Games stop working...SP2 involved??

> Hi Gunslinger,
>
> After the game has failed to start after you click PLAY:
> Check the Task Manager, and End Task anything with your
> username next to it except for explorer and taskmgr.
>
> Next, try starting the game using the Start menu shortcut.
> Let me know if you have any questions. :-)
>
> --
> Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
> Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
>
>

> Thanks for your reply, Jimmy. When you say open the task manager and End
> Task things, are you referring to the Processes tab and ending those tasks
> with my user name? When I've brought up the task manager after hitting
> play,
> there's nothing listed there. When the launcher is up, yes, there is that
> task showing.

> I've tried the Start Menu shortcut and get the same thing. I've also
> tried
> the CD Rom icon, I've tried Start-Run, I've gone into the game folders on
> My
> Computer and I've also tried running it from the DOS window. Still
> nothing.

> Two of the PC games I own have been working fine for months, but now they
> have stopped working. When I put the CD into the CD rom, I get the
> launcher
> and hit "Play". But, instead of the game icon and the usual startup
> scripts,
> I only hear the Rom running, but nothing happens after that. I've tried
> many
> different ways to startup the games, I've done the patches and done
> uninstall/reinstall and still nothing. I haven't had any error messages.
> The games in question are Max Payne 1 and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.
> The strange thing is the expansion packs for MOH run fine. The main game
> does not
>
> The only thing out of the ordinary (but not really) that has happened
> since
> the last time I played them was a Windows update running. With the new
> SP2,
> I've had to unblock some of my PC games, and they all ran fine until
> recently.
>
> My question is, what aspect of the computer could be causing a startup
> problem, and is there any processes or tasks I can try to see if
> everything
> is okay with the games themselves? Not sure if this is a driver issue, an
> SP2 issue, or something else all together. All of my other games work
> fine.
>
> Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

>
> Tried uninstalling (backup any saves, sometimes in My Documents and
> sometimes within the game's folder itself) rebooting and then installing?
> Oh and where did you download SP2 from?
>
> --
> Paul Smith,

> Yeovil, UK.
> http://www.dasmirnov.net/
> http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.
>
> *Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*
>
>
>

>
> Check your video driver hasn't been overwritten by the duff MS one. IE.
> Do you have OpenGl installed?

> "Gunslinger" <Gunslinger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1D966757-7E9F-40DD-8EEC-AA7BE5626129@microsoft.com...

> > Thanks for your reply, Jimmy. When you say open the task manager and End
> > Task things, are you referring to the Processes tab and ending those tasks
> > with my user name? When I've brought up the task manager after hitting
> > play,
> > there's nothing listed there. When the launcher is up, yes, there is that
> > task showing.

>
> Yup that's what Jimmy was referring to other stuff in the background not
> being running.
>
>
>
>

> I'm not too computer savvy as far as the hardware aspect, but it seems
> like
> I have OpenGL on my computer. It comes up when I do a search for files
> with
> that name. How would I check to see if it's been overwritten?

>I did like you said and did End Processes on the tasks with my login
>attached
> (with the exception of taskmgr and explorer), and tried to open the game.
> Still nothing.
>
> The game process flashed on the list during the failed startup for a
> second
> before disappearing.
>
>
> I'm completely frustrated!
>
> "Paul Smith" wrote:
>

>> "Gunslinger" <Gunslinger@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:1D966757-7E9F-40DD-8EEC-AA7BE5626129@microsoft.com...

>> > Thanks for your reply, Jimmy. When you say open the task manager and
>> > End
>> > Task things, are you referring to the Processes tab and ending those
>> > tasks
>> > with my user name? When I've brought up the task manager after hitting
>> > play,
>> > there's nothing listed there. When the launcher is up, yes, there is
>> > that
>> > task showing.

>>
>> Yup that's what Jimmy was referring to other stuff in the background not
>> being running.
>>
>>
>>
>>