck, but Dell makes good stuff (as far as
proprietary goes...)
Mark Stevens
>By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
>problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
>belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
>everything is ok, if you are competent.
Okay, a few questions:
1) How long have you been a PC owner? You say you've "started" with a
Compaq, which also seems to be your current machine, so do I take
it you're a relatively new PC user?
2) What are the specifications of your system? Ie, what model of
motherboard, CPU, RAM, video card, hard drive, CD drive and sound
card are you running? Which version of Windows are you running?
3) Over the past 18 months, have you installed updated versions of
the drivers for your video card, sound card or even motherboard?
Do you install the latest version of DirectX as soon as it's
available (or when prompted to by a game)? Do you install any
updates for Windows that make themselves available?
4) Have you ever opened up your machine? What's the wattage of your
PSU? Have you overloaded the PSU with too many components?
These questions are all quite valid -- the symptoms you describe could
be related to any, all or none of the above. Buying pre-built systems
from anywhere is always a risky business, unless you're 100% sure you
can trust the supplier. Pre-built systems always seem like a bargain,
but nine times out of then they're built with sub-standard proprietary
components (a cheap motherboard here, some ungraded RAM there, the
video card that fell off the top shelf two months ago, etc.), the
failure of which will inevitably have you popping back to the point of
sale to hand over piles of cash.
Most hardcore PC gamers build their own rigs. That way you can hand
pick each and every component and oversee the installation yourself.
It's remarkably easy to do, even for a beginner (albeit with some
basic understanding of PC hardware). Even if you don't feel confident
about putting together a system yourself, find a hardocre PC gaming
friend (or even ask around in this newsgroup), tell him you want to
use your PC for, what your budget is and he'll recommend the
components. Be extra nice to him and he'll possibly put it all
together for you.
Of course, none of this helps you with your immediate predicament. How
long have you been experiencing these sorts of problems with games (or
whatever other software you're trying ro run)? You've only described
problems with fairly recent-ish games, so I assume your PC's been fine
before? If that's the case, then it could simply be a driver issue.
Seek out the latest version of DirectX (even if you *think* you've got
the latest version, re-install it anyway), the latest drivers for your
video/sound cards. These sorts of drivers are updated on an almost
monthly basis, so if you've never installaed a driver in the 18 months
you've owned your PC, it's definitely going to be running old drivers.
Check to see if there's a new BIOS update for your motherboard. Check
to see if there are any driver updates for your CD drive (unlikely,
but possible). If in doubt, open up your machine (having disconnected
from the power supply, naturally) and make sure all the cards, chips
and cables are securely plugged in. Heat alone inside the machine can,
over the space of a year or two, warp a card and unseat it.
Visit www.winfiles.com and search for a shareware utility called
SiSoft Sandra. It's a diagnostic tool that'll anaylse ever nook and
cranny of your system and highlight possible errors and conflicts and
advise you on how to fix them. It'll probably tell you more about your
PC than you actually know.
Don't give up on PC gaming yet. Whilst we do get more than our average
share of buggy software, those bugs aren't usually crippling. And if
you suspect a game is messing with your system, it's probably due to a
fault somewhere else within the system that only manifests itself when
it's pushed to its limits (ie, today's games).
--
Mark Stevens
Steve Kostoff
Rico Suave wrote in message <8X5c4.428$Bd7....@news.rdc1.tn.home.com>...
Dell makes great systems from a hardware standpoint - I think their case
design is the best and makes doing any work inside a cinch. And they usually
use quality components. Unfortunately, they feel the need to add in a bunch
of crap utilities and the like as WeirdBob pointed out and that takes them
down a few pegs in my eyes. I don't understand why they do that. Ship the
damn things with an unmodified operating system and leave it at that.
Steve Kostoff
richar...@hotmail.com
sjconro <sjc...@velocityhsi.com> wrote:
> I'm not being jerky here or anything but are you sure it's not the
other way
> around? Maybe it's your system that is messing up your games? Based on
the
> problems you listed, it might be time to stop playing the blame game
and
> take your system in for a look by a PC guy you trust.
have the energy to put into keeping up to date to make sure games work
on my PC, particularly when I have a pile of unfinished games I know
work on my box.
>Chances are you
may
> need to reformat or even replace your hard disc, and even if you've
given up
> on gaming, to make sure your system is up to other tasks.
I didn't say I was giving up on gaming, just I am not going to buy
any more PC games, except for maybe a rare few that REALLY get my
interests that I will risk running. Also, perhaps some expansion packs
for the game.
>It's a
coincidence
> for me to read your post, because I have also recently decided to give
up on
> games, (for the near-future) not for your reasons, but because they
are so
> time consuming and I really need to use that time for more
constructive
> things.
Well, in prior posts on strategic, I was trying to give them up for
similar reasons =). Oh, there was also the I already have enough games.
>If you really have enjoyed games, maybe you should give them
another
> chance, and do you really want to miss out on "The Sims?"
The rare few titles like "The Sims" I may give a shot to. But I feel
I will turn my hardcore gaming over to consoles, because it is just plug
and play there. Also, it isn't like I am hurting for PC titles either.
I do have enough I can play and get into and finally finish. My gaming
dollars aren't going to be consumed by the PC.
By the way, I am not sure "The Sims" may be what I go after now. I
think the latest Civ eventually due out is what would get my interest.
Michael Harrison
>
>It isn't him. It's his damn system. Well probably it is him a little ,
>but comer on! He's got a compaq POS there. Anyone who has a Compaq,
>Packard Bell, Hp , or Dell is going to have a system running a
>modified Windows enviorment loaded to the gills with so much useless
>crap. Have you ever had a Compaq user try and close out all his
>background tasks? The first responce is, whoa I've got 15 things in
>there! If the guy had been smart and gotten a shop to build him a
>system he wouldn't have had all these problems.
>
>Wierd Bob
I have a Dell, and it's the most stable system I've ever had. And no
it doesn't come "loaded to the gills" with useless crap. I agree
Compaq is crap though.
Jesse LeFort
screw anything up on my computer, I have had games freeze, crash, lock,
BSOD, and every other error, but none of them did any harm to my system at
all. That is in 13 years of gaming on a PC. First off, you must make sure
you arent using substandard parts (aka a floor model Compaq UGH!), second
always use the most up to date drivers for your system, and third, just dont
do anything stupid like overclocking your hardware or other things that
damage your system. Its not the games man, you may wish to blame them to
make yourself feel better, but the fact of the matter is, that your system
is screwed, or you are doing something to screw your system.
Jesse
Chris Tilton
richar...@hotmail.com writes:
|> The PC gaming industry may have lost a customer for good. Of course, I
|> may be in a venting mood now, but it may be permanent. As of this
|> moment, I will not ever buy another PC game. I may buy an expansion
|> pack or two for what I have. I may also buy a PC title on occation,
|> that REALLY, REALLY grabs my interest (I mean, outside of Civ 3, which
|> is expected out, I am going to pass on everything).
|>
|> For those who have read the strategic newsgroup, this may sound like I
|> am crying wolf, but my reasoning now is different.
Been a gamer for years, but can't recall a game hosing my system.
Have had games that locked up, or were otherwise buggy, but can't
recall having to reset system settings or the chains that you
mention. This includes both stragedy and action games. Running
stand alone and on a lan.
I agree with some of the other posters in that COMPAQ may not be
the best game machine. Also your hard drive may have problems -
have you ran scandisk lately? You could have bad sectors which
may cause GPF errors. Do you use compression for your hard disk?
Long ago when the technology first came out, I compressed all data
on the hard drive. But I had problems with some programs and just
never used compression again. The current technology may be better,
but it may be worth while to turn if off if you are compressing
data and see if it stops these problems.
|> By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
|> problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
|> belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
|> everything is ok, if you are competent.
|>
|> Sticking with what I have now only (I know the games work and don't
|> screw things up), plus console games...
|>
dart...@cheerful.com
Hi richarhutnik,
You're obviously not a serious gamer if you bought a Compaq computer,
and a floor model at that. Do you even know what video card you have on
your Compaq? And how much memory it has on it?? Let me guess, either
you want to save a few cents or the sales guy was really good at
screwing you. Like ALL gamers out there, if you want to play games you
need to hand select your components. Every component from A-Z must is
important ( except the floppy drive, haven't used mine for ages... )
Don't blame anything except for yourself. If you didn't know what to
buy, you should've posted to this group before you bought. People of
this newsgroup will respond to suggestions and recommendations.
If you really want to play PC games, dump the Compaq and build your own
PC from the ground up. You can recycle the monitor and your floppy
drive from the Compaq if you need to. Those are probably the only
things you can use toward your new PC.
In article <84qk8k$ekb$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,
richar...@hotmail.com wrote:
> The PC gaming industry may have lost a customer for good. Of course,
I
> may be in a venting mood now, but it may be permanent. As of this
> moment, I will not ever buy another PC game. I may buy an expansion
> pack or two for what I have. I may also buy a PC title on occation,
> that REALLY, REALLY grabs my interest (I mean, outside of Civ 3, which
> is expected out, I am going to pass on everything).
>
> For those who have read the strategic newsgroup, this may sound like I
> am crying wolf, but my reasoning now is different.
>
Mark Eubank
When someone says they own an off the self system (the worst way to buy) like
Campaq or Packard Bell they are admitting to everyone else how little they know
about computers.
Funny how much thought this person put into buying his stereo or VCR but never
picked up a PC Mag or anything before laying out $2000 for a piece of shit that
the minium wage asshole at bestbuy recommended.
when his 3.5 disk fails he'll have to pay campaq $85 for a replacement instead
of buying on for $12 (the going price), ect.
also it's a required maintance to reinstall Windows at least twice a year for
everyone because of it's unstableness. Whether they play games or not.
He's post is his testimonial to his ignorance.
Mark
Ronald Kunenborg
Q: Did you overclock? Did you overclock anything at all? In that case,
you're the problem.
R: My neighbour had a similar problem. She asked me to take a look at
the system. Turned
out that her videocard made the machine do very nasty things at certain
resolutions, due
to a problem in the video memory... This caused her more than a year of
hassle at the
local shop who sold her the PC, who tried to tell her it was her fault.
They even had the
guts to tell her 'even the factory couldn't find anything'. With some
legal aid she was
able to pressure them into a refund. She bought another (with my aid
this time) and hasn't
had a problem since.
The moral: it may not be you, or your games, it may well be your PC.
Regards,
Ronald Kunenborg.
James Young
> have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
There's part of your problem. A lot of us here started the same way you
did: with a Compaq, Packard Hell, NEC, or some other cheap system that
uses sub-standard, and often proprietary, parts. In the PC world, you
get what you pay for. A lot of people blame Win98, and certainly that
plays a part, but the problems you describe sound more hardware-related.
If you can afford it, you should look into buidling your own PC. Do some
research and buy a decent motherboard, sound card, 3D card, etc. Stick
with name-brands, not generic crap. I play a _lot_ of games on my
home-built system, and RARELY have I had one crash on me. I made
mistakes along the way, like skimping on a motherboard, and boy did I
pay the price. I kept getting GPF's and had to keep running ScanDisk to
fix the HD after CTL-ALT-DEL'ing so many times. Like you, I blamed it
on the software and Win98. I know exactly where you're coming from,
because at that point I *hated* the PC. Now I can't believe how stable
my PC is (knock on wood).
