XP's latest patch has killed RTCW (Home SP2)

[davidmeagher]

G'day,
Sadly it appears that the latest XP patch has killed off my version of Return to Castle Wolfenstien... I tried an uninstall of the game and a re-install to no avail.
Game hangs and not even Ctrl+Alt+Del will work and i have to reboot.
Any one else encountered similar problems or know a fix?
I am having withdrawl symptoms now!
Thanks in anticipation

[HansV]

You can always resort to SMBP's favorite remedy: System Restore to before the Windows XP patch. Which one was it, by the way?

[SMBP]

Any info on this problem on the many, many RTCW sites or groups?

SMBP

[davidmeagher]

Hans,
Ta for the reply.
Which 1 was it? There in lies 1 of the problems... system set to autodownload patches then prompt for install. I always hit the remind me in three days till Woody gives me the all clear b4 installing. He gave the all clear so away i went... did not check the number first and sadly add/remove programmes does not give a date of installation on the patches so that i could work out which 1 to uninstall.
It was the latest out of redmond (I wonder if the red in redmond is because they are blushing at all thier mistakes?)
That sound was me bashing my head; forgot about system restore, so will go and try it now!
But that then leaves my system vulnerable?
ZAP and Norton dont fail me now!

[davidmeagher]

Maybe i have solved it (Restore did not work?)
But found the following after a long long search:
"Go with Nvidia watch out for the Forceware drivers tho, they will cause ET and Wolf to crash. Use the most current ones before the Forcewares were released and you should be good."

[davidmeagher]

sadly i still have the problems.
System restore will not restore to any date?
If i can get RTCW to start I can not then get any of the tabs or scroll bars to work, not even quit and must once again resort to ctlr+alt+del....
how frustrating...
and worse it looks like the english will beat us in the rugby!

[SMBP]

Remember System Restore defaults to 90 days, plus sets its own restore points with about 5 criteria including at least 24 hours so you have an awful lot of restore points to try and often people come to the conclusion it isn't going to help prematurely without trying enough points. Some of them could be corrupt, and many people don't realize that if they don't have XP SP1 there is a problem that it locked them away from the restore points native to Windows XP that was fixed according to the MS System Restore team. So I would give several more restore points to before the patch before you give up on it: See:

System Restore Writeup

System Restore MSDN Library

SMBP

[davidmeagher]

Thanks for the tips.
Sadly i have already tried every restore point (30+) on my system and everyone gives me failed to restore and no changes made...
Have been unable to find any mention on other RTCW sites and have posted a question or two... maybe get a response?
Whilst typing this it has occured to me that i may be able to use woodys excellent ezines to work out which was last "trust worthy computing" securtiy patch i allowed to be installed then try removing the ****** thing via add remove programmes?

[davidmeagher]

Success!
It was 2 problems.
For your sake do not install patch 824145 if you want RTCW to work beyond the welcome screen... (Thanks for your mags Woody, which helped me solve this part of the problem ie which dam patch to remove) <img src=/S/blackhole.gif border=0 alt=blackhole width=15 height=15>
And dont install the new nivida drivers if you dont want to have to turn your computer off at the wall after starting rtcw cause all is hung (on XP?) and not even ctlr+alt+del will work... <img src=/S/meltdown.gif border=0 alt=meltdown width=15 height=15>

Is there any way i can prevent thier auto download in future bar turning off the autodown load feature? <img src=/S/smash.gif border=0 alt=smash width=30 height=26>

Thanks all for the wise words! <img src=/S/clapping.gif border=0 alt=clapping width=19 height=23>

[SMBP]

I never even thought about the 1) patches interfering with games 2) that Invidia driver updates could also--thanks for the alert.

SMBP

[jkipk]

To turn off automatic Windows Update, navigate to Start>Control Panel>System>Automatic Updates and uncheck the box. Is that what you were asking?

glad you got up and running again.


kip

[davidmeagher]

pleasure... thanks 4 ur help!

[davidmeagher]

Thanks 4 that.
No i was asking is there a way i can decline the patch and the driver (mentioned above) with OUT turning off Auto Update?
I guess i am willing to turn it off if nothing else available cause i wasted days trying to fix those problems and really do not want to re-install them. <img src=/S/aflame.gif border=0 alt=aflame width=16 height=16>

[SMBP]

David--

Of course you can decline any update offered without turning it off, but the tendancy might be to remind you of it repeatedly. If you hit the Windows + Pause Break and on the System Properties Box>Windows Update Tab you can select>Notify me before downloading any updates and notify me before they are installed on my computer. Here are some links on WU that may help and also you have an alternative--you can get notice of the updates from the MS Security site--I find that much easier because then the link is in your mailbox, and stays there and you can research the update and then download it one by one when and if you want. Besides Woody's newsletters, and here, there are many places that will pick up an update problem quickly--I find CNET News one of the best--the Beta sites are all over them. I'd be willing to bet that some of the better gamer sites do a good job of looking out for update/driver conflicts--maybe the 'Tom's Hardware' type sites as well. Cowboydawg may be able to help you with that.

Security Bulletin Notification Service

Security Updates

List of Security Bulletins by Date

Windows Update Troubleshooter

Win Update FAQ's

Win Update Tips

SMBP