Author Topic: Programs Not Starting Up (nothing happens) (Read 33922 times)

marcolorenzo · « **on:** March 08, 2012, 03:43:34 am »

Hey guys, I just bought a new Clevo P150HM about 2 weeks ago. Since then, I've played Shogun 2: TW (with DirectX 11 enabled), NFS: Hot Pursuit, Rage, Crysis, Co MW2 and Mass Effect all without problems. In the first couple of days, I also ran 3DMark06 and was able to go through the whole test without any problems.
Recently, I tried running 3DMark11 and for some reason, it wouldn't start. I'd see the little blue circle next to the mouse spinning a little bit and then it'd disappear and nothing would happen. A quick look in the Task Manager shows me that it's not running at all. I then tried 3DMark Vantage and got this "System info Error". Then I went back and tried 3DMark06 and now I'm getting the same error. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the programs as well as uninstalling my GFX card drivers as well as doing a Driver Sweep and then reinstalling my drivers but still the same thing. My games still worked fine though.
But now I've just installed Crysis 2 and it works fine, except for when I install the DirectX 11 Patch and then it would just not start. No black screens or errors, just nothing happens when I double click on the icon. All my other games are working fine though but they're all DirectX 9 so i have a slight suspicion it's got something to do with DirectX 11 (although the Heaven DX11 Benchmark app works perfectly). What could be causing this? I have DirectX11 installed as well as the latest Catalyst drivers installed. My specs are:

i7-2670QM
Radeon HD 6990m 2GB
16GB 1333MHz RAM
500GB 7200RPM HDD
Windows 7 Ultimate

I've just used Windows Repair but the same problem persists. Any help would be much appreciated!

Shane · « **Reply #1 on:** March 08, 2012, 10:41:49 am »

Do any DirectX 11 games run?

Shane

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #2 on:** March 08, 2012, 02:21:53 pm »

Well Shogun 2 works with DX11 enabled in the settings and I just ran the Heaven DX11 Benchmark and that worked, although the first time i started it up I immediately got an error: "D3D11AppWindow::swap_window(): device removed". After a google search, it appears that this can happen to people who has overclocked but I definitely have not. But after I quit the program and started it up again it ran fine without any problems. So it might not be a DX11 problem, but I just thought it was since Crysis 2 with the DX11 patch and 3DMark11 both display the same symptom. 3DMark06 and Vantage both don't run either, but at least they give me an error.

Edit: By the way, in regards to the "System Info Error" for 3DMark06 and Vantage, I've already tried the 2nd method outlined in: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/240657-39-3dmark06-system-info-error but that doesn't apply to me.

"- First to confirm this will indeed solve your problem. Open the Run Box (Start / Run) and type " Msinfo32 " and hit enter.

- The System Info tool should open with an error displayed " Can't Collect Information - Cannot access the Windows Management Instrumentation software. Windows Management files may be moved or missing."

I didn't get that error unfortunately...

Shane · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2012, 04:57:35 pm »

Part of me thinks it is dx11 that is the problem. But at the same time it could be the video card or the power supply not giving enough power

http://www.overclock.net/t/1169729/d3d11appwindow-swap-window-device-removed-unigine-benchmark-crash-on-560ti

That person had the same error, raised the voltage and now it works.

Would explain why it worked fine then stopped, if the video is having trouble.

Shane

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #4 on:** March 09, 2012, 04:39:34 am »

Hi Shane, thanks for your reply. Would the voltage of the gfx card affect the game so that it doesn't even start without reporting any errors? That seems more like a software problem right? And the people from that forum seems to think that the voltage problem is caused by overclocking which i haven't done. Should I still expect voltage problems from a stock gfx card?

Anyways, I might try bumping up the voltage and see what happens. But before I do, I just want to ask...how do i do it? Do i go into the bios? And how much can I bump it up by? Also, would it void my warranty/damage the gfx card/shorten its lifespan? Thanks a lot for your help. I've posted my problem on several forums including Anandtech and Tom's Hardware but no one's replied so I really appreciate your help.

Shane · « **Reply #5 on:** March 09, 2012, 10:16:56 am »

A bad card or underpowered card will cause games to crash with no error.