That's my $.02, anyway. If that sounds too extreme, buy a Mac or get a
game console. (sorry, couldn't resist) ;)
Alex
comments on this ng. And on top of that: play the demo before buying. If you
do those 3 things, there's no way you'll buy a lemon.
jamestr
chicken! (foghorn)
pc can be a PITA no doubt, but i havent had a game cause damage to mine.
hell my registry after 2 years of win95 is 9MB !!!
but it still works.
Gus Smedstad
>
> The point is, whether it is the system, or the games, I don't feel I
> have the energy to put into keeping up to date to make sure games work
> on my PC, particularly when I have a pile of unfinished games I know
> work on my box.
That's an entirely reasonable position to take. However, if you ever
buy a computer again, you might consider your experiences here when
buying.
I am a "hardcore gamer", and I don't build my own machines any more. In
fact, I did buy a Compaq in '95, after years of building my own, buying
from Computer Shopper, Gateway, etc.
I bought the Compaq as something of an experiment. I will never buy one
again, though. I was savvy enough to know how to disable the built-in
video card, modem, etc. when I bought upgrades, but nothing could help
me when I wanted to upgrade the system memory.
I *did* have a lot of trouble with that machine. Amoung other things,
the CD Rom drive periodically hid from the rest of the computer.
These days I buy my machines from Gateway.
As for drivers, I've only found them to be critical for 3D accelerated
games. Most games include the version of DirectX you need, and the
hardware-specific drivers for the other parts work, but the 3D card
industry still seems to have problems.
Half-life, for example, doesn't run right on my TNT2 with Direct3D. It
does work fine with OpenGL. Trying to install the latest drivers for
the TNT2 rendered my computer unbootable except in Safe Mode - which had
me roundly cursing both NVidia and Microsoft.
This is definitely a driver problem, by the way, not Half-life.
We *do* have a problem in this industry. I know for a fact that some
companies are quite willing to ship games with "known bugs" so long as
they aren't too "severe". NWC doesn't do that, I'm happy to say.
That's not the whole story, though. Games have also gotten hideously
more complex than they were 5-10 years ago. Even if the game company is
conscientious, it's surprisingly easy to miss an "obvious" test case -
because there are so *many* of them.
> But I feel
> I will turn my hardcore gaming over to consoles, because it is just plug
> and play there.
You're lucky. I have a Playstation, and I've yet to find a single title
for it that I really like.
- Gus
Patrick C Miller
: What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
: have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
: past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
: it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
: system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
: repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
: uninstalling games, that is it.
As someone who installs, plays and uninstalls many games and demos every
year without encountering the type of problems you describe, I think it's
far more likely that the trouble is with your computer rather than the
games. I have never owned a Compaq, but I suspect that yours probably
came preloaded with Windows, proprietary programs and all kinds of other
garbage that you either didn't want, don't use or don't need.
The last two computers I owned, I built myself. I generally try to
stick with proven components rather than state-of-the-art ones. I install
Windows myself and include only the parts of it that I know I'll actually
use. I always keep my drivers up to date. Each time, Windows boots up,
it does so cleanly with no unnecessary programs running in the
background. As a result, I have very few problems running games. The
bugs I encounter are almost always common to everyone.
I do realize, however, I that not all gamers want to go down the
do-it-yourself path. But for anyone who is a serious gamer, I would
suggest buying a system from Dell, Gateway, Micron or other vendor with a
good reputation. And get nothing but Windows installed on it.
That's what I did when I bought a Pentium 100 from Dell four years
ago. I had very few problems running games on that system and Dell was
very good about fixing the few minor problems I did encounter.
In short, the more you know about your computer and its operating
system, the fewer problems you'll have running games.
*****************************
Patrick C. Miller
pami...@plains.NoDak.edu
*****************************
Anthony Andrews
says...
>
>
>It isn't him. It's his damn system. Well probably it is him a little ,
>but comer on! He's got a compaq POS there. Anyone who has a Compaq,
>Packard Bell, Hp , or Dell is going to have a system running a
>modified Windows enviorment loaded to the gills with so much useless
>crap. Have you ever had a Compaq user try and close out all his
>background tasks? The first responce is, whoa I've got 15 things in
>there! If the guy had been smart and gotten a shop to build him a
>system he wouldn't have had all these problems.
>
bit of computer knowledge to stop all that background crap loading on boot up
and regular use of norton utilities. Have no problems running half-life + OP,
Baldurs gate, AOW, Starcraft + BW, HOMM 3, Myth 2 and a number a demos (AOE
II, disciples, etc). Little unfair to blame Dell (and maybe the others) when
it is obviously the user.
Anthony
Mark Stevens
>The point is, whether it is the system, or the games, I don't feel I
>have the energy to put into keeping up to date to make sure games work
>on my PC, particularly when I have a pile of unfinished games I know
>work on my box.
But you told me that you put systems together for a living. Surely
anyone with that sort of experience shouldn't have to spend too much
time and energy troubleshooting an existing rig or building a new one?
>I didn't say I was giving up on gaming, just I am not going to buy
>any more PC games, except for maybe a rare few that REALLY get my
>interests that I will risk running. Also, perhaps some expansion packs
>for the game.
Well, let's look at things logically. You listed some software you're
having major problems with. Pretty much everyone else is running the
same software without so much as a hiccup. The fault, therefore, must
surely lie somewhere within your system?
Knight37
>I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
>repressed people free.
I liked this line.
>I have a genuine fear now that the next game I run will take down my
>system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a
>new one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime.
> I will mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
I reinstall Windows from scratch on a freshly formatted HD about once
every 8 months or so. It's a pain, but it's just something you have to
put up with if you use a PC. It's a sad state of the PC industry, not
just PC gaming.
>By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
>problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
>belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
>everything is ok, if you are competent.
Wohoo! You're on a roll!
>Sticking with what I have now only (I know the games work and don't
>screw things up), plus console games...
There's a lot to be said about the ease of console gaming. Of course,
if I could get games like SMAC or PS:T or FO or UT or Q3A on a console,
I might would stick with those, but I can't.
PC Gaming - the hobby you love to hate.
--
Knight37
"This is your life.
Good to the last drop.
Doesn't get any better than this.
This is your life,
and it's ending one minute at a time." -- Tyler Durden
Terry McKelvey
richar...@hotmail.com wrote in message <84qk8k$ekb$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
>The PC gaming industry may have lost a customer for good. Of course, I
>may be in a venting mood now, but it may be permanent. As of this
>moment, I will not ever buy another PC game. I may buy an expansion
>pack or two for what I have. I may also buy a PC title on occation,
>that REALLY, REALLY grabs my interest (I mean, outside of Civ 3, which
>is expected out, I am going to pass on everything).
>
>For those who have read the strategic newsgroup, this may sound like I
>am crying wolf, but my reasoning now is different.
>
>Anyhow, my reason to feeling this way was alluded to in a previous
>by some, "buy a Mac", "get a game console", etc... I was told to grin
>and bear it because the industry ain't changing.
>
>have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
>past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
>it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
>repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
>uninstalling games, that is it.
>
Yuck, Compaq is a crap system like everyone else is saying. I spent part of
my holiday upgrading my wife's several month's old Compaq from work (P2
450/128 Meg). The video card is a crappy 8 Meg G200 card. The AGP slot is
crap, wouldn't accept any other video card, despite the bios being up to
date (and I didn't see any settings to change or switches to throw). I
suspect it is one of those substandard voltage AGP slots, but maybe I missed
something. I ended up getting a Voodoo 3 3000 PCI, it helped the system a
great deal, as did a new sound card. Man, that thing is loaded down with a
great deal of stupid little programs running in the background. I removed
the ones that started from the startup menu and I use "Enditall" every time
I start the system to turn of the rest of the crap and free up the computer
resources. I didn't want to change the system too much because my wife will
need to take it back to work eventually. Somewhere I still seem to be
losing some computer resources because my personally-tuned and
custom-upgraded system has 92% resources free versus only 87% free for the
Compaq with nothing running on it. If you are installing and running games
with a great deal of crap running in the background, then you are asking for
trouble. Do what I mention above to get rid of non-essential programs from
running in the background. Enditall can be easily found on the internet for
free (I think the PC Magazine website has it). There are also some
optimizations to be done to improve the system, some gaming sites like
Gamespot? have articles about this.
The extremely large number of lost disk chains could be due to one of two
things from my experience, the hard drive is about to go to the great scrap
heap in the sky, or, equally likely, if you haven't formatted the drive and
reloaded windows at least once in the last year or so and you install and
uninstall many programs, the system desperately needs this to be done. It
makes an ENORMOUS difference for stability assuming the hardware is
basically sound.
>I have a genuine fear now that the next game I run will take down my
>system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a new
>one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime. I will
>mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
>
If you are that afraid of losing the system, immediately backup all needed
files on a Zip disk or two, and take the plunge and restore your system.
Have a computer savvy person help you do it, he/she is likely to have done
it before.
>So, it has been fun. But, it is time to move on. I don't like limiting
>myself to console games as new games to get, but I have had enough with
>the headaches I have gone through. It is one thing to write software
>that is buggy and doesn't work. It is another to write software that
>screws up my system. Something is wrong when I go through: Pharaoh,
>Ultima 9, Freespace 2, and now Jagged Alliance 2. None of the games
>load at all. Pharaoh runs in the background. Ultima 9 locks up at
>start. Freespace 2 dies. Jagged Alliance 2 gives me a GPF upon
>starting up. Never mind the application, Gizmos 98, which says a file
>is corrupted or something and won't load.
>
It really sounds as if your Windows is screwed, which will inevitably happen
if you use it too much without renewing it every 6-12 months, depending on
use, with a hard drive formatting and fresh reload of Windows from scratch.
It is not that hard, just make sure you have all of your drivers on a Zip
disk, or, at the very least, know the settings for your internet browser so
that you can get onto the internet to get anything you need after renewing
your system.
>By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
>problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
>belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
>everything is ok, if you are competent.
>
No. Everything is not OK. Blame evil Microsoft for producing a crappy
product which needs to be reinstalled on a freshly scrubbed system all too
frequently, or your computer can end up being screwed up. But, you can
mitigate the current problems if you want to, with some knowledge and
effort. Who knows, you might end up liking your new-found computer
competence? During the past three years, I went from being afraid to open
up my case to essentially totally upgrading my current system from scratch.
Next, I will, with my wife's able help, build a system totally from
components. She has done this twice for her church, while I assisted. I
took the lead on fixing her computer to my specifications so that I could
use it. I will build a new system either this summer or more likely, next
Christmas holiday.
>Sticking with what I have now only (I know the games work and don't
>screw things up), plus console games...
>
>- Richard Hutnik
>
Take the plunge. Stretch your mind. Learn to maintain and upgrade your
hardware and software. It is interesting and well worth the effort. It is
much better than merely playing games, especially if you end up only playing
console games. But, don't blame me if you totally screw up your system, get
someone competent to help if you can't afford to have your computer out of
commission ;) .
Terry McKelvey
J.S.
J.S.
richar...@hotmail.com wrote in message <84qk8k$ekb$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
>The PC gaming industry may have lost a customer for good. Of course, I
>may be in a venting mood now, but it may be permanent. As of this
>moment, I will not ever buy another PC game. I may buy an expansion
>pack or two for what I have. I may also buy a PC title on occation,
>that REALLY, REALLY grabs my interest (I mean, outside of Civ 3, which
>is expected out, I am going to pass on everything).
>
>For those who have read the strategic newsgroup, this may sound like I
>am crying wolf, but my reasoning now is different.
