Curse

Wefta · Sep 18, 2008, 02:24 PM // 14:24

I've now had this problem twice..
First on my XP computer, where the game starts like normal, i log on. but when im playing it suddenly just freezes the whole (and i mean WHOLE) computer.
nothing works and then it turns black. When i try to turn it on again (only the computer, not the game) it just makes this wierd noise, and wont start.

On my new Vista computer, this happened again. I dont know how, but it recovered from that.

I think it is a virus though.. It kind of acts like a virus, and my vista comp is much better protected than the old XP one.

Btw im using GW Factions and Nightfall. (if it matters)

Please help cause i really want to start gaming again :P

Kattar · Sep 18, 2008, 02:30 PM // 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wefta

it just makes this wierd noise

Descrive the noise, if you don't mind.

And go ahead and post your system specs as well.

Wefta · Sep 18, 2008, 02:40 PM // 14:40

its really hard to describe a sound in text form, but its something like: du diiiiii du du de. if that made sense...

My XP computer, as i might have mentioned, didnt recover from this, so i dont know the system specs. but it ran GW nicely since .. hmm April 2006.

Can items in-game contain viruses? cause i bought some gold items nearly right before it crashed.

Anyways heres the specs for my vista (i think these are called the specs at least xD) not really a computer expert.

AMD Turion (tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-60 2.00 GHz
3 GB RAM
Vista Home
256 MB Graphic card

Kattar · Sep 18, 2008, 02:51 PM // 14:51

High pitched squeal, whirring, etc. is what I meant. What sort of noise is it? lol.

No, nothing from GW would cause a virus.

Wefta · Sep 18, 2008, 03:00 PM // 15:00

Ah i just read another topic about wierd noises and crashing.. it might be my comp/video card going too hot maybe, but does that affect the start up by the comp later on?

oh right. haha sorry. hmm its kind of a "drrrr" sound. its split into 5 parts, the 2nd is longer than the others. the whole thing lasts for about 1.8 to 2 seconds, and is repeated over and over, even if the computer is power-off!! Additionally i would say the 1st, 3rd and 4th "drr" has a lower pitch than the 2nd and 5th. If any of that made sense, i hope its helpful lol.

Kattar · Sep 18, 2008, 03:03 PM // 15:03

Even if the computer is off? That's interesting.

Could be a power supply issue or a fan problem. Is the computer all the way off? Or just in stand by or hibernate?

Wefta · Sep 18, 2008, 03:04 PM // 15:04

Nope, its turned completly off.
It is indeed intresting, and scary.. i dont dare even to install it until i have a clear answer of what it is :S

Pariah · Sep 18, 2008, 07:40 PM // 19:40

I have had this exact same problem before. I have never been able to figure out what causes it, but it is not a virus. It is a system crash somehow caused only while running GW. Usually you can press and hold the power button to turn off the comp, and then start it back up, but sometimes this will not work. When it does not work, the following always does. In order to clear it, and restart the computer, unplug the power cord from the power supply (from the power supply, not from the wall outlet), wait a few seconds and plug it back in. The comp will start without any issues.

Wefta · Sep 18, 2008, 11:06 PM // 23:06

oh ok. thx, ill try it out next time it happens lol.

Lady Lozza · Sep 19, 2008, 12:42 AM // 00:42

Sounds to me like you have a busted fan, or perhaps a busted PSU or even both.

Does the sound happen when you unplug the power completely?
Does the sound happen when you use the PSU system switch (the one at the back of your computer)?

I'm assuming at this point that your system has a fairly standard setup. If you have anything exotic in your machine, water cooling, second power supply for emergencies, whatever, please make this known.

After doing the two things above, drag your PSU out of your machine and plug it into the wall and turn in on. Make sure your computer is completely disconnected from the PSU. If you are hearing the sound when you give power to the PSU, it would suggest that a fan in the power supply is unbalanced and hence dead. I do NOT recommend trying to fix this. Buy a new PSU.

If you do not hear the sound when you power up ONLY the PSU, put it back in your computer and plug the motherboard into the power. Make sure NOTHING ELSE is connected to the motherboard, no graphics card, RAM, anything. Now turn the power to the PSU on. Is the sound there? Turn the computer on. Is the sound there?

