S.C.G

Ok, so this morning I boot up my PC and it tells me it has automatically installed an update on my PC (despite me telling it not too when I switched it off last night T.T) I think it's a security update but I'm not sure, when i checked it under system restore it gave this description "Software Distribution Service 2.0". Anyways, so it said that it was gonna restart automatically, so i thought ok, not much i can do now anyway so it restarted and I was greeted by the following error... "RTHDCPL.EXE Illegal System DLL Relocation" "The system DLL user32.dll was relocated in memory. The application will not run properly. The relocation occurred because the DLL C:\WINDOWS\system32\HHCTRL.OCX occupied an address range reserved for Windows system DLL's. The vendor supplying the DLL should be contacted for a new DLL." I did consider just taking my PC back to an earlier restore point if the update wasn't critical but I think it was a security update, so I was wondering if this is an easy problem to fix? Anyway, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

Thanks Shorty! much appreciated

I hope so too, though it's kind of reassuring that it's not just me, hmm that means M$ has screwed up with their security updates (yet again). I still don't know how to fix it though I'll hold out for a while and see if anyone knows how to fix the problem but if not then I'll probably just use system restore to the point just before it was installed, as there will inevitably be another update somewhere down the line anyway, which may or may not overwrite this flawed update? *hasn't actually got a clue is just guessing* Anyway I bet it's related to I.E or something which I seldom use, FireFox FTW but, we shall see I guess...

Ok, so I'm planning on installing a new GFX card in my PC, it's something I've never had to do before but I've heard it's a relatively straighforward process but wanted to get some feedback before opening up my PC. My PC's current specs are... HP Pavillion Dual Core Pentium (1st gen not 2nd) CPU 1 speed : 2.66ghz CPU 2 speed: 2.67ghz 1024MB of RAM (approixmately 1 Gig) Existing GFX card : ATI Radeon EXpress 200 series 256MB (onboard) And the card I want to upgrade to is... ATI Radeon Sapphire X 1600 Pro 512MB (8X AGP version) I actually was initially planning on going for the PCI-E version as the PC I'm using is about 1 or 2 years old as far as I know, so I was thinking there might be a good chance that it has a PCI E slot but I can't be certain, anyways long story short I ordered the PCI E version from Play.com and they sent me the AGP version T.T However I'm not sure if my PC has a PCI E slot or a spare AGP as I haven't opened it up yet so I'm guessing obviously that should be the first thing to do... I haven't opened one up in a while though but I think I still remember the basics, make sure pc is turned off at unit and at mains but still plugged in so as to make sure it's earthed, unscrew the main security screw to gain access to the machine (and void the warranty >.<) touch the outside of the case just to make extra sure of being earthed so as not to damage any components... I think those are the basics anyways, if anyone has any other tips or words of caution there please post them as I'm not 100% confident about this when I know that I should be as it's meant to be a simple task as far as upgrading is concerned so I hear... Also the upgrade process as I understand it should go like this... 1. install card 2. disable onboard GFX card in BIOS 3. download latest driver from relevant site Now, the thing is, am I right in thinking that I don't need to remove the onboard card or anything like that and all I'm looking for is a spare AGP slot if I have one in which to install the card? Disabling the existing GFX card in the BIOS is something I'm also not 100% on but from what I understand is because it's AGP that once the new card is installed and I Disable the onboard GFX card in the BIOS the new card should be automatically detected and also that I shouldn't need to use the CD that comes with card? Which leads me nicely onto... do I need the drivers etc on the CD? or is it better to just go to the site and get the latest driver from there and bypass using the CD? unless it's necessary of course, again I'm unsure. Anyways, I realise that I may be just making a mountain out of a molehill here as like I said I have heard it's meant to be a relatively simple process... but lol in my experience with PC's even what is supposed to be a simple task can easilly turn into an epic technological quest of sorts just to get things to work :P so yeah, thats why I posted here first so erm, any help / advice is greatly appreicated. Thanks for reading.

Thanks for that NukeBlaze, I uninstalled all ATI software / drivers, checked that they were gone, rebooted, no error, went to the ATI site and this time selected "Drivers Only", installed the drivers, rebooted, no error. The silly thing is, I guess i could have avoided all this if I'd just gone for the driver only option in the first place, as I certainly wouldn't have bothered with the Catalyst software had I known before that it's "a bag of shit", Thanks for that Jordan btw. So yeah, erm everything relating to the GFX card on my PC is working fine now, so I guess the next thing I should do is maybe have a look at that "anemic power supply" of mine, though I have no idea of whats involved in the replacement of that part and wasn't even aware that it might be a problem, still worth researching though I guess. Anyways thanks to Jordan, NukeBlaze, gaggle64 and anyone else who's given helpful advice in this thread.