>
>Anyhow, my reason to feeling this way was alluded to in a previous
>post. This post generated a few replies where I was told I was clueless
>by some, "buy a Mac", "get a game console", etc... I was told to grin
>and bear it because the industry ain't changing.
>
>What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
>have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
>past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
>it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
>system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
>repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
>uninstalling games, that is it.
>
>I have a genuine fear now that the next game I run will take down my
>system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a new
>one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime. I will
>mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
>
>So, it has been fun. But, it is time to move on. I don't like limiting
>myself to console games as new games to get, but I have had enough with
>the headaches I have gone through. It is one thing to write software
>that is buggy and doesn't work. It is another to write software that
>screws up my system. Something is wrong when I go through: Pharaoh,
>Ultima 9, Freespace 2, and now Jagged Alliance 2. None of the games
>load at all. Pharaoh runs in the background. Ultima 9 locks up at
>start. Freespace 2 dies. Jagged Alliance 2 gives me a GPF upon
>starting up. Never mind the application, Gizmos 98, which says a file
>is corrupted or something and won't load.
>
>By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
>problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
>belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
>everything is ok, if you are competent.
>
>Sticking with what I have now only (I know the games work and don't
>screw things up), plus console games...
>
>- Richard Hutnik
>
Mark Eubank
Ka On Lee wrote:
> IThat's your problem. All Compaqs are crap. A "floor model" Compaq is a
> major stinking crap. You are lucky to be able to run some games on it.
>
> --
> Ka-On Lee ko...@engsoc.carleton.ca
>
> "The greatest sin a computer scientist can commit is to provide too few
> bits somewhere"
The compaqs are certainly crap, not to mention windows. Funny how I ran
DOS for years with a reinstall or file corruption and I find myself
reinstalling Windows98 4 to 6 times a year because of registry errors,
driver glitches and corrupt or missing files.
People ran to windows because of "ease of use" when making a dos boot disk
confused them . a shame, as most games led you step by step in the manual on
how to do this, and once you had a good conventional memory and expanded
memory boot disk created you never had to do it again.
You think this was hard and windows made life easy, figure out how to
correctly edit the windows registry.
If your gonna lay down $2000 dollars for a computer, at least buy a $5
magazine that rates them before purchase. Then again, this guy is using
'hotmail' to post his complaints, and I'm sure he has AOL as a internet
provider.
He obviously spent more time and effort diciding on his clothes or haircut,
then bitches about his totally foolish purchase of a compaq.
I can't feel sorry for him....
mark
marcco
>What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
>have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
>past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
>it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
>system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
>repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
>uninstalling games, that is it.
Hey, I feel your pain, but could you explain how installing and
uninstalling games can cause "lost disk chains"?
If I were you (and still wanted to try new PC games), I would dedicate
a few hours to re-install Win9x.
>I have a genuine fear now that the next game I run will take down my
>system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a new
>one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime. I will
>mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
For your information, you can't avoid that even if you don't
install/play any PC games. For example, I noticed increased system
instability after installing newest GetRight and Internet Explorer
5.0. But fortunately it got better after installing the newer updated
to IE5, that seemed to help.
So unless you stop installing anything at all (ANY utilities or
applications) to your system, you may end up in the same situation
anyway. In fact, in my case it has always been utilities/applications
/system updates, not games, that have screwed up my system. After all,
usually games just add their game files and a couple lines in
registery, while big applications (IE5, MS Office, GetRight) seem to
touch nearly everything in my system files and replace lots of drivers
and stuff.
marcco
> And, let's say that I have just gotten warn out by the whole thing.
>Amazing how getting older, and having a full-time job will drive one to
>become more of a casual game player. I want plug and play now. I
>don't have time to mess with much else. Sorry, but I don't want to
>have to go through major surgery on my box to get it up and running, or
>have to reinstall the operating system "just because" it is out of wack.
But then you might have to stop using PC altogether for anything, not
just games. Maybe you are a prime candidate for buying WebTV or
similar?
In my case it has been utilities and applications, not games, that
have caused me headache with increased instability. IE5 and GetRight
for example, but the worst I remember was some version of SDD for
Windows (SciTech Display Doctor), which really seemed to screw up my
system and cause blue screens. I don't remember PC *games* causing me
similar problems.
> I am lucky I like a variety of titles. On the Playstation, I liked
>fighting games and some of the offbeat stuff, and the retro arcade
>titles. My future purchases, I look to limited it mostly to the
>Dreamcast, with an occational PC title (2-3 a year max). But, I think
>my days of hard core PC gaming are over.
I just hope you won't become another troll like certain other people I
know (Led Mirage, gee it had to be said) who frequent PC games groups
just to troll and complain about PC games they haven't even seen.
richar...@hotmail.com
Gus Smedstad <g...@nwcomputing.com> wrote:
> That's an entirely reasonable position to take. However, if you ever
> buy a computer again, you might consider your experiences here when
> buying.
route also.
... SNIP ...
> We *do* have a problem in this industry. I know for a fact that some
> companies are quite willing to ship games with "known bugs" so long as
> they aren't too "severe". NWC doesn't do that, I'm happy to say.
THE problem in the industry is that it is so fragmented that who is
responsible for addressing this issues? One can't ask NWC to do it
all, nor Microsoft (well maybe Microsoft, which might explain Box X),
or the hardware makers.
> That's not the whole story, though. Games have also gotten hideously
> more complex than they were 5-10 years ago. Even if the game company
is
> conscientious, it's surprisingly easy to miss an "obvious" test case -
> because there are so *many* of them.
And, let's say that I have just gotten warn out by the whole thing.
Amazing how getting older, and having a full-time job will drive one to
become more of a casual game player. I want plug and play now. I
don't have time to mess with much else. Sorry, but I don't want to
have to go through major surgery on my box to get it up and running, or
have to reinstall the operating system "just because" it is out of wack.
> You're lucky. I have a Playstation, and I've yet to find a single
title
> for it that I really like.
I am lucky I like a variety of titles. On the Playstation, I liked
fighting games and some of the offbeat stuff, and the retro arcade
titles. My future purchases, I look to limited it mostly to the
Dreamcast, with an occational PC title (2-3 a year max). But, I think
my days of hard core PC gaming are over.
Oh, yes, I do have enough PC games anyhow. I think HOMM3 could use
some attention =).
richar...@hotmail.com
Mark Stevens <ma...@headspin.clara.net> wrote:
> But you told me that you put systems together for a living. Surely
> anyone with that sort of experience shouldn't have to spend too much
> time and energy troubleshooting an existing rig or building a new one?
No, I work with computers all day, in Unix support. If I am coming
home and use a computer, it is to goof off, not do stuff that people
get paid to fix. Also, I am thumbs when it comes to computer hardware.
> Well, let's look at things logically. You listed some software you're
> having major problems with. Pretty much everyone else is running the
> same software without so much as a hiccup. The fault, therefore, must
> surely lie somewhere within your system?
And the main point is that I don't care where the problem lies, I am
sick of dealing with the problems. I am tired of buying pieces of
software and hoping they work. Whether it be my PC or the software, I
am fed up. I am tired of it not being anyone's fault, except it
ultimately being mine for putting up with it. I am just plain tired of
it all.
richar...@hotmail.com
dart...@cheerful.com wrote:
>
> Hi richarhutnik,
>
> You're obviously not a serious gamer if you bought a Compaq computer,
> and a floor model at that.
>Do you even know what video card you have on
> your Compaq? And how much memory it has on it??
I yanked that board out and replaced it with a Riva TNT board. That
board since got replaced with a TNT2 Ultra.
>Let me guess, either
> you want to save a few cents or the sales guy was really good at
> screwing you.
More like saving several hundred dollars at the time. The clincher
was that I was able to defer payments for 6 months at the time.
>Like ALL gamers out there, if you want to play games you
> need to hand select your components. Every component from A-Z must is
> important ( except the floppy drive, haven't used mine for ages... )
And did it occur to you that I just want to play games, and am not
in the mood to sink time into building a PC or picking parts out,
etc... I work a full-time job, in the computer industry, and I have
near zero interest to get techie in my off hours.
> Don't blame anything except for yourself. If you didn't know what to
> buy, you should've posted to this group before you bought. People of
> this newsgroup will respond to suggestions and recommendations.
Cool, nice attitude. It is my fault. I just want to buy something
off the shelf and play, without headaches, or getting techie. It is
the need to do this now that is resulting in my not buying more PC
games.
> If you really want to play PC games, dump the Compaq and build your
own
> PC from the ground up. You can recycle the monitor and your floppy
> drive from the Compaq if you need to. Those are probably the only
> things you can use toward your new PC.
I refuse to sink several thousand more dollars into another rig.
Maybe my best bet is to play, for the next 3 years, all the games I got
that work, that don't give me grief. I have a pile of unfinished ones.
Steven
>*LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL*
>
>While I'll agree there are too many bugs in games, I don't see how it relates to
>screwing up your system. The problem is WINDOWS - if you want to yell at someone
>yell at Microsoft for making a shitty operating system. The rest of what you
>describe as problems is hardware related.'
Ah another fool jumping on the "I hate Microsoft" bandwagon. The only
time I've ever had a problem with any version of Windows was when some
lazy programmer(myself included) coded a crappy device driver.
Amazing how MS gets blamed for some 3rd party programmers lack of
programming.
Steven
Steven
>The PC gaming industry may have lost a customer for good. Of course, I
>may be in a venting mood now, but it may be permanent. As of this
>moment, I will not ever buy another PC game. I may buy an expansion
>pack or two for what I have. I may also buy a PC title on occation,
>that REALLY, REALLY grabs my interest (I mean, outside of Civ 3, which
>is expected out, I am going to pass on everything).
>
>For those who have read the strategic newsgroup, this may sound like I
>am crying wolf, but my reasoning now is different.
>
>Anyhow, my reason to feeling this way was alluded to in a previous
>post. This post generated a few replies where I was told I was clueless
>by some, "buy a Mac", "get a game console", etc... I was told to grin
>and bear it because the industry ain't changing.
>
>What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
>have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
>past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
>it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
>system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
>repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
>uninstalling games, that is it.
>
>I have a genuine fear now that the next game I run will take down my
>system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a new
>one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime. I will
>mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
>
>So, it has been fun. But, it is time to move on. I don't like limiting
>myself to console games as new games to get, but I have had enough with
>the headaches I have gone through. It is one thing to write software
>that is buggy and doesn't work. It is another to write software that
>screws up my system. Something is wrong when I go through: Pharaoh,
>Ultima 9, Freespace 2, and now Jagged Alliance 2. None of the games
>load at all. Pharaoh runs in the background. Ultima 9 locks up at
>start. Freespace 2 dies. Jagged Alliance 2 gives me a GPF upon
>starting up. Never mind the application, Gizmos 98, which says a file
>is corrupted or something and won't load.
>
>By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
>problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
>belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
>everything is ok, if you are competent.
>
>Sticking with what I have now only (I know the games work and don't
>screw things up), plus console games...
>
>- Richard Hutnik
Dump the Compaq and have a local "mom and pop" store build you a
gaming machine. The only store bought computers worse than Compaq's
are Packerd Bell's(who are owned by Compaq now aren't they?). If you
want to buy a computer from a trusted company, and not a "mom and
pop'er" go with a Dell Dimension.
