Memory reference problem

[Banditman]

I don't know if this goes here or in the software forum but here it goes....

I have been having a problem with 2 games in particular, Need for speed 2 Underground and now Madden 2004. I don't know if it is a video card problem or not. When I had the 5200 installed, I could play Madden 2004 with no problems. I could play NFSU2 with no problems ONLY if I restarted the pc. If I came out of game and then tried to go back in game I got this, "The instruction at "(some numbers)" referenced memory at "(some numbers)". The memory could not be "read". Click OK to terminate program." and I would have to restart the PC before I could play again. I don't understand why I get this error with some games but not others.

Now with new 7800 GS, I can't even play Madden 2004. All I get is this error even after restarting the PC. I have searched the net trying to find a solution but all I found are probabilities with no definite cause. My memory checks out with memtest so I am 90% certain it is not faulty.

Any ideas?

[Quakindude]

Sounds like a driver issue to me. You need to download and install Driver Cleaner Pro. look at the first post in that thread and download the zip file. Unzip it, install it.

After you've installed it, shut down your computer. Leave off for a minute. Restart and boot into Safe Mode, hit F8 during boot up. Run DriverCleaner Pro and have it remove the nVidia drivers from the drop down menu. Pick the one that says just nVidia...not the other nVidia ones. Hit OK to let it clean every thing out.

Shut down, reboot and let Windows load normally. Now, install the newest drivers from nVidia for your card, 93.71. Make sure you've downloaded these prior to removing your old drivers.

If this doesn't fix it, we can move on to other things.

[pc_guy]

If mem tests came back negative, it's probably a software issue. Check this out, LINK, it gives the same error and some of the reasons are a corrupted file. Run a scan on the HDD to see if it's not dying on you, buy first try re-installing the games.

[stinger608]

Some times the latest drivers ARE the problem, you can do as Quakindude said, down load the driver cleaner and then install the newest driver and try again. If you do still have problems, try downloading an older driver from Nvidia and giving them a try.

[Banditman]

Damn I am having serious problems here...lol

Ok, I installed DC Pro. I noted that I had driver ver 91.?? installed. Downloaded 93.71. I rebooted into safe mode and got to log in screen. I clicked Admin account and then PC rebooted itself. I tried this with same result 3 times. I then boot normally and run DC Pro from there, cleaning Nvidia drivers. Rebooted. Installed New drivers. Rebooted. Game still does the same thing. And on top of that, I had to fight with IE to load this web page for the last 10 min..lol

Guys, I may have to reinstall XP. My system is no longer stable. Services are crashing. Network is going haywire. I can't load a web page untill I refresh it 10 times. I can't pull out of it captain. Must eject! EJECT EJECT!!

[Gig-O-Ram]

Originally Posted by stinger608

Some times the latest drivers ARE the problem, you can do as Quakindude said, down load the driver cleaner and then install the newest driver and try again. If you do still have problems, try downloading an older driver from Nvidia and giving them a try.

As long as we're talking about video drivers...

I would agree with this statement, because I downloaded a "latest driver" about 6 or 7 months ago, and I had nothing but problems with it. It was the 91.47 version at the time. I did the driver clean and proper install and all that, but I had all kinds of color problems when playing DVDs. I don't remember how my games reacted to it, but I had to go back to version 81.98 in order to solve my problem.

I had heard there were some issues with the 91.47 driver, but have those problems been corrected in the new "latest version"?

[Quakindude]

Actually, I think the 91.47 are now considered the most stable of the 9x series of drivers. I've used the 93.71 drivers with no issues. Right now, I'm using the drivers from here. They make a modified version that I've been trying out over the last couple of days to check stability, performance and general usefulness.

Bandit, I'm not sure exactly why you're having issues like this. It's fairly difficult to tell right now. With your memory passing Memtest, it makes the whole thing somewhat puzzling as memory issues would be my guess.

[Banditman]

I'm sorry. I am experiancing technical difficulties........ Please stand by for....Jeopardy.

Reinstalling........

I don't know what happend. After I run DC Pro all hell broke loose. And yes I only chose the Nvidia like I was instructed.

[Quakindude]

I hope you didn't actually pick nVidia Chipset. That would cause a lot of problems.

At this point, I say back everything up that you need and do a reinstall. Make sure you have all your drivers on a disk or a separate partition.

Sorry bro. Without being right in front of it, it's hard to give better advice than that.

[Banditman]

I am doing a reinstall and I did backup what I wanted to keep. I chose the one that said "Nvidia". Not Nvidia sound or Nvidia Chipset. I now realize that my system had alot of underlying issues besides the video drivers. Heck it wouldn't let me boot into safe mode for pete's sake.

Oh well, It was time to spring clean my HD anyways.

Originally Posted by Quakindude

Actually, I think the 91.47 are now considered the most stable of the 9x series of drivers. I've used the 93.71 drivers with no issues. Right now, I'm using the drivers from here. They make a modified version that I've been trying out over the last couple of days to check stability, performance and general usefulness.

Bandit, I'm not sure exactly why you're having issues like this. It's fairly difficult to tell right now. With your memory passing Memtest, it makes the whole thing somewhat puzzling as memory issues would be my guess.

And how are the modified drivers holding up with the latest games? Their site says that we can expect increased performance from games. Have you noticed any performance increase?