CounterStrike: Source crashing on load

[PopeTiberii]

I'm having a problem with both CS:S and HL2. They both crash at the fuzzy loading screen. CS:S simply exits without any fanfare whatsoever while HL2 exits with the "Windows has encountered a problem" thingee.

I've been playing CS:S for a long time now, and I picked up a 6800GT the other day. CS:S was running great with the newest drivers. Absolutely no issues whatsoever. Then I chose to reformat my PC last night just to clean things up a bit. First thing I reinstall is HL2 and CS:S, and now neither of them work. I contacted Valve, but I have a feeling I won't hear anything until well after the holiday weekend.

I made sure to allow HL2 and CS:S with my firewall, so it's not that. I'm not sure what to do at this point, but I'm going to be really bored at night without CS:S... Any help?

 

[PopeTiberii]

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling my video drivers (through safe mode, of course), and still no luck. I haven't had a chance to try to install any other games as of yet, but I'm going to be reinstalling WoW soon. I'll let you know if that works or not.

 

[PopeTiberii]

Oh, good lord. Nevermind- it was the sound drivers of all things. I updated my sound drivers and they both load and play fine.

 

[AceTKK]

Yea, I had the same issue after messing with my system. If your sound drivers / devices aren't working properly Source will crash for some reason.

-Ace-