As for my personal experience with problems and games...well there
just hasn't been many. I play Pharoah and JA2 without a single
hitch...and I know MANY others that have as well. Now if these two
games were "buggy" as you say, don't you think EVERYONE would have the
problems you are. I hate to tell you, but I've been playing PC games
for 7 or 8 years now and can't recall a single title that "has screwed
up my system".
I know you didn't want everyone blaming you, the end user, but in this
case it is your fault. You obviously didn't educate yourself on
computer systems else you wouldn't have bought a Compaq to play games
on. You obviously don't know enough about computers to fix problems
when they arise. So your only course of action is to blame everything
else but yourself. I don't mean to sound rude, but I work with end
users everyday who "think" it is never thier fault and always the
fault of Microsoft, shop programmers, or anyone else they can think
of. Next time you point a finger, stand in front of a mirror and
point into it.
Steven
an...@mous.net
>On Mon, 03 Jan 2000 21:46:18 GMT, richar...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>>The point is, whether it is the system, or the games, I don't feel I
>>have the energy to put into keeping up to date to make sure games work
>>on my PC, particularly when I have a pile of unfinished games I know
>>work on my box.
>
>But you told me that you put systems together for a living. Surely
>anyone with that sort of experience shouldn't have to spend too much
>time and energy troubleshooting an existing rig or building a new one?
>
>>I didn't say I was giving up on gaming, just I am not going to buy
>>any more PC games, except for maybe a rare few that REALLY get my
>>interests that I will risk running. Also, perhaps some expansion packs
>>for the game.
>
an...@mous.net
>
>
>Hi richarhutnik,
>
>You're obviously not a serious gamer if you bought a Compaq computer,
no, he is a serious gamer. check deja.news for one of those "who has a lot of
games" threads.
i'll agree with everyone else that it's probably a HW problem. sell off your
compaq, except the monitor, and buy a new pc. i'm pretty sure you can buy a good
400MHz machine for under $500.
an...@mous.net
>On Mon, 03 Jan 2000 21:46:18 GMT, richar...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>>The point is, whether it is the system, or the games, I don't feel I
>>have the energy to put into keeping up to date to make sure games work
>>on my PC, particularly when I have a pile of unfinished games I know
>>work on my box.
>
>But you told me that you put systems together for a living. Surely
where did he write that?
ScottZf
an...@mous.net wrote:
In csipgs, the group he usually posts to.
Krud
>
> As someone who installs, plays and uninstalls many games and demos every
>year without encountering the type of problems you describe, I think it's
>far more likely that the trouble is with your computer rather than the
>games. I have never owned a Compaq, but I suspect that yours probably
>came preloaded with Windows, proprietary programs and all kinds of other
>garbage that you either didn't want, don't use or don't need.
>
> The last two computers I owned, I built myself. I generally try to
>stick with proven components rather than state-of-the-art ones. I install
>Windows myself and include only the parts of it that I know I'll actually
>use. I always keep my drivers up to date. Each time, Windows boots up,
>background. As a result, I have very few problems running games. The
>bugs I encounter are almost always common to everyone.
I've been buying Dells for years. I have 3 now. The first thing I do when I
get one is format the hard drive and reinstall everything *I want* from
scratch.
-Krud
Krud
>may be in a venting mood now, but it may be permanent. As of this
>moment, I will not ever buy another PC game. I may buy an expansion
>pack or two for what I have. I may also buy a PC title on occation,
>that REALLY, REALLY grabs my interest (I mean, outside of Civ 3, which
>is expected out, I am going to pass on everything).
You call that venting? Sheesh! What a wuss.....
-Krud :)
Occupant
richar...@hotmail.com wrote:
> By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
> problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
> belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
> everything is ok, if you are competent.
5
671$!2
It's#@# 23y4our 8 1@#$@ow!@n* fault, R1chardD. !I would @=-22d never
b@uy oneÑ12*/ oÒf those craØ()ppy ÖEM syst¾ems. YouER" TL.4_$O $u
see, I am s:om@{#ethinNGg of $!>"$PQ a computer 00xc3@210p y expert who
has bee^n bÇui!!1ldøing his own d'flpu!@$k syst}}EOF $)ems for years
and 5y7 @$ ha[ve~ nev#Ler;; had any:%{ problems}#+ problemsÚ wit1@h
softwar?-e^22 divide$@@$byzero@@^!! such as JA 2^44 or Freespace 2. Of
co//{#}$urse U1%l£tima IXx is ra{#}ther %P% buggy b*-ut/-2 =! 23e5that
is a pro blem stackov!@@@??ô we i++All hav×òe to DDs4deal with. I
(=f you were sŽ«… competentOP{} you w74ould build ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌUyour own
syséÑÿtemé, si>jnce t:hat \['will;; proviÉÃUde you342*49 with a./; much
mor%3e stad:ble gami7ng*/- rig and %XXo"ffer yo00u/- much nexec_Fail@??
more enjoyment from the hobby. !!`~!EìÇEð@@?
Ka On Lee
>[...]
> What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
> have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq.
That's your problem. All Compaqs are crap. A "floor model" Compaq is a
Greg Macdonald
>I know you didn't want everyone blaming you, the end user, but in this
>case it is your fault. You obviously didn't educate yourself on
>computer systems else you wouldn't have bought a Compaq to play games
>on. You obviously don't know enough about computers to fix problems
>when they arise. So your only course of action is to blame everything
>else but yourself. I don't mean to sound rude, but I work with end
>users everyday who "think" it is never thier fault and always the
>fault of Microsoft, shop programmers, or anyone else they can think
>of. Next time you point a finger, stand in front of a mirror and
>point into it.
Why the hell SHOULD the end user have to do all this?
I'm sorry, but when you buy an item from any other industry, you
expect the thing to work as is without tinkering when you take it
home. You don't expect to have to climb under the hood of your car and
fiddle with it until it works, or open up the case of your VCR and
install drivers or whatever, you just want the fucking thing to WORK.
The end user is the customer, and the customer is always right...
well, usually. The customer should not have to dick around with their
system just to get it peform correctly as it was supposed to when sold
to them.
You know, I don't really know whose fault it is, but it is not the end
user. They are SUPPOSED to be able to use the thing without having a
clue how it works, other than very basic maintainance. Any industry
demanding more of its customers is not serving them properly, in my
opinion.
Propellerheads, flame away.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
I don't have a solution but I certainly
admire the problem.
-Ashleigh Brilliant
Mahmood
to not work or at least need a little tweaking. Building a computer is like
rebuilding the engine of a car. Once you know what went into it like the
back of your hand you are damn well going to know how it will perform. Come
on, a _floor model_ Compaq? I don't care how fast that was, it's like
buying a used Pinto.
Greg Macdonald <gmacd...@networx.on.ca> wrote
> I'm sorry, but when you buy an item from any other industry, you
> expect the thing to work as is without tinkering when you take it
> home. You don't expect to have to climb under the hood of your car and
> fiddle with it until it works, or open up the case of your VCR and
> install drivers or whatever, you just want the fucking thing to WORK.
Steven
Macdonald) wrote:
>On Tue, 04 Jan 2000 01:59:41 GMT, m...@all.alone (Steven) didst utter:
>
>>I know you didn't want everyone blaming you, the end user, but in this
>>case it is your fault. You obviously didn't educate yourself on
>>computer systems else you wouldn't have bought a Compaq to play games
>>on. You obviously don't know enough about computers to fix problems
>>when they arise. So your only course of action is to blame everything
>>else but yourself. I don't mean to sound rude, but I work with end
>>users everyday who "think" it is never thier fault and always the
>>fault of Microsoft, shop programmers, or anyone else they can think
>>of. Next time you point a finger, stand in front of a mirror and
>>point into it.
>
>Why the hell SHOULD the end user have to do all this?
>
>I'm sorry, but when you buy an item from any other industry, you
>expect the thing to work as is without tinkering when you take it
>home. You don't expect to have to climb under the hood of your car and
>fiddle with it until it works, or open up the case of your VCR and
>install drivers or whatever, you just want the fucking thing to WORK.
>
>The end user is the customer, and the customer is always right...
>well, usually. The customer should not have to dick around with their
>system just to get it peform correctly as it was supposed to when sold
>to them.
>
>You know, I don't really know whose fault it is, but it is not the end
>user. They are SUPPOSED to be able to use the thing without having a
>clue how it works, other than very basic maintainance. Any industry
>demanding more of its customers is not serving them properly, in my
>opinion.
>
>Propellerheads, flame away.
>
>
Why should the end user have to do all of that? Well, he doesn't if
he's the average Joe that are happy when their MS Office, IE, and
email program work.
BUT, when you start playing games, swapping in and out video cards (as
the original poster stated in a later message), uninstalling and
reinstalling drivers, and start to actually demand performance from
your machine, you better start educating yourself on it. Can't tell
you how many idiots I know that "thought" they knew how to install a
new video card, only to fuck up thier entire system because they
didn't know enough to uninstall old drivers first. Or in the case of
some Compaq owners I know, they didn't disable thier onboard video, so
after installing a new TNT2 card, the system would constantly hang
because of the conflict. And can you believe that the guy that did
not know enough to disable his onboard video still blames the new
video card for his own ignorance....
As to your car analogy...it's true it should work when you drive it
off the lot and you should not have to tinker with it to get it to
run. BUT, are you going to run that car for 50,000 miles, never
change the oil and then expect it to work like the day you bought it?
I don't think so. You'd probably have read the manual and knew enough
to have the oil changed or change it yourself. Wanna know how many
people I've dealt with in the last 3 years that have come into my
programming shop begging for help that were too freakin' lazy to read
their owners manuals on their computers?
So yes, I'd say 90% of all problems I've seen is because of a dumbass
end user.
Oh, I am indeed a propellerhead, but at least games run on my machine
without a hitch...
Steven
Jason Maskell
news:84rnl5$8tq$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> In article <hpb27ssg7k066i726...@4ax.com>,
> Mark Stevens <ma...@headspin.clara.net> wrote:
>
> And the main point is that I don't care where the problem lies, I am
> sick of dealing with the problems. I am tired of buying pieces of
> software and hoping they work. Whether it be my PC or the software, I
> am fed up. I am tired of it not being anyone's fault, except it
> ultimately being mine for putting up with it. I am just plain tired of
> it all.
So then your original post was just a big troll. I expected better of you.
Most of the posters are right, the problem rests entirely with your hardware
and your lack of maintenance of said hardware. If your Dreamcast suddenly
started getting flakey while playing Ready 2 Rumble, would you go on to
alt.games.dreamcast and start screaming about how sick you are of buggy
games?
MS is somewhat at fault because Win9x is kind of a pos.
Your machine is a Compaq floor model and is definitely a pos. Unmaintained,
it's even worse. The blame rests solely with you, comrade. If you don't like
what you've done to yourself, stop whining about how your machine should be
plug and play and actually buy decent hardware, then maybe it would be.
Ah, that's enough. Enough people have tried to get through to you, you're
not interested.
Cheers,
Jason
Steven
model Compaq that who knows how many Best Buy like customers tinkered
with before he bought it.
Steven
On Tue, 4 Jan 2000 00:16:47 -0800, "Mahmood"
<warrior...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>On the other hand, if you got a shitty car, VCR, etc, then you can expect it
>to not work or at least need a little tweaking. Building a computer is like
>rebuilding the engine of a car. Once you know what went into it like the
>back of your hand you are damn well going to know how it will perform. Come
>on, a _floor model_ Compaq? I don't care how fast that was, it's like
>buying a used Pinto.
