Strange PC Issue after Bioshock 2 install

[Chilla X]

Well, hello to anybody who looks at my post

The title really says it all. Since installing Bioshock 2 on my PC. I have started get some odd problems. For the moment, the actual game is fine although I have only played through the first 3 levels of the SP.

I list the problems here:
PC has problems booting: After the Windows XP loading screen appears & disapears I have black screen, nothing else happens. If I remove the Bioshock 2 disc at this moment, the pc usually starts up properly. This usually happens every 1 out of 2 times I start the computer. If the machine is booted without the disc in the drive, it starts without issue.

Strange App crashes: I've noticed that explorer, internet explorer, winamp, windows media player amongst others are hanging, usually after just starting them. They do not "un-hang" if left & even if you try to kill them or end the process from task manager they will not close. The PC will not shutdown/restart I have power it off & back on again.

For me this seems a really strange issue, its hard for me to belive that just installing a game could be the cause of this. But, I never had these problem before installing it. I've also seen these issues before on the same PC, this was after installing Mass Effect. Removing that game fixed the problem & I beleive this will be the same for Bioshock 2.

Here is technical info about the PC:
OS: Windows XP Professional x64 Edition (5.2, build 3790)
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) III processor (4 CPUs), ~3.0Ghz
Memory: 4094MB RAM
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2
Video Memory:512.0MB
Driver Date: 17/08/2009 00:57:00
Sound Card: Realtek HD Audio Output
Driver Date: 05/08/2009 16:41:42

I hoping someone can tell me the cause of this issue & even a way to resolve it. If not, I'll guess I'll put up with it until I finish the SP then remove the game.

[kamspy]

Assuming you already have GFWL and SecuROM on your computer, the only thing Bioshock 2 installs in program files.

Do you have any virtual drives?

[P33kAb00B]

Any hardware modification lately? Have you installed new video driver? Do you hear something (like loggin screen sound) when the screen is black?

[Tech Chris]

May be worthwhile clearing your temp files and disabling a few background programs temporarily to see if it alleviates the problem somewhat also.

Please fully disable any background software on startup by using msconfig (please see below)

- Hold the windows key and tap R to bring up the Run command
- Type in the following MSCONFIG and select ok
- Click on the startup tab
- Select "disable all"
- Click on apply and then close
- Restart your computer
- Select do not show this message again if a popup box appears and select ok

There may be temp files causing the problem to occur also. To remove your temp files please try the following steps:

- Hold the windows key and tap R to bring up the Run command
- Type in the following %temp% (including the percent signs) and select ok
- Remove all files and folders within the directory that appears by clicking Edit and select all and pressing your delete key on the key board.
- Please remove any files from recycle bin

Please let me know if this helps.

[Chilla X]

Thanks for the fast replies

Do you have any virtual drives?

Yes I have a virtual DVD/CD drive, I dont use it anymore so I'll remove this & see if there is any change.

Any hardware modification lately? Have you installed new video driver? Do you hear something (like loggin screen sound) when the screen is black

Nope, nothing changed recently with the hardware. The last time I was messing around with the hardware was in late november. So the computers been running without these issues from then untill the install of the game.
I haven't changed the video drivers or any other driver. I guess I could download the latest ones but I'll leave leave this for the moment. I often find that new driver can create new problems

May be worthwhile clearing your temp files and disabling a few background programs temporarily to see if it alleviates the problem somewhat also

Thanks, I'll do this & see if anything changes but I dont think disabling all the startup programs is a permanent solution (even if it changes anything)

I've also found out somethign else. When I have these issues the following events are written in the even log:

Source: NVGTS64
Event ID: 9
Description: The device, \Device\Scsi\nvgts641, did not respond within the timeout period.

Source: NVGTS64
Event ID: 117
Description: The driver for device \Device\Scsi\nvgts641 detected a port timeout due to prolonged inactivity. All associated busses were reset in an effort to clear the condition.

Source: Cdrom
Event ID: 51
Description: An error was detected on device \Device\CdRom1 during a paging operation.

These errors have started appearing in the event viewer since 09/02/2010 @ 18:36, This is around the same time i installed the game!!!

The funny thing is that if i was tech support answering this issue i would be almost certain that the guy had something up with his computer. But, as the user i am almost 100% convinced if i remove the game this problem will go away

[kamspy]

really sounds like your virtual drive is fighting with the DRM on Bioshock2.

I'm pretty sure Mass Effect had nearly the same amount of DRM that Bioshock 2 has so....could be. That's where I'd look first though.

You might have to uninstall the drive and the game down to the reg keys though.

[Grim_2o0o]

PC has problems booting: After the Windows XP loading screen appears & disapears I have black screen, nothing else happens. If I remove the Bioshock 2 disc at this moment, the pc usually starts up properly. This usually happens every 1 out of 2 times I start the computer. If the machine is booted without the disc in the drive, it starts without issue.

Cross this one off your list:

That particular thing is down to Windows, it reads all the drives before going into the desktop. Put a disc in that you know it reads properly, and you will hear it spin up before Windows gets to the desktop.

-----------------------------------

The NVGTS64 entry is for the nForce chipset drivers (storage drivers), have you tried updating them at all?

[Chilla X]

Im not really to bothered about the pc not starting with the disc in the drive anyway. Its an easy fix - dont boot with the the disc in the drive!
But its odd that I only have this issue now & only with the Bioshock2 disc (it seems).

The NVGTS64 entry is for the nForce chipset drivers (storage drivers), have you tried updating them at all?

Not yet, but I can do this. I'll probably check all the drivers at the same time. But, it will be the last thing I do. I've had lots of bad experiences with nforce chipsets - 680i & 780i. This one is a 790i & I dont want to tempt fate at the moment!!! Other than this recent issue it has been fine.

Anyway, I removed the virtual drive (Daemon Tools) last night & have used the machine unhindered since about 20 minutes ago. The same problem came back. The only difference I've noticed is im getting secure rom errors when trying to launch the game. Re-inserting the disc seems to resolve this.

I'll clear the temp files & try disabling the start-up programmes next.