![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
comradepogue
n00b
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2010
- Messages
- 9
I recently decided to upgrade from XP to Windows 7, and everything went without a hitch... until I tried to install PowerDVD 6. It installed fine. But, after the installer finished, Windows popped up a warning that this software had known issues with versions of Windows later than XP. The entire system then became extremely sluggish - taking upwards of 30 seconds for a button press to register - and I was forced to do a hard reboot. Everything appeared fine on the surface after the reboot, so I let it be.
The next day, I installed Fallout 3. Upon launching the game, it took a full minute to get to the Bethesda screen, and another 30 seconds to get to the Ctrl-Alt-Del screen. I rebooted again - another 30 second wait - and uninstalled PowerDVD. Everything was relatively snappy again, but I have since noticed strange things in my games. I will do my best to describe them.
The main thing is a weird 'stutter" effect. Example: in Oblivion, gameplay is smooth. But, when I begin talking to someone, they will often pause for a few seconds at the end of their paragraph before going to the next. The animation of their eyes and etc will continue, but it will take several seconds from them to resume speaking on the next part of their speech. This used to be seamless. A similar event happens in the Assassin's Creed tutorial: when what used to be a seamless event is occurring - like giving directions on the next tutorial station - several seconds where I can still move around without any frame loss or stuttering before the directions resume.
So, what did I manage to break? It sounds like a drive error to me, written out like this... but I am afraid I managed to bork my RAM or processor. I have also reformatted twice since then, and have not reinstalled PowerDVD. That has not fixed the problem. Also, if Memtest runs for twelve hours with no errors and Prime95 runs twelve hours without crashing my PC, is it safe to assume my processor and RAM are fine?
System Specs, Everything At Stock Clocks:
Gigabyte EP43-UD3L
Q9550
G.Skill 1066 4GB
2 x Seagate Barracuda, both 500GB
eVGA GTS 250
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
X-Fi XtremeGamer
Rosewill Performance 550 PSU
The next day, I installed Fallout 3. Upon launching the game, it took a full minute to get to the Bethesda screen, and another 30 seconds to get to the Ctrl-Alt-Del screen. I rebooted again - another 30 second wait - and uninstalled PowerDVD. Everything was relatively snappy again, but I have since noticed strange things in my games. I will do my best to describe them.
The main thing is a weird 'stutter" effect. Example: in Oblivion, gameplay is smooth. But, when I begin talking to someone, they will often pause for a few seconds at the end of their paragraph before going to the next. The animation of their eyes and etc will continue, but it will take several seconds from them to resume speaking on the next part of their speech. This used to be seamless. A similar event happens in the Assassin's Creed tutorial: when what used to be a seamless event is occurring - like giving directions on the next tutorial station - several seconds where I can still move around without any frame loss or stuttering before the directions resume.
So, what did I manage to break? It sounds like a drive error to me, written out like this... but I am afraid I managed to bork my RAM or processor. I have also reformatted twice since then, and have not reinstalled PowerDVD. That has not fixed the problem. Also, if Memtest runs for twelve hours with no errors and Prime95 runs twelve hours without crashing my PC, is it safe to assume my processor and RAM are fine?
System Specs, Everything At Stock Clocks:
Gigabyte EP43-UD3L
Q9550
G.Skill 1066 4GB
2 x Seagate Barracuda, both 500GB
eVGA GTS 250
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
X-Fi XtremeGamer
Rosewill Performance 550 PSU