>
>Greg Macdonald <gmacd...@networx.on.ca> wrote
>> I'm sorry, but when you buy an item from any other industry, you
>> expect the thing to work as is without tinkering when you take it
>> home. You don't expect to have to climb under the hood of your car and
>> fiddle with it until it works, or open up the case of your VCR and
>> install drivers or whatever, you just want the fucking thing to WORK.
>.on.ca
>
>
Jason Maskell
news:38758746...@corp.supernews.com...
> Yea, but it's the games that are messing up his system, not the floor
> model Compaq that who knows how many Best Buy like customers tinkered
> with before he bought it.
>
You shoulda put a sarcasm tag in there somewhere. Someone will misinterpret
that. ;>
Cheers,
Jason
Rave
don't want to put up with it anymore, don't, that's cool.
Unfortunately for you, the kind of problems you are experiencing won't
happen with just your computer. Out of the 20 or so gifts that were
exchanged in my family this year 4 went back due to defects. You
could say my family is at fault for buying cheap stuff but I don't
consider L.L. Bean to be a cheap company, maybe I am wrong. The
trouble today is that you don't know when something cheap will last
you just as long as something expensive and that even a small design
decission on an expensive product will bug the hell out of you the
whole time you own it. I bought a Canon printer that got great
reviews only to find out that the ink dries up even when you don't use
it. I asked canon if there was any fix, do you think they even
admitted to a problem ?
My point is you are going to have problems with everything you buy
these days no matter if it is computer related or not. Good luck
trying to find something else you enjoy doing that won't be a pain
in the ass in some shape or form.
Michael Oberly
I don't think I could have said it any better myself.
Mike
>5
>671$!2
>It's#@# 23y4our 8 1@#$@ow!@n* fault, R1chardD. !I would @=-22d never
>b@uy oneÑ12*/ oÒf those craØ()ppy ÖEM syst¾ems. YouER" TL.4_$O $u
>see, I am s:om@{#ethinNGg of $!>"$PQ a computer 00xc3@210p y expert who
>has bee^n bÇui!!1ldøing his own d'flpu!@$k syst}}EOF $)ems for years
>and 5y7 @$ ha[ve~ nev#Ler;; had any:%{ problems}#+ problemsÚ wit1@h
>softwar?-e^22 divide$@@$byzero@@^!! such as JA 2^44 or Freespace 2. Of
>co//{#}$urse U1%l£tima IXx is ra{#}ther %P% buggy b*-ut/-2 =! 23e5that
>is a pro blem stackov!@@@??ô we i++All hav×òe to DDs4deal with. I
>(=f you were sŽ«… competentOP{} you w74ould build ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌUyour own
>syséÑÿtemé, si>jnce t:hat \['will;; proviÉÃUde you342*49 with a./; much
>mor%3e stad:ble gami7ng*/- rig and %XXo"ffer yo00u/- much nexec_Fail@??
>more enjoyment from the hobby. !!`~!EìÇEð@@?
>
>
>Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
>Before you buy.
--
Mike Oberly * Rain can't wet me,
when I have my poui in my hand. *
* Rain can't wet me,
I advancing on the foe like a roaring lion!*
Soca/Calypso fan?Check out http://www.iere.com/thebarn
Rune Boersjoe
>time I've ever had a problem with any version of Windows was when some
>lazy programmer(myself included) coded a crappy device driver.
>Amazing how MS gets blamed for some 3rd party programmers lack of
>programming.
I liked DOS... it worked - and it was fairly logical. It takes a Windows core
programmer to figure out how to work Windows, and it's suppose to be an easy to
use operating environment. The only reason I have it is because it's the de
facto standard, and I'd dump it for an open platform in about two picoseconds.
Windows95/98 is a Windows 3.11 shell in a DOS shell...
--
Only men and Sigourney Weaver should shave their heads.
#1460
EAC Space Program Director
ICQ UIN: 1104409
Reply by mail to jb...@jancomulti.com
infoghost
problems.
And yes, i owned a Packard Bell once. A while, sure, it was a POS, I
never had a single problem with any game.
Again, back to compentence.
ig
On Mon, 03 Jan 2000 17:54:20 GMT, wier...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>It isn't him. It's his damn system. Well probably it is him a little ,
>but comer on! He's got a compaq POS there. Anyone who has a Compaq,
>Packard Bell, Hp , or Dell is going to have a system running a
>modified Windows enviorment loaded to the gills with so much useless
>crap. Have you ever had a Compaq user try and close out all his
>background tasks? The first responce is, whoa I've got 15 things in
>there! If the guy had been smart and gotten a shop to build him a
>system he wouldn't have had all these problems.
>
>Wierd Bob
>
>
>
>
>
>
>On Mon, 03 Jan 2000 12:30:00 -0500, infoghost <igh...@maine.rr.com>
>wrote:
>
>>
>>>By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
>>>problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
>>>belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
>>>everything is ok, if you are competent.
>>
>>Everything is ok if your compentent.
>>
>>Don't blame your lack of knowledge on every pc game out there. I know
>>you don't want to hear this, but face the facts, you are PC retarded.
>>If you are going to publicly whine about this, expect some backlash. A
>>pc is like a car, there are certain things you have to do to keep it
>>running smooth. I don't blame gas eveytime my car malfunctions. Sure,
>>there are some pc games that are less than stellar in the Bug-Free
>>department, but rarely does one take down your pc. Learn how to set up
>>your pc from scratch. Learn how to defrag and diskscan. Know what
>>updating your drivers is.
>>
>>ig
>>
>>
>>
>>
Rico Suave
"Greg Macdonald" <gmacd...@networx.on.ca> wrote in message
news:38717a74...@news.networx.on.ca...
> On Tue, 04 Jan 2000 01:59:41 GMT, m...@all.alone (Steven) didst utter:
>
> >I know you didn't want everyone blaming you, the end user, but in this
> >case it is your fault. You obviously didn't educate yourself on
> >computer systems else you wouldn't have bought a Compaq to play games
> >on. You obviously don't know enough about computers to fix problems
> >when they arise. So your only course of action is to blame everything
> >else but yourself. I don't mean to sound rude, but I work with end
> >users everyday who "think" it is never thier fault and always the
> >fault of Microsoft, shop programmers, or anyone else they can think
> >of. Next time you point a finger, stand in front of a mirror and
> >point into it.
>
> Why the hell SHOULD the end user have to do all this?
>
> I'm sorry, but when you buy an item from any other industry, you
> expect the thing to work as is without tinkering when you take it
> home. You don't expect to have to climb under the hood of your car and
> fiddle with it until it works, or open up the case of your VCR and
> install drivers or whatever, you just want the fucking thing to WORK.
>
> The end user is the customer, and the customer is always right...
> well, usually. The customer should not have to dick around with their
> system just to get it peform correctly as it was supposed to when sold
> to them.
>
> You know, I don't really know whose fault it is, but it is not the end
> user. They are SUPPOSED to be able to use the thing without having a
> clue how it works, other than very basic maintainance. Any industry
> demanding more of its customers is not serving them properly, in my
> opinion.
>
> Propellerheads, flame away.
Problem is, computers aren't an item from any other industry. They are
relatively new technology, and as such, the end user needs to know more
about how they work than say, a toaster. Look at cars - would you just
drive it forever and never get a tune up, oil change, tire rotation, belts
replaced, etc? Heck no - Would you buy a VCR and never clean the heads or
figure out how to set the date after the power goes off (OK, bad example).
My point is, computers are not truly plug and play, and will not be for
quite some time. That goes for Macs as well, which are (mistakenly) known
for their ease of use.
Rico Suave
maintained and tweaked, maybe you'd be better off buying a Playstation.
Fact of the matter is, anyone who uses their PC for more than web surfing
and typing letters to Grandma is going to have to learn how to optimize
their system properly.
<richar...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:84r5b6$rns$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> In article <3870D9F2...@velocityhsi.com>,
> sjconro <sjc...@velocityhsi.com> wrote:
> > I'm not being jerky here or anything but are you sure it's not the
> other way
> > around? Maybe it's your system that is messing up your games? Based on
> the
> > problems you listed, it might be time to stop playing the blame game
> and
> > take your system in for a look by a PC guy you trust.
> The point is, whether it is the system, or the games, I don't feel I
> have the energy to put into keeping up to date to make sure games work
> on my PC, particularly when I have a pile of unfinished games I know
> work on my box.
>
> >Chances are you
> may
> > need to reformat or even replace your hard disc, and even if you've
> given up
> > on gaming, to make sure your system is up to other tasks.
> I didn't say I was giving up on gaming, just I am not going to buy
> any more PC games, except for maybe a rare few that REALLY get my
> interests that I will risk running. Also, perhaps some expansion packs
> for the game.
>
> >It's a
> coincidence
> > for me to read your post, because I have also recently decided to give
> up on
> > games, (for the near-future) not for your reasons, but because they
> are so
> > time consuming and I really need to use that time for more
> constructive
> > things.
> Well, in prior posts on strategic, I was trying to give them up for
> similar reasons =). Oh, there was also the I already have enough games.
>
> >If you really have enjoyed games, maybe you should give them
> another
> > chance, and do you really want to miss out on "The Sims?"
> The rare few titles like "The Sims" I may give a shot to. But I feel
> I will turn my hardcore gaming over to consoles, because it is just plug
> and play there. Also, it isn't like I am hurting for PC titles either.
> I do have enough I can play and get into and finally finish. My gaming
> dollars aren't going to be consumed by the PC.
>
> By the way, I am not sure "The Sims" may be what I go after now. I
> think the latest Civ eventually due out is what would get my interest.
>
> - Richard Hutnik
>
> --
>
> Visit DocReason's Strategy HQ for free games, reviews, and
> support and opponent finding for obscure/orphan games at:
> http://www.geocities.com/timessquare/fortress/7537/
>
>
Rico Suave
Only on crappy hardware, in my experience. When Win98 is resting on decent
hardware, it's wonderful.
> Your machine is a Compaq floor model and is definitely a pos.
Unmaintained,
> it's even worse. The blame rests solely with you, comrade. If you don't
like
> what you've done to yourself, stop whining about how your machine should
be
> plug and play and actually buy decent hardware, then maybe it would be.
Yep - that about says it all.
Rico Suave
tip - go to tweak3d.com - they have several Win98 tweaks that will
significantly clean up and stabilize your system. I've been running a Win98
install since July and it's stil performing beautifully.
"Mark Eubank" <meu...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3871943A...@earthlink.net...
>
>
> Ka On Lee wrote:
>
> > IThat's your problem. All Compaqs are crap. A "floor model" Compaq is
a
> > major stinking crap. You are lucky to be able to run some games on it.
> >
> > --
> > Ka-On Lee ko...@engsoc.carleton.ca
> >
> > "The greatest sin a computer scientist can commit is to provide too few
> > bits somewhere"
>
> The compaqs are certainly crap, not to mention windows. Funny how I ran
> DOS for years with a reinstall or file corruption and I find myself
> reinstalling Windows98 4 to 6 times a year because of registry errors,
> driver glitches and corrupt or missing files.
> People ran to windows because of "ease of use" when making a dos boot
disk
> confused them . a shame, as most games led you step by step in the manual
on
> how to do this, and once you had a good conventional memory and expanded
> memory boot disk created you never had to do it again.
> You think this was hard and windows made life easy, figure out how to
> correctly edit the windows registry.