Do not worry about any beeps you hear when you power up the PC. This is just your BIOS reporting that is missing components.

If the sound is still not there, plug the graphics card into the motherboard, and test.

Step up to RAM, test.

Plug in your HD, test.

DVD drive, test.

Case fans, test.

I don't think you will need to go that far. Fairly sure the problem will be with the PSU or motherboard or graphics card.

Pariah · Sep 19, 2008, 04:34 AM // 04:34

The sound is not mechanical in nature, it is a feedback in the speakers.

It is not the mobo, psu, hd, ram, vidcard, fans, or optical drives. One theory is that it may be some incompatibility with my soundcard, an audigy 2zs, even though the card tests fine. My rig is not overclocked, nor are there any heat issues. This issue only occurs with GW, and with no other software of any kind, no matter how hard I push the system.

Wefta · Sep 19, 2008, 08:13 AM // 08:13

He explained my situation aswell. and my Vista computer is brand new. and still it has that sound. and i dont really think they sell computers with busted fans or PSUs.

Numa Pompilius · Sep 19, 2008, 08:28 AM // 08:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wefta

its really hard to describe a sound in text form, but its something like: du diiiiii du du de. if that made sense...

Could it be the sound of a monitor trying to run at a refreshrate it does not support?
If you turn off the monitor but leaves the computer on, does the sound disappear?

Wefta · Sep 19, 2008, 09:51 AM // 09:51

omg.. i just remember i forgot the probably most important thing..
its laptops we're talking about here xD sry guys.. if it had an effect on any of your answers.

and it might be a sound from my CPU, which is trying to start up again, but cant really..

Pariah · Sep 20, 2008, 01:06 AM // 01:06

If you turn off the monitor but leaves the computer on, does the sound disappear?

Haven't tried that, but I have had this happen on 2 different monitors on the same comp. Both monitors were using correct refresh rates.

The one it does it to me on is a desktop.

Lady Lozza · Sep 21, 2008, 11:43 PM // 23:43

Firstly it sounds like you guys might have two different problems that are simply manefesting in the same way (crashing GW).

Wefta, it is entirely possible to get a lemon straight out of the box, but it only accounts for a very small percentage of sales. This is why they have warrenties. Now is the sound on your machine electronic in nature - like speaker feedback as Pariah is describing, or is it mechanical?

Wefta and Pariah, on boot is the monitor off completely or just black?

Pariah, is the noise happening when you boot your computer except it doesn't boot and just beeps? If this is the case it is likely to be the beep code and it is trying to tell you what is wrong with your machine. Without hearing the sound for myself I can't help you, but you should be able to find a copy of the beep code online, if you have another computer you can access.

It may well be incompatibility with your sound card. Since many motherboards carry onboard sound most don't like dealing with 3rd party cards and can be a bit niggly. Since you (unlike Wefta) are running a desktop it also maybe that the sound card is not connected properly to your motherboard, or that the sound card is not connected properly to the speakers. Keep in mind here I've no idea of your speaker setup - I'm assuming you are using the internal PC speaker with possible connections to a proper speaker system (either 2.1 or 5.1 or 7.1)

So Pariah, if you've the time and inclination I'm going to suggest you unhook your soundcard from your rig and boot and see what happens. If it boots and gives you no grief, do the following:

1) set the sound in GW back to basic, no 3D, EAX or whatever the two extra options are. If you can't do this (GW still crashes), the problem is most likely not with your sound card.
2) turn the pc off, hook your sound card back up, and make sure all the connections are where they are supposed to be. This means making sure you use the right plug too! Many PCs nowdays have the choice of Realtek or Azalia - since I'm assuming it's a decent sound card you will be wanting the Azalia plug. If you don't have a hard copy of your motherboard manual find one online.
3) reboot, access GW and if it gives you no grief set the sound back to whatever it was before. At the very least you will have to shut down and then open GW to ensure it is working at the higher audio quality.

If unhooking your card stops the crashing, but hooking it back up starts them again, then there is definately something wrong either with the hardware, or with the drivers. Bad drivers can cause no end of grief, so uninstall and reinstall if necessary.