You dont change the voltage for the card in the bios, only the cpu and memory can be done there.

For a video card normally the drivers comes with software for over clocking. You should be able to adjust the setting there.

What card do you have again? Then i can point you in the right direction.

Shane

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #6 on:** March 09, 2012, 01:00:30 pm »

hi Shane, I have a Radeon HD 6990M. In the Catalyst Control Centre I can see an option for overclocking (AMD Overdrive) but the only options I see are: High Performance GPU clock settings, High Performance memory clock settings and Enable manual fan control. There doesn't seem to be anything about changing the voltage.

Shane · « **Reply #7 on:** March 09, 2012, 06:56:14 pm »

I have the 6870, these cards need a lot of power. This might be whats going on.

Under the gpu and memory options you should see the voltage for both

Shane

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #8 on:** March 10, 2012, 12:49:57 am »

Keep in mind I only have a 6990M so that's a laptop GPU, not the desktop variant. But I think I will bump up the voltage and see what happens. Only thing is, I can't find the option for it. Do you go into Catalyst Control Center->Performance->Clock Controls->AMD Overdrive? In there, I can't see to find anything relating to voltage...

Shane · « **Reply #9 on:** March 10, 2012, 06:32:27 pm »

I feel silly, didn't realize this is a laptop. The "M" in the video model should have told me that

I am not sure if you will have an overclocking option. Store bought machines are normally pretty locked down from any overclocking and adjusting.

Besides some of the dx11 apps not running, have you had any other problems at all?

Shane

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #10 on:** March 11, 2012, 01:27:40 am »

Haha that's ok. Well I haven't had any other problems so far. Other games all run perfectly...so i might have to just format and reinstall everything. I'm just afraid that it's gonna happen again because I feels like a problem that happened after I installed Windows and during when I was setting up all my programs. But maybe if my Catalyst Control Center doesn't let me increase the voltage then I'll download a 3rd party software. How much would you recommend that I increase the voltage by?

Shane · « **Reply #11 on:** March 11, 2012, 12:15:07 pm »

only do small amounts at a time. The more voltage the more heat. And you can burn things out.

Sometimes just a little is all that is needed. Example: 1.5v to 1.7v

Nothing big!

Shane

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #12 on:** March 11, 2012, 04:47:50 pm »

Ok, after downloading both MSI Afterburner and Sapphire Trixx and being unable to alter the voltage, I think my card just does not allow the voltage to be changed. Do you have any other suggestions?

Shane · « **Reply #13 on:** March 11, 2012, 04:49:40 pm »

You either have bad card (Which I doubt, otherwise no game would run and your system would be locking up)

Or something is just screwed up in Windows.

Perhaps do a repair install first?
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Shane

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #14 on:** March 12, 2012, 01:45:01 pm »

Thanks for the advice Shane, but it seems I am detined to reformat my laptop. I followed the instructions on that website and I got stuck just after step 8. It asked me to select which verison of Windows to install (x86 or x64) so i selected x64 since that's what I've already got installed and then it comes up with an error saying that x64 cannot be installed on a previously installed x86 system and vice versa. I am certain I have x64 installed but just to make sure, I selected x86 later and I got the same error. So it doesn't look like I can do a repair install.

So now I'm going to try and backup everything and reformat. What's the best and easiest way to do this? I don't think i should set up Windows Backup now (I didn't set it up before) since then when I do a system restore, I'd just be reverting back to the faulty Windows right? The only way I can think of is just to manually make a note of all my programs and then reinstall them after I install the new Windows (of course, and backup my Documents, Pictures etc.). Is there an easier way? Thanks a lot for your help!

Shane · « **Reply #15 on:** March 12, 2012, 01:49:19 pm »

Easiest thing to do is do a fresh install over the current. DO NOT FORMAT

Windows setup will say it found a install of Windows already on the drive and will move all the files to a windows.old folder

Once your installed you can go to that folder to grab your files

But if you format the drive without a backup you lose everything, dont format.