Thanks Jordan, I did the above and installed .Net framework version 2.0 but now I have a new error which appears when I boot up... "Could not load file or assembly "MOM.implementation, Version=2.0.2589.34834, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=90ba9c70f846762e" or one of it's dependancies. The system cannot fine the specified file." Erm... thats my reaction, if anyone has any idea of what I need to do now to fix this, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

Ok so I know I created this thread ages ago but it's taken me that long to get the right GFX card (play.com screwed up 3 times) anyways, it's installed now, I just opened up the machine and put it in, didn't need to disable the old onboard in BIOS or anything as that didn't work once the new PCI-E card was installed. The card works, it's an ATI Radeon Sapphire X1650, but I went to the site and choose to download the latest driver from the site as advised and the main driver works, but on the site it gave me two options, one was just the driver and the other came with the latest "Catalyst control centre" software? and that didn't install when I opened the exe file, just all the other drivers etc did the message I got regarding the Catalyst software was... " .NET Framework Initialization Error " " To run this application, you first must install one of the following versions of the .Net Framwework v2.0.50727 Contact your application publisher for instructions about obtaining the appropriate version of the .Net Framework." am I right in thinking that I just need to go to the site, find that version that it has stated, download that, and then try downloading the latest version of the catalyst software again as a seperate download? (even though I already have it as part of the package download I choose) any help / advice is appreciated... Thanks,

Thanks for the feedback gaggle64, I've downloaded and run that tool, and I got the following info relating to the motherboard... Board: Hewleet-Packard Asterope 1.0 Bus Clock: 133 megahertz BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 3.11 04/10/2006 I googled the "Hewleet-Packard Asterope 1.0" bit but I'm still trying to accertain if it's AGP or PCI-E... not having much luck though, maybe I'm googling the wrong bit? anyways I'll keep searching for now. *Update* Searched a bit more and found a HP site which listed specs for Asterope motherboards and all of them have PCI and PCI-E slots so that seems to confirm that I have PCI-E and not AGP, which is good but means I will now have to wait for Play.com to replace it with the PCI-E version which I originally ordered T.T still though, will be worth it in the long run as it is supposed to be better than AGP and easier to install, oh well I guess I won't need to be opening my PC today then soon though, very soon...

This might seem like a stupid question but I'll ask it anyway... :P Do any virtual console games (specifically Mario kart 64) support widescreen format or at least give you the option of stretching the image to fit the screen for widescreen TV's? Ty.

Alternative Solution : Use a wired controller :p might sound pointless I know but if you had the problems that I had with those damn wireless controllers then you'd do the same, tbh using a wired controller with the 360 doesn't bother me, plus it doubles up as a PC pad which is nice, each to their own though.

*I know that technically this shouldn't be posted in here but I've allready posted in the relevant topic a while ago and want to see if I can get an answer to a PSU releated question* question about the PC version of PSU : - Under the Saving section in the options menu there is a tick box which reads "Do not save game data on server" and it's checked by default, does anyone know what it's for? / if I need to uncheck it or not before I go online? / if I even have to worry about it at all? Thanks.

question about the PC version of PSU : - Under the Saving section in the options menu there is a tick box which reads "Do not save game data on server" and it's checked by default, does anyone know what it's for? / if I need to uncheck it or not before I go online? / if I even have to worry about it at all? Thanks.

The tune is fine, the lyrics are fine (face it, there are lots of other songs that have by far worse lyrics) overall it's good because it suits the game, mind you, it's still not a patch on "can still see the light" or "world with me" / "Whole new world" (songs from the original PSO) :wink: I still await this game with anticipation though, I am a long time player of the original PSO (DC versions 1 and 2 and GC ep1&2 + 3) and have only recently stopped playing the GC versions. Needless to say I wan't this game, damn you Sonic Team! give us a proper release date! Now! (please)

It's metal and erm shiny... beyond that I'm not even sure myself, probably comes with an extra disc with hardly any extra content or something, either way it's just down to preference really if you want to pay an extra £5 for a metal case that may or may not last longer than a lurid green plastic case and may or may not be more collectable in the future (probably not as there will be a lot of them produced) then the option is there.

Voted, dk why though anyways good luck etc etc.

The sound of me typing this sentence on my keyboard. :p

Happy Birthday! :horse: :shock: I'll be quiet now... >>

I'd say no more than £300 because Play.com recently had / still have? a bundle featuring a 360, Oblivion and a couple of extras for £279.99 and DOA4 is only really worth about £20 (maybe a bit more) now anyways, up to you how much though.

Thats BS, IMO the characters in TOS for the most part have brilliant personalities, the game itself is original, ok so it had cliches but name me an RPG that doesn't? exactly... the tried and tested battle system is implemented superbly and actually makes the battles fun and enjoyable. The scale of the game is also immense, loads of side quests and secrets and theres plenty to love about it, anyone who didn't like it is probably an RPG afficianado thats played so many RPG's that their judgement has become jaded over the years or has just found lots of small reasons to have a dig at it for no good reason IMO. Tales of Symphonia is a great RPG and of the best in recent years and a direct Nintendo home console sequel or prequel would be most welcome.