> If your gonna lay down $2000 dollars for a computer, at least buy a $5
> magazine that rates them before purchase. Then again, this guy is using
> 'hotmail' to post his complaints, and I'm sure he has AOL as a internet
> provider.
> He obviously spent more time and effort diciding on his clothes or
haircut,
> then bitches about his totally foolish purchase of a compaq.
> I can't feel sorry for him....
> mark
>
>
richar...@hotmail.com
Hey, you can call me being polite. And, I mean venting as in it may
not be something I will act on, more that, "feel my firey wrath" :-).
richar...@hotmail.com
knig...@gamespotmail.com (Knight37) wrote:
> richar...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> >I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
> >repressed people free.
>
I am not sure if Cleve would like the alluding to a quote by Marx,
however :-P
> I reinstall Windows from scratch on a freshly formatted HD about once
> every 8 months or so. It's a pain, but it's just something you have to
> put up with if you use a PC. It's a sad state of the PC industry, not
> just PC gaming.
I recall the fiasco I went through the last time I tried to do that.
>
> >By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
> >problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
> >belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
> >everything is ok, if you are competent.
> Wohoo! You're on a roll!
Read this thread. You see replies reaking with this mentality.
> There's a lot to be said about the ease of console gaming. Of course,
> if I could get games like SMAC or PS:T or FO or UT or Q3A on a
console,
> I might would stick with those, but I can't.
Not sure what PS:T is, but I have SMAC plus expansion, FO, UT^ and
Q3A (I am looking to get rid of Q3A). FO hasn't been started. I am
partly through UT, and I beat Q3A. SMAC could also use some more play.
I am set as far as games go.
> PC Gaming - the hobby you love to hate.
And for me and my house, I think we hold. Ooo, but "The Sims", Civ
3, yadda yadda yadda. Did I add Team Fortress 2? =)
- Richard
hilberg steven d
>On Tue, 04 Jan 2000 01:59:41 GMT, m...@all.alone (Steven) didst utter:
>>I know you didn't want everyone blaming you, the end user, but in this
>>case it is your fault. You obviously didn't educate yourself on
>>computer systems else you wouldn't have bought a Compaq to play games
>>on. You obviously don't know enough about computers to fix problems
>>when they arise. So your only course of action is to blame everything
>>else but yourself. I don't mean to sound rude, but I work with end
>>users everyday who "think" it is never thier fault and always the
>>fault of Microsoft, shop programmers, or anyone else they can think
>>of. Next time you point a finger, stand in front of a mirror and
>>point into it.
>Why the hell SHOULD the end user have to do all this?
>I'm sorry, but when you buy an item from any other industry, you
>expect the thing to work as is without tinkering when you take it
>home. You don't expect to have to climb under the hood of your car and
>fiddle with it until it works, or open up the case of your VCR and
>install drivers or whatever, you just want the fucking thing to WORK.
Exactly what car can you buy where you can rip your engine out and put in
one twice as good, overhaul the entire exhaust system, put in a turbocharger,
give it mag wheels, and throw in a nitrous injector, all without any trouble?
If you want to replace your video card, add stuff to the OS, and play all the
latest stuff, you are going to have to spend the time tinkering with things.
And if you aren't willing to get your 3 month oil change, use the right gas,
and fill the wiper fluid, well, no, your car won't run very well either. You
should at least defrag your HD and run scandisk every couple of months, just
to make sure everything is running in good shape.
>The end user is the customer, and the customer is always right...
>well, usually. The customer should not have to dick around with their
>system just to get it peform correctly as it was supposed to when sold
>to them.
By the same reasoning though, you don't buy a family minivan when you really
want a Ferrari. Either you are going to have to put money into having someone
else do the work for you (and usually its not that much; a place here in town
will put together the parts you pick out for an extra twenty bucks) and then
do the research yourself, or you are going to have to expect worse performance.
You have to know what parts are good, what parts are bad, and what you want.
I did the same thing when I bought my car; I looked online and I read
magazines, I looked at what would give me the right balance between price,
performance, reliability, and resale value and _then_ I looked around at what
I could get a good deal on. And I sure as hell don't expect my used Saturn to
perform like a Countach, or some sort of hand-crafted hot rod that a car
enthusiast would build.
>You know, I don't really know whose fault it is, but it is not the end
>user. They are SUPPOSED to be able to use the thing without having a
>clue how it works, other than very basic maintainance. Any industry
>demanding more of its customers is not serving them properly, in my
>opinion.
If you want to be able to use it without knowing anything about it, you are
not going to get the best deal out there. When you buy a Compaq you are
making the same choice as buying as someone who buys a Hyundai instead of a
Honda. You didn't want to pay the extra cost and you thought you could get
a good deal, but you get a less reliable machine on the whole.
--
Steve Hilberg <Necromancer> CCSO Workstation Support Group
<hil...@uiuc.edu> Unpublished Fiction Author
KB9TEV CCSO _still_ doesn't pay me enough to
speak for them, so I still don't.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And if He ever suffered, it was me who did His crying...."
-- Concrete Blonde, "Tomorrow Wendy"
Matthew Cooke
dart...@cheerful.com wrote in message <84raeu$veu$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
>
>
>Hi richarhutnik,
>
>You're obviously not a serious gamer if you bought a Compaq computer,
Isn't a serious gamer something of a contradiction in terms?
Matthew.
Ykalon Dragon
>
> In article <hpb27ssg7k066i726...@4ax.com>,
> Mark Stevens <ma...@headspin.clara.net> wrote:
>
> > time and energy troubleshooting an existing rig or building a new one?
> No, I work with computers all day, in Unix support. If I am coming
> home and use a computer, it is to goof off, not do stuff that people
> get paid to fix. Also, I am thumbs when it comes to computer hardware.
>
> > Well, let's look at things logically. You listed some software you're
> > having major problems with. Pretty much everyone else is running the
> > same software without so much as a hiccup. The fault, therefore, must
> > surely lie somewhere within your system?
> And the main point is that I don't care where the problem lies, I am
> sick of dealing with the problems. I am tired of buying pieces of
> software and hoping they work. Whether it be my PC or the software, I
> am fed up. I am tired of it not being anyone's fault, except it
> ultimately being mine for putting up with it. I am just plain tired of
> it all.
>
>
> --
>
> Visit DocReason's Strategy HQ for free games, reviews, and
> support and opponent finding for obscure/orphan games at:
Well, that's no reason to quit PC gaming, at least you can upgrade a PC
to play the latest games, you can't do that with a console. You can't
play the latest Dreamcast games on a Genesis. A PC lasts longer than a
console since you can upgrade it. Besides console games are generally a
lot more expensive.
--
ICQ # 45086408
Mark Stevens
<bac...@nospam.csolve.net> wrote:
>Your machine is a Compaq floor model and is definitely a pos. Unmaintained,
>it's even worse. The blame rests solely with you, comrade. If you don't like
>what you've done to yourself, stop whining about how your machine should be
>plug and play and actually buy decent hardware, then maybe it would be.
If he was genuinely seeking advice on how to rectify his problem, I
could understand some of the whining. But he doesn't seem very keen to
acknowledge the reality of the situation -- and that is if you want to
play modern PC games with the minimum of fuss and bother, you need to
invest a bit of time and money in either building your own system or
hunting around for the best "all in one" pre-built deal. If you can't
be bothered to do that, then it's no use pissing and moaning about the
injustice of it all. I mean, a Compaq floor model? He'd probably have
been able to put together a better system just by rummaging through
the trash cans round the back of a few local computer stores.
--
Mark Stevens
Mark Stevens
>And did it occur to you that I just want to play games, and am not
>in the mood to sink time into building a PC or picking parts out,
>etc... I work a full-time job, in the computer industry, and I have
>near zero interest to get techie in my off hours.
Well, if you want to play games but don't want the hassle of
maintaining your PC, then the PC gaming scene isn't for you. Go get a
PlayStation now whilst they're cheap, or wait for the PS2 to arrive
later this autumn. There's stack loads of excellent games available
for it.
Personally, I *enjoy* building new PCs and maintaining them. It's all
part of the fun of PC gaming -- but I've also got a PSX and N64 to
satisfy my other gaming needs.
Alas, it looks like you're going to have to wave goodbye to the world
of PC gaming, unless Microsoft do eventually release the X-Box (still
sounds like a Dutch porn channel to me), in which case you shouldn't
find any compatibility issues.
>> Don't blame anything except for yourself. If you didn't know what to
>> buy, you should've posted to this group before you bought. People of
>> this newsgroup will respond to suggestions and recommendations.
>Cool, nice attitude. It is my fault.
Did you buy the system specifically with gaming in mind, or did you
obtain the system and then decide to use it for gaming? If it's the
latter, then we can probably cut you some slack, but if it's the
latter then you can't go blaming the state of the PC gaming industry
for your compatibility problems.
J. Scott
I've had my computer 4 years, upgraded twice, and never had trouble loading
or playing any games (except for the one's with SW bugs) and still have
Windows 95 (original install). On the other hand a friend of mine bought a
Hewlett Packard 2 years ago and he stopped buying games because it was rare
for him to find one that would install or play correctly.
Rune Boersjoe <lo...@my.sig> wrote in message
news:K9VwOEaill=bW4ioDhj...@4ax.com...
> >What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
> >past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
> >it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
> >system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
> >repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
> >uninstalling games, that is it.
> >
> >I have a genuine fear now that the next game I run will take down my
> >system. I refuse to risk the current games I have in order to try a new
> >one. Fortunately, I do have enough games to last me a lifetime. I will
> >mess around with what I have and pretty much skip the rest.
>
> *LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL*
>
> While I'll agree there are too many bugs in games, I don't see how it
relates to
> screwing up your system. The problem is WINDOWS - if you want to yell at
someone
> yell at Microsoft for making a shitty operating system. The rest of what
you
> describe as problems is hardware related.'
>
> If you're going to be a computer gamer you're going to have to be aware of
these
> things, such as Windows being a crappy OS that occassionally needs a
refresh or
> ultimately reinstall, to get things going again.
>
> Also, buying a Compaq to use as a gaming rig is not the cleverest thing
I've
> ever seen somebody do. They are corporate amateur desktops plain and
simple,
> they have so much intergrated crap in them that personally I probably
wouldn't
> take one if I had it thrown after me. Most likely I would strip it down
and take
> out what I could use.
>
> Ergo, it's not so much the games as it is your hardware and operating
> environment. You would probably do better to bark up that alley.
Markus Mokkanen
> The point is, whether it is the system, or the games, I don't feel I
>have the energy to put into keeping up to date to make sure games work
>on my PC, particularly when I have a pile of unfinished games I know
True, but don't forget this may be specifically to the kind of PC you
bought. People who buy 100% standard component PCs (of which Compaq is
not) don't usually have similar problems as you, which seemed to be
that you can't get about any new games to run on your system without
locking up.
So the state of PC gaming is not quite as sad as it seems to you,
because most people don't have Compaqs or Packard-Bells. In a way, you
are just in an unfortunate situation of having bought a Piece of Crap.
Your Dreamcast doesn't have the same problem because you can't buy a
Dreamcast clone from Compaq. :)
Markus Mokkanen
> The compaqs are certainly crap, not to mention windows. Funny how I ran
>DOS for years with a reinstall or file corruption and I find myself
>reinstalling Windows98 4 to 6 times a year because of registry errors,
>driver glitches and corrupt or missing files.
What on earth are you doing with your machine? Abusing it?
