Windows absolutely amazes me.

[fuzzybabybunny]

My Windows XP is really fantastic. Last night I was playing CS just fine, and this afternoon when I come back, having kept the computer on during this time, the sound in CS wouldn't work.

I exit out, try Winamp, and still no sound. I go to Device Manager, try to uninstall/reinstall the SoundBlaster drivers, and the computer locks. Device manager locks. Speedfan locks. exploror.exe locks. A whole bunch of other things locks.

And of course the mighty task manage cannot kill any of these, and I can't do a taskkill because hey! my start menu is locked.

Reformat, here I come!

 

[Genx87]

Hit the power button and reboot, easier than a reformat + reinstall.

 

[stash]

So crappy audio drivers == OS problem?

 

[daniel49]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
My Windows XP is really fantastic. Last night I was playing CS just fine, and this afternoon when I come back, having kept the computer on during this time, the sound in CS wouldn't work.

I exit out, try Winamp, and still no sound. I go to Device Manager, try to uninstall/reinstall the SoundBlaster drivers, and the computer locks. Device manager locks. Speedfan locks. exploror.exe locks. A whole bunch of other things locks.

And of course the mighty task manage cannot kill any of these, and I can't do a taskkill because hey! my start menu is locked.

Reformat, here I come!

Sounds like cs just didnt release all the resources back to windows. A restart would have probably cleared it up.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
My Windows XP is really fantastic. Last night I was playing CS just fine, and this afternoon when I come back, having kept the computer on during this time, the sound in CS wouldn't work.

I exit out, try Winamp, and still no sound. I go to Device Manager, try to uninstall/reinstall the SoundBlaster drivers, and the computer locks. Device manager locks. Speedfan locks. exploror.exe locks. A whole bunch of other things locks.

And of course the mighty task manage cannot kill any of these, and I can't do a taskkill because hey! my start menu is locked.

Reformat, here I come!

Taskkill, I assume that's a command line program? In Task Manager, you can go to File -> New Task (Run..) to get to the command line.

 

[Nothinman]

Sounds like cs just didnt release all the resources back to windows. A restart would have probably cleared it up.

No, if CS exited then all the resources it was using were released.

 

[Markbnj]

No, if CS exited then all the resources it was using were released.

If it exited. He doesn't say if it was still in the process list.

Anyway, sounds like a driver or hardware problem. If XP goes down hard it's something at that level.

 

[funkbass81]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
My Windows XP is really fantastic. Last night I was playing CS just fine, and this afternoon when I come back, having kept the computer on during this time, the sound in CS wouldn't work.

I exit out, try Winamp, and still no sound. I go to Device Manager, try to uninstall/reinstall the SoundBlaster drivers, and the computer locks. Device manager locks. Speedfan locks. exploror.exe locks. A whole bunch of other things locks.

And of course the mighty task manage cannot kill any of these, and I can't do a taskkill because hey! my start menu is locked.

Reformat, here I come!

so because you have no idea what youre doing, youre gonna reformat? makes sense.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I probably should have stated that I've been having these problems for a while, and not just related to CS, but everything. It'll just hard lock out of no where, or explorer.exe will just stop responding.

I'm on a fresh install and doing a lot better now, but now I have to call Microsoft because I need to get my Windows reactivated.

 

[spike spiegal]

No, if CS exited then all the resources it was using were released.

Is that DirectX version 20 or something?

 

[corkyg]

Nice pics, Fuzzy!

Assume they were all with the XT?

Your clean install is probably the best solution.

 

[networkman]

It's probably an undocumented feature that was included at no extra charge.

 

[Nothinman]

Is that DirectX version 20 or something?

No, it's just how process management has been worked for the past 20+ years.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: corkyg
Nice pics, Fuzzy!

Assume they were all with the XT?

Your clean install is probably the best solution.

Yup yup!

Actually, my computer's still hard locking

Maybe it's the 8 hard drives that I have...

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunnyMaybe it's the 8 hard drives that I have...

Whoa! That could indicate a need for a bigger PSU.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Sounds like cs just didnt release all the resources back to windows. A restart would have probably cleared it up.

No, if CS exited then all the resources it was using were released.

Right, because when you hit exit the program always does its job and unloads itself?

 

[Nothinman]

Right, because when you hit exit the program always does its job and unloads itself?

Sure, at least for me. And even if it does hang on exit it's usually a simple job to kill the process.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: corkyg

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunnyMaybe it's the 8 hard drives that I have...

Whoa! That could indicate a need for a bigger PSU.

But I HAVE two PSU

A 700W Fortron is powering my main system and the single primary HDD. A 400W Aspire is jumped and powering just the remaining 7 HDDs.

 

[JonMooring]

AMAZING pictures. Sorry I can't contribute towards a solution, but I just wanted to say how amazing those photos are.

 

[SingleAction]

It could also be the hdd that the os is installed on going south, that's what happened to one wd drive, in one of my systems, and now it's happening to my wife's machine. If that's the case, reformat, and reinstall won't help for long, as you have found out! Do you hear clicking, strange sounds coming from any of your drives(louder then normal)?

Just replace it.

 

[techmanc]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: corkyg

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunnyMaybe it's the 8 hard drives that I have...

Whoa! That could indicate a need for a bigger PSU.

But I HAVE two PSU

A 700W Fortron is powering my main system and the single primary HDD. A 400W Aspire is jumped and powering just the remaining 7 HDDs.

 

[techmanc]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: corkyg

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunnyMaybe it's the 8 hard drives that I have...

Whoa! That could indicate a need for a bigger PSU.

But I HAVE two PSU

A 700W Fortron is powering my main system and the single primary HDD. A 400W Aspire is jumped and powering just the remaining 7 HDDs.

sounds like a hardware problem i would reseat all your cards and check all your cables and power connectors. Are you using any remvable drive trays. I had alot of interrmittent problem wth those

 

[Bozo]

Creative Sound Blaster cards are notorious for causing problems. Look for some upgraded drivers or check Creative's site for fixes.
This is definately not an XP problem.

Bozo

 

[Markbnj]

Originally posted by: JonMooring
AMAZING pictures. Sorry I can't contribute towards a solution, but I just wanted to say how amazing those photos are.

I'll second that! You take some _really_ nice photos.

 

[KB]

I have had windows behave in that manner, only when a hardware device has begun failing. Try removing/replacing the card before you re-format.