Running AGS Games makes my computer freeze

[BerserkerTails]

Okay, so I'm completely screwed now. See, everytime I run an AGS Game, it locks up my computer, causing me to restart. What happens, is when an AGS Game runs normally, in the taskbar, the icon for it pops up with the title "Adventure Game Studio". Then, after a second or so, the name of the game replaces Adventure Game Studio, then the game begins (Full-screen).

But now, whenever I try to run a game, the "Adventure Game Studio" icon appears in the taskbar, but it never changes to the game's name. I try clicking on it, or closeing it, but it doesn't work. Then, when I hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete and tell Windows to End Task, the computer completely freezes up.

Has anyone ever had this problem? It's becoming really annoying! I can't play any new games, such as Ben Jordan 3, I can't play my own game, etc... I'm running Windows 98 Second Edition, just in case that's relevant. Any help would be much appriciated!

[BOYD1981]

for a little while on my old computer whenever i ran an AGS game there'd be a long delay between me starting the game and the actual game starting, it seemed to stop after a while though...
best thing to do is check for viruses

[Barbarian]

Well, it could be any number of problems, but here's a few questions/ things that may help to track down what the problem might be:

How long ago did the problem start appearing on your computer?

Did you install any new software and/or drivers recently that may be causing some kind of conflict with running AGS games?

Can you run AGS games in a Windowed mode (choose "Run in a window" from the game's setup file)?

Do all AGS do this for you, or just "newer" / "recently created" AGS games that may have been made on a more recent version of the AGS editor? Do older released AGS game still work fine for you?

Ã,  Ã,  A couple of suggestions to try:
Of course, scan your system for any possible viruses and/or spyware that may be lurking and causing the problems.Ã,  If scanning shows everything is fine, then it could be a conflict with some of the graphic drivers or one of drivers may have gotten corrupted (it happens).
In which case: Try finding and installing the most recent version of graphics drivers for your graphics adaptor/card model.

You may also want to install a recent version of DirectX drivers:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx

[BerserkerTails]

I first noticed the problem after trying (And failing) to run the Terminator 2031 demo. Then after that, all my AGS games wouldn't work. I've tested the Two of a Kind beta, Maniac Mansion Deluxe, and even Pleurghburg, and they all don't work!

I ran one-button-checkup on Norton Systemworks last night, and got rid a big bunch of registry errors, but still no working AGS games. I'm going to run my Anti-Virus program, Ad-Aware, and Spybot Search and Destroy today, and hopefully that'll have some effect.

[InCreator]

Try reinstalling DirectX.
And - not the latest 9-series one, but directx 8.1 and not a version newer.

[Barbarian]

Right, you're running 98, so perhaps DirectX 8.1 would be the best version to try:

DirectX 8.1 download page, for 98 & ME, from Microsoft here

Ã,  Ã, But yeah, sounds like somehow some of your graphics drivers got messed up, so a reinstall of your graphic adapter/card drivers might fix things up for you too, or try to find and download the most recent drivers for your graphics card from the manufacturer's website.

[BerserkerTails]

Okay, so I re-installed DirectX 8.1, got rid of my Spyware, ran my virus check, and still no dice. I've also noticed that other programs have started Not Responding, then locking up my computer. Ad-Aware does this (I used Spybot to get rid of my spyware), as does MoZilla when I try to listen to midis or watch movies in the browser (This uses Quicktime). So, I don't think it's isolated to just AGS.

...Any suggestions? I fear that my computer is starting to collapse upon itself!

[Dart]

I have almost the same problem as you do, Taily. I can't listen to Quicktime files in Mozilla, or play most of the new AGS games like Abducted: 10 Minutes!!! as well; the programs freeze up on my taskbar whenever I try to load them up. However, Adaware and most of the older AGS games work fine on my computer.

Hmm, I wonder what could be causing all of this havoc...

[Barbarian]

Do you have all of your important files backed up? You should do that as soon as possible.

Did you try to reinstall drivers for your graphics card?

As one of the last options to try, you could try a re-install of Windows over itself to fix/replace any important missing or currupt drivers and such, but have all important files backed up first, and there's no garuntee it re-installing Windows over itself will fix the problems, but in some cases it does work.

Or, if you're on a desktop computer, you could go and buy a new hard-drive.
Turn off computer. Disconnect old hard drive tempoarily. Have new hard-drive set a "Master" (Jumper pins and settings are on the hard drive itself 99% of the time). Connect new hard drive, turn-on computer, format new hard-drive, and then install Windows on it. After installing Windows, turn off computer again. Set old hard-drive as "Slave" using jumper-pins settings. Connect old hard-drive back to the hard-drive ribbon. Now when you turn-on computer again and it boots up, Windows should see your new hard drive as the Master and your old hard-drive as the Slave drive. You can then copy over all of your important files from the old drive over to the new drive.

Don't know if you wanted to go that far as getting a new hard drive, but, just giving some ideas that you might consider.

[BerserkerTails]

I installed the latest drivers for my video card AND...

...Still no dice. Man, this is starting to REALLY annoy me! I mean, what could've happened to my PC to make ALL AGS games not work? I think my computer's annoyed at me because I've been spending time on the other one playing Doom 3...

...I might just have to wipe the darn thing. Transfer all my files to the other computer and start clean. *SIGH*

Please, if anyone has any other suggestion, I'm happy to hear them!