Desperate

[PeckingFury]

Turned on the computer today and everytime I launch a game doesnt matter which one, i get the load screen then it drops me to the desktop with the app minimized im losing my mind over what is causing this any suggestions would be appreciated. Scanned for viruses everything is updated, just started doing this today.

[Bill Durrant]

Do all programs do this? I'm far from an expert but maybe a shortcut key on your keyboard is jammed in.

Just a thought from a non-techie

[PeckingFury]

Yeah all my games do this, none of my matrix games or cmbb/cmak from battlefront work. I click on for example witp,Bin,HTTR,KP,UV etc... game for lets say Battles in Normandy I get the first screen that pops up then after I click on play BIN I get dumped to desktop the game is minimized and I can still hear the music any attempt to click on the minimized window just brings the game up briefly then minimizes again. Very frustrating, did virus scan,adware,spybot cant seem to nail this down and I do not have a cd burner and have purchased some games from matrix as digital download. I am trying desperately to fix this without doing a reload which would be bad[:(].

I have an amd 1800,512mb ram,geforce Ti card with 128mb nvidia det 6177 drivers newest out,Soundblaster live latest version as well. I have no other programs running in the back ground<That i know of[:@]> Service pack 2 is loaded and have been playing all my games since I loaded it back in august so I cant blame that. Running XP pro.

I am open for any suggestion no matter how off the wall it seems I would like to nail this thing without a reload windows xp scenerio.

Thanks in advance


Just wanted to use witp as another example and httr for those that may be more familiar with their startup processes. Witp I click on witp main game menu from my programs <doesnt matter if i explore to cd or any other way to launch the game> Main menu pops up I click play starts to load and then bam im minimized and sitting at the desktop hearing the game music. Httr I pop in the cd splash screen comes up I hit play, i get the section that asks what res to chose and game loads then drops me to desktop and game is minimized in the bottom of the taskbar any attempts to click on the game bring it up briefly then back again.

[Bill Durrant]

But do other programs do this. For instance if you try and start Microsoft Word does the same thing happen. If so, some sort of short cut to minimise programs (ie alt and tab) seems to be activated.

[Error in 0]

I also had the same problem, but I reformated my harddrive to solve it. However, someone told me that it might be an invisible Explorer window that pops up, forsing minimization. ctrl-alt-del to see if you have any explorer window you can't explain.


JT

[PeckingFury]

Word, Excel and other programs work fine just my games seem to be acting this way, looks like a complete rebuild is my only way[:(]. Damn I dont have a cd burner will I be able to load BIN again from matrix or not?? I have a cd for witp did digital download for BIN but did not see a order cd for 10.00 button to click on, really thats my only reason for not going thru with a reload is because of that one application.

[Bill Durrant]

Sounds like programs that are not windowed as most games. After that I'm lost[&:]

Why don't you try the tech advice forum. More boffins probably drop in there.

I'll be intersted what Matrix say about another download or even if you have to pay $10 for a CD would be acceptable. After all you still have an order number and serial number?

[*Lava*]

Hi!

I know this kind of kicking dirt in your face, but really if you go digital download the first thing to do is burn a copy onto a CD. If you don't have a CD burner, make sure you order the disc.

Sorry I can't help you with your original problem, never saw it before.

Ray (alias Lava)

[PeckingFury]

There I was on the phone with my father wishing him a happy birthday and then the problem showed its ugly face[:D] Had task manager up and 2 iexplore.exe pop up, funny thing was I didnt launch a browser hehe. Two good things have come from this. (1) I nailed the problem (2) In the process of troubleshooting this thing I found my Geforce video card has a broken fan. Threw in my old 32mb tnt card and im laughing now. Thanks for the input its appreciated.

Can I still order a CD for BIN or is it not included as an option with the digital download? New system I will be building soon will certainly have a burner

[Fred98]

For BIN, the CD is an option.

[Bill Durrant]

Great news[:)]

[Rainbow7]

This happens to me with almost all games if I've run something after booting the computer but before starting the game (it seems). My solution, which always works, is to hit ctrl-alt-del, bringing up the task manager. If when I start the game and it minimizes (and it continually minimizes if I click on the taskbar icon), I instead use the task manager to switch to it.

[ravinhood]

Did you try pressing ALT + TAB, it sounds like your ALT + TAB buttons might be sticky. How long since you've cleaned your keyboard keys ? Soda Pop fizz is terrible on keyboard keys, makes em sticky. hehe

[PeckingFury]

Well a reinstall may still happen for me, its some sort of Spyware on a fresh reboot I would see two IEXPLORE.exe running, and thats without even launching my browser. If I delete the entries I can run all my games No problem. Problem is now that I have found the problem I cant seem to wipe it out. Tried SPYBOT,ADAWARE Hijackthis nothing I can do seems to work even deleted IE all together and installed Mozilla. Not IE related, because Ive noticed it now has Mozilla.exe launching now in IEXPLORE.exe place. Some sort of browser hijack crap going on. Wish I knew where to find the beast causing all this grief.

I would see IEXPLORE.exe pop into the task manager and this is without even launching my browser. So I changed browsers to Mozilla and Ill be damned if it doesnt say that Mozilla.exe is lauching now. I must cntrl + Alt + del bring up task manager end the process on Mozilla.exe and then I can lauch my games no problems. Very frustrating

[Cpt. Canuck]

Have you installed any Windows Updates recently?

Do you have any virus scan (macaffee, norton, etc)

Have you browsed or talked to Microsoft about this. Lord knows I hate them, but they could be the problem or the solution to your situation.

[ravinhood]

Heh, you really should stay away from those porn and warez sites, some of those sites are setup specifically to put viruses and trojans on your system because you are visiting them. It's sort of the publishers/developers way of getting back at some people who are downloading things for free or looking at things they ought not to be looking at. hehe

[Ahmo]

I had a problem very similar to this a while back with another game. It turned out that my directx was messed up. I re-installed my graphics card driver and directx and poof: everything worked great.

Just a thought.

[Error in 0]

How did you find out directx was the problem? Or did you just take a chance?


JT

[Kevinugly]

Pecking Fury If you need a 'quick fix' then download 'Stinger' from http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/ - it will find and remove any of the more common viruses from your system and it's a small download. It doesn't offer any protection mind you, a free antivirus program like 'Avast' will do that. Suggest you install 'Zone Alarm' as a firewall, it will quickly tell you what programs are trying to access the internet. It's free btw.