Shane

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #16 on:** March 12, 2012, 02:03:08 pm »

But in step 8, it asks for whether or not I want to install an Upgrade or Custom (advanced). If I select Upgrade then it says it will save my files, but that's the step I took before which didn't work. If I select Custom (advanced), it says that it will not keep my files so I will need to backup. I don't mind backing up, it's just I don't wanna backup any corrupt files so I just want to backup my documents and programs without having to reinstall everything. Is that possible?

Shane · « **Reply #17 on:** March 12, 2012, 02:04:49 pm »

No, boot off the cd. Do custom and when it asks which drive choose yours. DO not format. Windows will tell you it will move the files to Windows.old

DO a backup just in case, better safe than sorry.

But the Windows.old folder has been a major help at times

Shane

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #18 on:** March 12, 2012, 04:00:14 pm »

Thanks Shane, I'm getting a new external HDD tomorrow so I'll use it to backup and then do what you suggested. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers

Evan · « **Reply #19 on:** March 18, 2012, 09:53:13 pm »

Did you get the external HDD? Have you done the reinstall?

Evan

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #20 on:** March 19, 2012, 01:09:09 am »

I'm still waitiing for this external HDD. Must be the Thai production problems that's affecting stock here. I was told that it should arrive in the next 2 days so here's hoping!

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #21 on:** April 21, 2012, 01:48:59 pm »

Hi Shane, well i finally got my new external HDD. I formatted my C drive and reinstalled Windows and now all the old problems are gone. 3DMark 11 boots up perfectly and I got a pretty respectable score for this card and Crysis 2 now starts up and runs fine. However, I have a small problem with my USB ports. I have 2 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports. I've installed the drivers that came with the laptop as well as updated them with Driver Reviver. My old external HDD which has USB 2.0 works perfectly with all of the ports (including the 3.0 ports). However, my new HDD which has USB 3.0 seems to only work with one of the 3.0 ports, and even then it may not work when I first plug it in (as in, Windows doesn't recognise anything new's plugged in and the HDD itself doesn't turn on like it wasn't plugged in at all). On top of that, when my mouse is plugged into one of the 3.0 ports, it seems to disconnect/connect by itself every now and then so it stops responding for a second. It doesn't seem to happen on the 2.0 ports although I need to do some further testing. Do you have any suggestions for this? Thanks again man.

Shane · « **Reply #22 on:** April 21, 2012, 10:06:07 pm »

First thing to do is check for any updated drivers for the USB 3.0 ports.

Also keep your mouse in 2.0. Your mouse doesnt come close to needing the extra speed of 3.0 So keep that one open for something else

Shane

marcolorenzo · « **Reply #23 on:** April 22, 2012, 10:10:07 am »

Well I checked my notebook vendor's website and the latest USB 3.0 drivers are the same as what I have. I also went into Device Manager and tried to automatically update the drivers online but it returned saying I have the latest drivers already installed.

Now I have the mouse plugged into one of the USB 2.0 ports and it still seems to stop every now and then although it doesn't go as far as connecting and reconnecting itself. This problem with the mouse never happened before I formatted, although the problem with the 3.0 HDD is hard to say since I didn't have a USB 3.0 capable HDD before.

Shane · « **Reply #24 on:** April 22, 2012, 11:50:04 am »

Well it could just be bad timing, but I have had mice go bad on me.

I have a wired usb mouse and my old one kept going off and on. Replaced the mouse and haven't had the problem since then.

If it is a wireless mouse you may just need to change the batteries.

However if you try a 2nd mouse and the problem still happens and the fact the USB HDD is acting odd as well tells me something isn't set correctly or something wrong with the USB.

I have a custom machine that EVERY usb port on the motherboard is dead. Its an older system. So we just replaced it. USB wouldn't even work in the bios.

Another good way to find out if the problem is in Windows or with the USB itself is to see how it acts with another OS.

Here is the great part, you dont have to reinstall anything

Download the ISO of ubuntu and burn it to a cd.
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

You can run ubuntu right off the cd without installing it or touching your Windows. Use it for a while and see if the same USB problems are still there. This would be a great way to see if it is the USB failing or not

And of course if we try all of this there is always the possibility of the power supply. But that's at the bottom of the list

Shane