Windows 7 Brand new computer - no games will run

[EgonTowst]

Hey everyone. I hate doing this when I know there are already other similar discussions, but I haven't found any solution to my problem and since it sounds like most others who have experienced this problem have done so after upgrading to Windows 7 from a previous OS, which is no the case with me, I thought I should ask.

So I've got a brand new Dell studio laptop. It is not even 24 hours out of the package, so I haven't played around with overclocking my CPU or anything like that. I've done nothing to the computer at all but install firefox, a few games, and update my video and sound drivers. It came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit installed on it, and I'm having some strange problems with it.

First, all games I try running end up crashing. A few of my older games, such as Homeworld, don't even make it past the intro movies. I'm not sure if this has something to do with compatibility issues (the game was released in 99) ... please be patient with me, I'm not particularly computer savvy. The one game I've tried that I was actually able to play any was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but it too crashed about 5 or 10 minutes in, at the moment I tried slashing someone open . It will work fine if I just let it sit there. But once I pull out a weapon or try interacting with a character, it freezes for about 10 seconds, then the screen goes black and soon I'm sent to Desktop with an error message saying the program had to close.

Like I said I've updated my video and sound drivers. I tried running the games before and after doing so, but no change. DirectX 11 came on the machine so I assumed I didn't need to mess with that.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Below are my specs. I can't imagine that it would be a CPU or memory issue if the PC is at stock settings, but again, I'm not very computer savvy so I'm not even sure how to check that stuff. So any help would be much appreciated.

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System Information
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Time of this report: 3/27/2010, 12:07:21
       Machine name: SCOTT-PC
   Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_rtm.090713-1255)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
       System Model: Studio 1558
               BIOS: Ver 1.00 BIOS A04 PARTTBL
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU       M 520  @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
             Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3956MB RAM
          Page File: 1679MB used, 6231MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 32bit Unicode
          Card name: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4500/5100 Series

I don't know how to check CPU temp and all that, so if more info is necessary I could use some pointers there.

 

[EgonTowst]

I doubt it's a game specific crash, since I've had the same trouble with each game I try. I'll give your suggestion and try though and let you know how it goes.

 

[EgonTowst]

Well I deleted Oblivion.ini and tried the game again in the lower resolution but still no change.

I do have an idea though. But like I said I'm not overly computer savvy and at this time I'm just experimenting, so stop me if I sound like I'm doing something dangerous . After a bit of research it appears that this problem first began occurring with games on some Windows 7 and Vista systems (though strangely not all) right after the ATI 9.1 drivers were released in January 09. I can't find any complaints before then, and every driver update since then has failed to fix the problem for those who have been experiencing these crashes. So maybe it's the drivers ... though if it is I don't understand why only some people seem to have this problem. The 8.12 drivers (which no one seems to have experienced this problem with) look like they were made for Vista and XP. But Vista drivers should work on Windows 7 shouldn't they? I figured I could try installing the old 8.12 drivers and see what happens.

 

[EgonTowst]

Well so much for that theory. Every time I install 8.12 and reboot, Windows automatically installs the more up-to-date driver that came on the system.

 

[EgonTowst]

Is it a bad idea to install a second OS on the same harddrive, on a different partition? I figured I might install XP for gaming, and leave Windows 7 for everything else.

 

[nmsuk]

Is it a bad idea to install a second OS on the same harddrive, on a different partition? I figured I might install XP for gaming, and leave Windows 7 for everything else.

If you get driversweeper and then get the 10.3b preview drivers. Uninstall the currently installed driver, boot into safe mode and run driversweeper. After rebooting into windows 7 proper install the ati drivers Alos for good measure disable\hide the ati drivers available in windows update. Hope this helps. If not get gpu-z and monitor the gfx cards temps with it.

 

[EgonTowst]

If you get driversweeper and then get the 10.3b preview drivers. Uninstall the currently installed driver, boot into safe mode and run driversweeper. After rebooting into windows 7 proper install the ati drivers Alos for good measure disable\hide the ati drivers available in windows update. Hope this helps. If not get gpu-z and monitor the gfx cards temps with it.

I don't have any problem updating my drivers. I'm trying to install an older driver, one that's older than the PC itself. I encounter the crashing problem with every driver more recent than 8.12. My problem is I can't get 8.12 to install.

