Solution... Apparently the new nvidia driver installed wrong or something. It wouldn't let the hardware do video overlay properly causing it to freeze. I rolled back the driver and everything is fine.

Some added information:

The .wmv files in the video folder will not play at all in any player. They all freeze. Any and all suggestions are welcome

<t> So the intro videos and all other videos in the game freeze and my computer slows to a crawl. I know it has to be something involving a driver or a codec. Here is my DXDIAG export:<br/>
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I renamed all the videos so they don't work, and the game plays... but since this is a problem on my ...

It's not actually my server, it's a clan server and they decided for some reason on teamspeak.

My problem isn't just teamspeak, though... I think it's my sound driver, so I'm getting a new sound card... which reminds me. WAW needs built in awesome music!

<t> If you can hold russia long enough to get production well and good in the WAllies, you can start to slip into Germany. Japan will still play havok with Russia, but Germany will be out of the game.<br/>
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If Russia falls, you can still hold it together. Just make sure to be efficient with ...

<t> but maybe you can help me anyways. I am having problems with my teamspeak and with constant crashing/restarting of my computer. These are usually when a sound related program is running like an online radio streamer, a voice changer, or similar.<br/>
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I was hoping you might have some ...

<t> Um... France is a player country, but if Germany does it right it won't last long enough for the Western Allies player to use it.<br/>
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The countries are basicly independent, but some zones are connected. If you attack the Azores for instance, the spanish will declare war on you. Mostly ...

<r> hmm... why not make it a bit farther from a port? Like 2 or 3 areas away? I'd need to look at the map, but what's the distance from london to the closest eastern port in North America in WaW? Whatever that distance is, halve it and make that where the limiting factor starts. <br/>
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That ...

<t> Every game is pretty different, especially if you make different choices.<br/>
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And when you play against humans, things can happen that you'd never thought were possible. Replayability of this game is massive, not to mention you can mod it or play the mods and see how that changes the ...

About the AI turn... Is there anyway you can remove their "turn check" when they no longer control land?

<t> Hmm... well let's see then. If this is a brainstorming session I'm all for it.<br/>
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Let's see... Well... I think to get the islands to be more used, the Japanese would have to stack defense on it, but that's not efficient. Maybe all "taken" islands have an auto-opfire that can never be ...

Well I'm better than I let on, sure... but I'm no master. I know what I _should_ do. I just never do it.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lebatron

<t> I like teamspeak and ventrilo.<br/>
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Anywho... um to learn to play. Well being talked through as they suggest is a great way. Another way is to make the game as easy as possible and make it progressively harder. Start with no supplies to understand how fighting, research, and production ...

<r> I'm a huge fan of Franco, but I do mostly play vanilla because I'm not very big into mods. I can understand if you think it feels scripted, but it is a good solution. <br/>
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Anywho, you're talking about some internal changes to how supplies are done which could have radical effects on ...

Russian attack... it's gamey, but it's the best bet as Japan. Just don't neglect india. You can probably make a swing for it and if you're really lucky you can do a double assualt on russia. One from Persia, and one from the East

Am I allowed to cheat?

I'm total rubbish at this game, I just love it!

<t> The problem is Japan has it hard enough as well. <br/>
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To be honest, it's rather balanced the way it is. Any changes will either make Japan too powerful or give the WAllies too much of an edge.<br/>
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In real life we only took the islands because the range of our planes was only so ...

<t> Only the islands that are directly between the USA and Japan, because they're pretty good to stop a quick invasion with their opp-fire.<br/>
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The other islands are mostly ignored. In truth, Japan's best bet is to expand west into russia and not west, so stretching yourself out there while ...

<r> I don't know about you, but Japan is a war I don't want to fight til I've pummelled them so fully that I can basicly waltz onto their shore. It's hard enough to beat them when they're really dug in. They won't win, sure, but it'll take forever to whittle away at them until you can get a large ...

well I think it came in a codec pack, and I think the problem is probably an audio driver interface issue.

That's really interesting, and I'm really impressed with you for spotting it. KUDOS!