FS crashes, with blue screen popping up

[ferrair]

In my computer, FS2002 crashes within two minutes, FS9 crashes in 5 seconds.  I have tried all I know (re-install, latest drivers, decrease settings to minimal, ...)

Computer info:
OS Name      Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version      5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer      Microsoft Corporation
System Name      STUDIO
System Manufacturer      Gateway
System Model      N0CPP010
System Type      X86-based PC
Processor      x86 Family 6 Model 4 Stepping 2 AuthenticAMD ~901 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date      American Megatrends Inc. 0AAVWP13, 6/26/2001
SMBIOS Version      2.3
Windows Directory      C:\WINDOWS
System Directory      C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device      \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale      United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer      Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name      STUDIO\Paolo Ferreri
Time Zone      Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory      768.00 MB
Available Physical Memory      465.67 MB
Total Virtual Memory      2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory      1.96 GB
Page File Space      1.83 GB
Page File      C:\pagefile.sys

Display info:
Name      NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400
PNP Device ID      PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0110&SUBSYS_88371462&REV_B2\4&9AEDED5&0&0008
Adapter Type      GeForce2 MX/MX 400, NVIDIA compatible
Adapter Description      NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400
Adapter RAM      64.00 MB (67,108,864 bytes)
Installed Drivers      nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version      6.14.10.6693
INF File      oem26.inf (nv4 section)
Color Planes      1
Color Table Entries      4294967296
Resolution      1280 x 1024 x 60 hertz
Bits/Pixel      32
Memory Address      0xFD000000-0xFDFFFFFF
Memory Address      0xF0000000-0xF7FFFFFF
IRQ Channel      IRQ 9
I/O Port      0x000003B0-0x000003BB
I/O Port      0x000003C0-0x000003DF
Memory Address      0xA0000-0xBFFFF
Driver      c:\windows\system32\drivers\nv4_mini.sys (6.14.10.6693, 2.70 MB (2,826,944 bytes), 10/6/2003 3:16 PM)

My system knowledge is rather superficial, I am a pilot, not a computer expert!!  Any ideas or suggestions?

Paolo

[jordonj]

I'm guessing that the graphics card is choking on FS...

Do any other games have this problem?

[ferrair]

Humm...I do not have any other games installed, so I do not really have an answer to this question.  I have inherited this computer from my son, that was doing 3D graphic anymations on it, so I thought it would be quite adequate, in terms of memory, processor, graphic card,...

Congratulations on your 172 flight.

[logjam]

I was running FS2K2 on a similar system to yours, albeit at very low res. I tried FS9 and it wouldn't work at all. I would say that your system BIOS needs updating, go to the Gateway site for that. You certainly seem to have lots of system memory. I would say that a newer graphics card would definitely help, but FS9 is made to run on a faster processor than the Athlon 1Gb. So if you want to Sim, stay with FS2K2, it's a great sim too.

[jordonj]

Well...with the exception of maybe video or sound editing (very intense editing), there's not much that can tax a computer as much as a flight simulator.

[ferrair]

The graphic card?  Well, ......better than having to buy a new computer.  Any ideas for a decent one?  They seem to vary greatly in features and prices.  OK, OK, no promotion on the Forum, but some guidelines?

TY

[JRoc]

It's a driver issue.  I had the same card as you do, same problem,  and I am still having the same problem with my new card (GeForce FX5500).

I think the issue started popping up after the latest SP2 updates were made available.

From what I've heard, the only temporary fix is to roll back to older nVidia drivers until they release the 70.xx drivers, which should be very soon.

I might also note that it affects all fullscreen 3D applications.