 

[EgonTowst]

I'm just about completely fed up with this right now. No matter what I do with this machine something has got to go wrong. I've tried everything, with no change. So I tried installing older drivers ... they won't install. First Windows would automatically reinstall the drivers that came on the machine every time I removed them and rebooted. I eventually got that fixed, but then the installation would hang every time I tried installing the older drivers. But once I finally got that fixed, it "completes" the installation (so it says) apparently without actually installing the drivers. So I decided I had had enough of Windows 7 and wanted to go back to Windows XP, but go figure ... XP won't install on this machine either!! What next? I created a new partition and tried to setup a dual boot system, but when trying to boot from the WinXP CD I get BSOD while it's loading the drivers. I don't even get far enough to view the license agreement. I tried three different disks, all legitimate copies, but ran into the same problem with each. Based on more Google searches I think it has something to do with the fact that I've got a SATA drive. But of course the suggested fix I read isn't an option for my laptop ... no floppy drive and I don't have the right options in my BIOS setup to configure it appropriately.

Any other thoughts? There are a couple more quick things I'd like to try but I don't suspect that they'll make any difference. I apologize for my frustration. I'm just tired of constantly having to put up one problem after another. Did it for a year on my old computer before it finally gave up on me. I'd like to be able to just use my computer!

 

[kemical]

If you need to load up a driver for the SATA HD then don't worry as you can use a flash drive or in the past I've burnt the driver to CD and got it off that. If your needing drivers try the lappie makers website as they usually provide drivers.
Just check your system Bios is up to date too..

 

[EgonTowst]

I'm having a hard time figuring out what driver it is I need for the SATA HDD. Does anyone know what files I need and where I can download them at?

My harddrive is a Seagate Momentus 7200.4 SATA model ST9320423AS. I'm not sure what motherboard I have.

 

[kemical]

Try using this app found here (free trial) Link Removed
This will tell you which motherboard you have as we need to know the chipset so to point you in the right direction for drivers..

 

[EgonTowst]

OK, I'm not exactly sure what all I'm looking at here, so here's some screenshots of the program's findings. Let me know if you need more.

 

[kemical]

Thanks for posting the info..
You can download your drivers here:

Link Removed - Invalid URL

I also took a screenshot. The HD drivers can be found under chipset (arrowed)

 

[EgonTowst]

I've been too busy lately to continue messing around with this. I'm about to try installing XP again today. I just wanted to add to this discussion that I just noticed that I have the SAME problem when using Google Earth. Program crashes after a few minutes and I get that message saying an AMD driver stopped responding and was successfully recovered.

 

[EgonTowst]

Hmm well apparently those weren't the right drivers, or that's just not the problem to begin with. I still get BSOD when trying to load the XP cd with any of those drivers . I don't know what else could be causing the problem.

I noticed on some other forums the suggestion was made (for those who run into BSOD when trying to load XP cd on a laptop with a SATA harddrive) to go into BIOS and change the setting from "AHCI" to "Compatibility/IDE". I tried to do this as well, but I don't have a "Compatibility" or "IDE" option. The only option I have other than "AHCI" is "ATA". I tried that but not only did that not make any difference when trying to load the files on the XP cd, but Windows 7 won't boot up with that setting at all. So I changed it back and I'm back where I started, and can't find any cases now similar to my own

 

[kemical]

I read through this thread again and ask if you would check once more that your bios is the latest version.
If so then it's probably time to check the RAM is ok (even though new it's possible to still get bad ram).
Open up the lappie and take out one stick of RAM and try running on the other stick. If you find the machine runs fine on one stick and not the other then you know which stick is bad..
If you only have one stick anyway then try running this app: Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

For future ref: Link Removed

 

[Agent Data]

ATA is IDE just another word for it

 

[EgonTowst]

ATA is IDE just another word for it

Which is strange, because switching the setting to ATA doesn't do anything but prevent Windows 7 from starting up either. I still get BSOD at the same point when trying to load the XP cd. I've tried the XP cd without the SATA drivers on both the AHCI and ATA settings, and the XP cd with the SATA drivers on both settings, but every time I get blue screen of death at the same point.

I double checked and I do have the latest version of my BIOS. I'll look at the memory tomorrow.

 

[kemical]

If I remember back to when I last used XP and SATA drivers (an eon and epoch has since passed) don't you have to press 'S' at some point? This is to allow the upload of the SATA drivers. You have the same process in 7 but it's now automated..

 

[Agent Data]

Which is strange, because switching the setting to ATA doesn't do anything but prevent Windows 7 from starting up either. I still get BSOD at the same point when trying to load the XP cd.

where exactly is that point?

 

[nmsuk]

To load SATA drivers in XP they need to be on a floppy and you press F6 when the windows disc starts to boot. Then after while you press 'S' to actually load the drivers.