I install and uninstall about every PC game demo I can get from Avault
or GamesDomain, and play new games on it, yet my Win98 system is still
running fine since installing it 1½ years ago.
If you get corrupted files etc. that force you to reinstall Windows
4-6 times a year, there has to be a hardware problem on your PC, which
e.g. causes hard disk to write bad data on the disk.
Tor Iver Wilhelmsen
> Windows95/98 is a Windows 3.11 shell in a DOS shell...
With added features "lifted" from MacOS' Finder and OS/2's
Presentation Manager. :-)
--
Tor Iver Wilhelmsen <to...@multinett.no>
I hope I live to see the day
The Pope gets high - Robbie Williams
Mark Stevens
<rico_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>My point is, computers are not truly plug and play, and will not be for
>quite some time. That goes for Macs as well, which are (mistakenly) known
>for their ease of use.
Unfortunately many new PCs (usually the pre-built sort as sold by the
main high street chains) are marketed as being truly plug & play --
and you're getting no end of PC virgins handing over huge wads of cash
on that basis alone.
Going back to the car analogy -- if you're buying a car for $2000, you
do a bit of research. You determine whether or not the model's for
you, you shop around to get the best deals, and (if you're really
unsure), you get a mechanic in to check it over thoroughly. In short,
you do everything possible to ensure that the 2000 bucks is being
spent on something that does the job you want it to do.
Unfortunately, this isn't often the case for PCs. People are all too
willing to hand over $2000 for a state-of-the-art system without even
stopping to think *why* they want it or how they're going to maintain
it.
Knight37
>gmacd...@networx.on.ca (Greg Macdonald) writes:
[snip]
>By the same reasoning though, you don't buy a family minivan when
>you really want a Ferrari.
Excellent point. The problem with PC games today is that most games
require a Ferrari and most people have a Taurus or worse on thier
desks. Then they rip open the Taurus and try to fit Ferrari parts in
them and wonder why it doesn't work so well.
--
Knight37
"This is your life.
Good to the last drop.
Doesn't get any better than this.
This is your life,
and it's ending one minute at a time." -- Tyler Durden
Knight37
>Well, that's no reason to quit PC gaming, at least you can upgrade a
>PC to play the latest games, you can't do that with a console. You
>can't play the latest Dreamcast games on a Genesis. A PC lasts
>longer than a console since you can upgrade it. Besides console
>games are generally a lot more expensive.
A PC doesn't last as long as consoles. I have had my latest PC for only
a year or so. It's already starting to show problems with newer games.
I have already upgraded the video card on it. I imagine in about
another year I'll have to buy a new motherboard, processor, and maybe
some memory too (seems like they keep changing the standard on memory
about at the rate I upgrade my motherboards). That's a lot more
expensive than buying a new console system every 2 or 3 years. How long
as PSX been out, anyway? :P
Mark Eubank
Rico Suave wrote:
> 4 - 6 times a year? Sheesh - what are you doing you your system? Here's a
> tip - go to tweak3d.com - they have several Win98 tweaks that will
> significantly clean up and stabilize your system. I've been running a Win98
> install since July and it's stil performing beautifully.
>
> "Mark Eubank" <meu...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:3871943A...@earthlink.net...
> >
Any tech worth his salt will tell you to reinstall Windows at least once a year,
and more often if you install and delete a lot of games. Being the one that
can't wait for a patch before buying a game, naturally I run across numerous
crashes and so forth, with each crash almost certainly doing something to a .dll
or other minute file, not to mention the registry.
Even if Windows seems stable for the most part, your find a reinstall after
only 3 months of use will increase game performance and make reboots much
quicker.
The corruption to windows happens a little every day, for everyone, at such a
slow pace you won't notice it, until you reinstall. Trust me.
P.S. Thanks for the tip. Been there. I build my own systems (I'm a computer
engineer) and have a pretty stable system. But reinstalling windows garantees a
performance boost and more stabability. trust me...
Mark
Mark Eubank
Markus Mokkanen wrote:
> What on earth are you doing with your machine? Abusing it?
>
> I install and uninstall about every PC game demo I can get from Avault
> or GamesDomain, and play new games on it, yet my Win98 system is still
> running fine since installing it 1½ years ago.
>
> If you get corrupted files etc. that force you to reinstall Windows
> 4-6 times a year, there has to be a hardware problem on your PC, which
> e.g. causes hard disk to write bad data on the disk.
If you have run windows that long without a reinstall i garantee it is not
performing up to it's full ability. Just the numerous registry entries from
all those demo installs has had to add time to reboots. If you reinstall you
will certainly notice a marked inprovement on game performance and general
file access. The degradation of your performance happens over such a long slow
curve you may not notice it until you reinstall.
Remember, every time you install a game or other software it makes registry
entries and installs and replaces .dlls and other system files that are almost
always left on your system after you uninstall. sometimes newer .dlls replace
older ones, sometimes older ones replace newer ones, ect. plus windows must
read every registry entry on reboot. This is a windows fact, and regular
reinstalls are the only solution. So you may think your windows is running
fine, but it's not running like a fresh reinstall.
Mark
L.J. Wischik
>windows must
>read every registry entry on reboot. This is a windows fact, and regular
I believe that to be wrong. I have never seen any MS documentation which
indicates it to be true. Do you have any supporting evidence?
--
Lucian Wischik, Queens' College, Cambridge CB3 9ET. www.wischik.com/lu
Rico Suave
> Any tech worth his salt will tell you to reinstall Windows at least once a
year,
> and more often if you install and delete a lot of games. Being the one
that
> can't wait for a patch before buying a game, naturally I run across
numerous
> crashes and so forth, with each crash almost certainly doing something to
a .dll
> or other minute file, not to mention the registry.
> Even if Windows seems stable for the most part, your find a reinstall
after
> only 3 months of use will increase game performance and make reboots much
> quicker.
> The corruption to windows happens a little every day, for everyone, at
such a
> slow pace you won't notice it, until you reinstall. Trust me.
>
> P.S. Thanks for the tip. Been there. I build my own systems (I'm a
computer
> engineer) and have a pretty stable system. But reinstalling windows
garantees a
> performance boost and more stabability. trust me...
> Mark
Um - I'm a tech - does my opinion count? Reinstallations might help, but I
have not noticed a significant performance decrease since my July install -
and I've been monitoring it closely. At any rate, reinstalling 4 to 6 times
a year is abnormal.
Scott Shupe
>
> > There's a lot to be said about the ease of console gaming. Of course,
> > if I could get games like SMAC or PS:T or FO or UT or Q3A on a
> console,
> > I might would stick with those, but I can't.
> Not sure what PS:T is,
Planescape: Torment, RPG goodness from the makers of Fallout 2.
Scott
J.S.
love/hate relationship with norton products.. I like there antivirius progs
but I've seen all the junk some of the other products have done to machines
and it aint been pretty.
J.S.
fishb...@hotmail.com wrote in message ...
>
>I see all these posts talking about rebuilding your PC's once a year and
>it doesn't make any sense to me. I haven't loaded Windows from scratch for
>over 2 years. Most of you sound pretty computer literate and it surprises
>me that not one of you has mentioned GHOST by Symantec.
>
>I loaded Windows from scratch got all my drivers loaded, made sure
>everything is working smoothly, downloaded all the Microsoft patches from
>Windowsupdate, then I made a GHOST image.
>
>When my Windows gets screwed up, I reload my GHOST image and Windows is
>back up and running smoothly as ever. This whole process of reloading the
>GHOST image take about 6-7 minutes. Then all you have to do is reload
>your programs. SLICK
>
>--
>Posted via CNET Help.com
>http://www.help.com/
Ykalon Dragon
> Not sure what PS:T is,
Planescape: Torment a crpg.
--
ICQ # 45086408
ScottZf
rico_...@hotmail.com (Rico Suave) wrote:
I have not reinstalled Windows, nor reformatted my main hard drive, since Jan
1998, (except to upgrade Win95 to Win98 in June 1998, but that was a 30 minute
project, so that doesn't really count). I do notice a slight slowdown in those
2 years, but I have never had a serious crash. The worst I ever had to do was
shut the computer down and do a cold reboot. I am sure that I am not a typical
example, but I really doubt anyone should have to reinstall more than once a
year, unless they have a lot of crap in their registry. Since I know how to
remove stuff in the registry by hand, it may be the reason I am atypical.
Then again, I have my config.sys file specially setup as well.
Mark Stevens
wrote:
>Remember, every time you install a game or other software it makes registry
>entries and installs and replaces .dlls and other system files that are almost
>always left on your system after you uninstall. sometimes newer .dlls replace
>older ones, sometimes older ones replace newer ones, ect. plus windows must
>read every registry entry on reboot.
Since Win95 came out, I've probably had to reinstall Win9x about three
or four times. I think the first couple of times were merely driver
issues. The third time was about a year ago -- Win98 was in the middle
of downloading and installing a critical update from Microsoft's home
page when I suffered a line drop. This fucked up Win98 beyond belief
and even trying to get to a stage where I could actually begin
re-installing took the best part of a day. The fourth time was
yesterday. I noticed that various Win32 applications (ie, the CCS64
emulator) simply weren't loading. In fact, Win98 just ignored them as
if I hadn't even attempted to load them. I just reinstalled Win98 and
bingo, all the Win32 applications were up and running.
Steven
wrote:
>Mark Eubank <meu...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>windows must
>>read every registry entry on reboot. This is a windows fact, and regular
>
>I believe that to be wrong. I have never seen any MS documentation which
>indicates it to be true. Do you have any supporting evidence?
While Windows does read from the registry when it starts,but it does
not read every registry entry. Many entries are only read as the app
that belongs to that reg entry is started.
Steven
fishb...@hotmail.com
Ka On Lee
> Any tech worth his salt will tell you to reinstall Windows at least once a year,
> and more often if you install and delete a lot of games.
Any tech worth his weight know how to fix Windows. Only my own PCs
I only installed Windows 4 times: One Win3.0, then upgraded to 3.1.
The 3.1 install was retained when upgradeing that 386 to P-90. 95
installed over 3.1 without too much trouble. 95 also made it through
the P-90 to 6x86 upgrade. Then I did a fresh Win98 install which also
made it through a Celeron 450A upgrade easily.
> Being the one that
> can't wait for a patch before buying a game, naturally I run across numerous
> crashes and so forth, with each crash almost certainly doing something to a .dll
> or other minute file, not to mention the registry.
Which would cause problem in Windows itself. You just need to be
careful with DirectX and video drivers.
--
Ka-On Lee ko...@engsoc.carleton.ca
"The greatest sin a computer scientist can commit is to provide too few
bits somewhere"
NOSPAM dduma
You have an obvious Windows (blows) problem.
I am a software Tech in a Big Company and see stuff like this all the
time.
Re-install Windows Fresh on a formatted drive.
IF that does not cure you, then get a new motherboard, and/or ram.
Courageous
Actually, while the operating system is somewhat to blame for
not providing the level of security to key system resources that
would a *real* operating system (like Linux -- plug, plug), he's
really not that far off. While reinstalling Windows will indeed
correct his problem, the various different installs, uninstalls,
and aggregious trespasses made by the other pieces of software
are indeed a big part of the problem.
My general recommendation to people who install, uninstall, and
use large amounts of software is to create a partition on their
hard drive just large enough for the operating system and some
swap space (if you keep it there). Make this drive C:, and install
*nothing* else on this drive. Keep regular backups of the registry.
When the computer starts to go south, do a pristine install of the
operating system on that partition.