Has anyone else had any problems with disc read errors on Perfect Dark Zero after downloading the new map pack? it seems that ever since I downloaded those maps that when I try and play on live on any map half the time it will give me a disc read error on the loading screen after the lobby, but there is nothing wrong with the disc, I'm pretty sure of that as it has no real scratches. Just wondered if a lot of people were having the same problem, as if so then it's most likely a bug or a glitch in the map pack or at least one that comes into play after downloading it, in which case it will probably be patched, but if it's just me then that means it's probably my console, and if it is that will be the Second xbox 360 that I will have to send back, so I'm hoping it's just a glitch, anyways, anyone else had similar disc read error problems upon downloading those maps?

I have tried them, and I don't like them, I prefer Nintendo games, always have, still do and probably will do so indefinately. It's purely down to preference but as for philosophy etc Sony are just so full of lies, bs and hardly have an original bone in their entire collective body IMO. Sure the PS2 might have some "decent" games but they are few and far between and generally not worth my time when I have so many other games on other plaforms that I both enjoy and have earned my respect over the years, if Sony had given me a reason through either hardware and or software over the years as to why they deserve my respect then they would have earned it by now. But they haven't, and thus they don't deserve my respect and never will IMO and paying $599 so I can enjoy such "features" as non existent real time weapon change, tired franchises such as Riiiidggge Racccerrrr! (as it is now known) and attacking Giant Enemy Crabs in their weak spot for massive damage, seems to be more of a collective insult to me rather than something that commands respect. If Sony want my respect I can only give them one simple piece of advice... "Don't hold your breath... because if you do, you'll die"

It's not like they don't deserve it, they are arrogant, this arrogance will hopefully lead to their long overdue downfall IMO. *Edit* as for the whole Nintendo ripping off Xbox arcade / live thing, check this out, just found it, http://uk.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=24710303&sid=6152716 Personally I would find it amusing if Nintendo were to take M$ to court over this and win, mind you I would also find it amusing if they found a way to take $ony to court also, but meh *shrugs* ultimately all this is pointless though, I just can't wait for the Wii to come out as the PS3 is a joke IMO and while the 360 is decent, any good experiences I have had with the console have been made moreorless redundant due to faults (I am on my 2nd console now which I suspect might be faulty) and glitches. All I can think of now is roll on the release of the Wii, Nintendo / Zelda FTW

Happy Birthday Moria! don't get too drunk, seeing as you can't legally drink for another year and if you do, have fun.

It's most definately not a problem with the Hard Drive, just the wireless receiving mechanism inside the console. Anyways even if I did send the hard drive and if it did reach them, they would wipe it anyways, screw around with it and probably still send the same console and HDD back but I wouldnt be suprised if they did that and I got it back that the hard drive would have been screwed up by them somehow, at least at the moment I have a working hard drive and a power supply that doesnt overheat. Anyways, it's definately just the console thats faulty, and as the old saying goes "if it aint broke, dont fix it" hence I dont want to send them my working HDD which has 2 non transferable saves and about 44 music albums on it. *sigh* I hope it gets picked up soon as I'm getting bored of waiting now.

... My Xbox 360, that is the question... I have had it since a couple weeks after it's launch (I pre-ordered but y'know how the launch was, inadequate numbers etc) and everything worked fine for a while, until the rumble feature on one of the controllers didnt work properly, so I ended up buying serveral reaplcement wireless controllers, which have all since been returned because none of them connected to my Xbox 360. The guy at Game (where I got some of the replacement controllers from) said that it was probably a problem with the console and after contacting M$ with regard to the problem they seem to think that it's the wireless receiving mechanism inside the console, this was about a month or so ago that I contacted them and they offered to send me "the box" to put my 360 in to return it but I decided to put up with the problem and am currently mostly using a wired controller, not ideal but it works. Since then over the past couple of weeks I have had a recoccuring problem with the disc drive sometimes not closing, however this has only happened after watching dvd's for some reason but it's happened randomly about 4 or 5 times now and is just another annoyance. So my question (as stated before) is, should I return it? if so, (I'm kinda leaning towards returning it and hopefully getting a new one in return anyways) what kind of experiences have people had when returning their Xbox 360? and when M$ say they send you the box, do they just expect you to send the unboxed console? as I have heard some people have kept their Hard Drives and have been sent new sealed premium units so they keep their data and end up with an extra HDD. If I did send it back I would be inclined to keep my HDD for all the trouble it's caused me (they don't cost M$ that much to make anyways) plus I don't want to have to burn an excess of 44 full length albums onto the HDD again or risk losing my gamertag and save data, but if I was to do this, should I tell them that on the phone? or just not mention it? if anyone has done something similar some feedback on how everything went would be great. Anyways, any general feedback on the matter would be appreciated so that I can add up the pros and cons of if it's worth sending it back or not, I'm leaning towards sending it back because sods law if I keep it then something will go wrong when lots of decent titles are released for it, or just outside of the 1 year warranty or something, so yeah... feedback would be most welcome, thanks.