This wouldn't be necessary if we had a *real* operating system
(like Linux -- plug, plug) instead of this Winblows piece of crap.
BTW, on a related note, I had a Unix workstation on my desk
for five years which never once -- not in the entire time that
I owned it -- crashed*. That's pretty remarkable, considering
I wrote a couple hundred thousand lines of code on the thing.
I'll give my first born son to the first software developer
who can say that about a Winblows box. :) :) :)
Developer and no crashes? Riggggggght. Sure. And I bet you
have a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge, right? :) :) :)
C/
* actually X dropped a dozen plus times, but the kernel took
a lickin and kept on tickin. Not so bad.
Duane Vanderpol
news:3870E5...@indiana.edu...
> > >What I am speaking off is how my system has been screwed up by games I
> > >have run on it. I have started with a floor model Compaq. Over the
> > >past year and a half, it has gotten messed up by games I have run on
> > >it. Not only have games been buggy, but they have screwed up my
> > >system. I have had so many lost disk chains, I could set a nation of
> > >repressed people free. This is simply by just installing and
> > >uninstalling games, that is it.
> Frankly I think practically all of what he described
> is probably hardware-related. After working as a sales
> rep at CBM many years ago I developed a severe allergy
> to *any* floor model. People beat the crap out of those
> things (just to see how durable they are) and they get
> squat in terms of maintenance
I'm thinking here that this isn't what he meant by "floor model" or that
what _you_ mean is "display model". I.e., he means he's got a basic,
just-like-it-appears-in-the-catalogue sort of system with no added or
subsituted parts. The implication being that such a model has been
well-tested with it's listed components and ought to work accordingly.
He's still... well I'll be nice and say he's understandably frustrated,
but lashing out in entirely the wrong direction. He doesn't seem to realize
that you can take two identical systems - and I mean identical - and one of
them can be a living hell to work with (even to the point where you can
think of no better option than to strip it for parts) and the other will
function flawlessly for years. I've seen it happen.
Certainly he's reached the wrong conclusion in thinking that all these
different pieces of software are the culprits for lost chain and other disk
errors. However, he also needs to learn to accept the reality that games
have bugs, hardware can be pointlessly cranky, and that if he fails to get a
succession of 6 games to function the evidence is CLEARLY in favor of a
_hardware_ problem, not software.
> > If you're going to be a computer gamer you're going to have to be aware
of these
> > things, such as Windows being a crappy OS that occassionally needs a
refresh or
> > ultimately reinstall, to get things going again.
> >
> > Also, buying a Compaq to use as a gaming rig is not the cleverest thing
I've
> > ever seen somebody do. They are corporate amateur desktops plain and
simple,
> > they have so much intergrated crap in them that personally I probably
wouldn't
> > take one if I had it thrown after me.
>
> I agree to some extent. Personally I hate having
> *any* PC that uses custom proprietary odd-sized components
> that can only be replaced by calling the manufacturer
> and paying their price for new parts. My PC at home is
> cobbled together from a bunch of 100% generic standard-
> sized components, and it works like a charm. When things
> break I replace them out of pocket for a lot less than
> out-of-warantee proprietary parts acquisition would run.
My favorite has always been Packard Bell. My parents had a couple of
them and my brother had one as well. Having now scavenged ALL of them for
parts I am just agog at the bizzare configurations they used for their
hardware. How do mfg's like that stay in business for so long?
Oh and BTW, my sincerest advice for the guy would be to wipe his hard
drive and start from scratch. I generally manage to avoid this myself by
simply upgrading the hard drive if not the bulk of my machines before it
becomes absolutely necessary, but I have done it several times nonetheless
and I swear it's like stepping out of the shower after a day of tarring a
roof in Death Valley.
--
Duane VanderPol
http://home.earthlink.net/~duanevp
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
- Thomas Watson, IBM chairman, 1943
Steven
wrote:
>Richard:
>
>You have an obvious Windows (blows) problem.
>
>I am a software Tech in a Big Company and see stuff like this all the
>time.
>
>Re-install Windows Fresh on a formatted drive.
>
>IF that does not cure you, then get a new motherboard, and/or ram.
You work for a "Big Company" with advice like "Re-install" or "get a
new motherboard, and/or ram"? You wouldn't last long in my shop.
Steven
Duane Vanderpol
news:84td9o$ejp$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> > >By the way, the perfect reply to this is to ignore that there is a
> > >problem, and blame me the end user, for this situation. Please be
> > >belligerant to me and have the snooty propellerhead mentality that
> > >everything is ok, if you are competent.
> > Wohoo! You're on a roll!
> Read this thread. You see replies reaking with this mentality.
You get what you ask for around here generally. Well, come to think of
it you'd have gotten this regardless, but any rant someone feels compelled
to post for all the world to see is just begging for flames.
Iguana
<387278CD...@earthlink.net>:
>least once a year, and more often if you install and delete a
>lot of games.
What I do is have a zipped up copy of my 95 directory hanging
around to restore from. This .zip was made after an install of
the operating system, and an install of drivers, shortcuts to
utilities I use, etc, but before any games are installed/linked
to. Once every 6-8 months or so, I zip up the messed up 95, and
unzip the 'fresh' one, which saves reinstall time. I have
different operating systems on my computer, so I just boot into
a different one to do this, but I guess you can do the same
thing from DOS.
Another thing I do to save from Windows pain, is I make sure to
make all the OS's .dlls, .exes, .vxds, etc, read only.
Something I recommend is to have partitions--one with only the
operating system, a small one for your swap file and temp stuff
(as it gets fragmented easily, and who cares if it fragments its
own space), and then a third for games, and also the stuff that
is usually labelled "program files".
--
Iguana
bufomax
/AT/ yahoo ***dot*** com
Steven
wrote:
Wow...I could probably do a reinstall of Windows from scratch, faster
than you could change all your .dlls, .exes, .vxds, etc to read only.
What a waste of time.
Steven
L.J. Wischik
>Wow...I could probably do a reinstall of Windows from scratch, faster
>than you could change all your .dlls, .exes, .vxds, etc to read only.
>What a waste of time.
Start|Find|Files|c:\windows\*.dll
select-all, right-click, read-only
Find *.exe, *.vxd and repeat
All in all, maybe two minutes.
Mark Eubank
fishb...@hotmail.com wrote:
Great post. The existance of this program only varifies windows instablity,
otherwise why would it be available? Basically your reinstalling without the
need of updating drivers,ect as they are ghosted. Very smart move.The above
posters seem convinced they don't need it, which is why the program is rarely
mention or used.Mark
Mark Eubank
L.J. Wischik wrote:
> Mark Eubank <meu...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >windows must
> >read every registry entry on reboot. This is a windows fact, and regular
>
> I believe that to be wrong. I have never seen any MS documentation which
> indicates it to be true. Do you have any supporting evidence?
>
If you read PC World, CGW,ect they have stated several times about windows
reading registry entries on bootup. If you follow and pay attention to a
program installation you will see numerous .dlls installed. When you delete
the same program with either windows uninstall or a 3rd party uninstall
program you almost always are notified that some components couldn't be
deleted. In most cases these are the replaced .dlls. There really is no way
of tracking them and replacing them from the windows CD. Not all .dlls land
in the that program's folder, but in windows system folder instead. Loyd Case
(did i spell that right) has stated in several of his articles about
reinstalling at least every six months to remedy the rewrites, and i find
marked improvement after only every three months, which is why i do it.
Sure, if i waited for Windows to fail to the point where i had no choice but
to reinstall, which seems to be the basic reseasons most posters here have
reinstalled, i could probably do it only once a year, but i think the
performance gains alone justify more frequent reinstalls.
I certainly would do that immediately if ever i lost my mind and bought a
Compaq, but i work on enough of these systems at work to know better to ever
purchase one. about the only other system that was loaded with more TSRs than
Compaq is IBMs, but i rarely run across these systems, as thier systems have
been consistly bad from day one and even the uneducated are usually scared
away from thier higher price.
The newest trend is the bargain PC, and people trying to get decent game
performance out of one. These are usually AMD or Cleron systems, with cheap
motherboards with even cheaper integrated components. Many times PCI slots
aren't available, or even memory slots as well, and a great many have no way
of disabling intergrated components. These are the give-a-ways from ISP's
trying to sign people up for 3 year contracts.Many systems even shadow the
video ram in the system so they can meet the minium of 32megs of ram required
by most current software, which leads to all sorts of troubles.All in all,
any one system will have it's it quirk, but one thing is certain. Windows is
not stable enough to run over long periods without reinstalls just by the
very nature of it's design.
Mark
L.J. Wischik
>L.J. Wischik wrote:
>>[Does Windows read the entire registry at bootup?]
>>I believe that to be wrong. I have never seen any MS documentation which
>>indicates it to be true. Do you have any supporting evidence?
>
>If you read PC World, CGW,ect they have stated several times about windows
>reading registry entries on bootup.
It is true that Windows reads some registry entries on bootup. But *NOT
ALL*. The writers in PC-World and CGW are ignorant journalists and should
not be relied upon for technical information.
>If you follow and pay attention to a
>program installation you will see numerous .dlls installed. When you delete
>the same program with either windows uninstall or a 3rd party uninstall
>program you almost always are notified that some components couldn't be
>deleted. In most cases these are the replaced .dlls. There really is no way
>of tracking them and replacing them from the windows CD. Not all .dlls land
>in the that program's folder, but in windows system folder instead.
That's all true. In most cases, the games are providing updates to the
DLLs. That's because Microsoft release updated DLLs kind of frequently,
but don't really bother distributing the updates. If a piece of software
requires the most uptodate MS dll, then they ship it. You should
emphatically *not* replace them with old ones from the Windows CD.
(In the olden days, programs would overwrite important DLLs with older
versions, but that hardly happens any more. And with Win2000 it will be
pretty much impossible.)
In any case, having lots of DLLs in the windows directory does *NOT* lead
to any measureable performance hit.
Mark Eubank
J.S. wrote:
> I haven't heard of the program ghost and may look into it but I have a
> love/hate relationship with norton products.. I like there antivirius progs
> but I've seen all the junk some of the other products have done to machines
> and it aint been pretty.
>
>
>
> >Posted via CNET Help.com
> >http://www.help.com/
while a lot of Norton's utilities are know to create problem with gaming
software ghost is a pretty simple program that merely stores a copy of your
original Windows (have all drivers and updates installed before using) in a
safe spot on your harddrive and atomatically deletes the corrupted windows and
replaces it. This can be done without such a program as well by hand, but it
sure makes the process faster.
Mark
Krud
dduma (NOSPAM) (dduma) <@megsinet.net> wrote in message
<3874b7fd...@news.megsinet.net>...
>Richard:
>
>You have an obvious Windows (blows) problem.
>
>I am a software Tech in a Big Company and see stuff like this all the
>time.
>
>Re-install Windows Fresh on a formatted drive.
>
>IF that does not cure you, then get a new motherboard, and/or ram.
Spoken like a true software tech....... You forgot to leave us on hold for 45
minutes.
-Krud
Krud
>
>> You call that venting? Sheesh! What a wuss.....
>> -Krud :)
>
>Hey, you can call me being polite. And, I mean venting as in it may
>not be something I will act on, more that, "feel my firey wrath" :-).
There's that "p" word again. In order to qualify as "wrath" it has to have a
few four letter words in it. I can lend you one of my old rants and you can
change "Activision" to "Microsoft".
-Krud :)