blinking black screen then loads? after 1/2 hr.
I have recently installed the sims 3 and since then when I shut down computer and reboot the monitor is black and blinks for about a half hour then finally loads. this also happens when I leave the computer alone for a while and It goes into rest mode or whatever you call it...I wiggle the mouse and it take a while for my windows to show up.
what is going on
Is it the game or just coincidence.
I have updated drivers and restarted and that does come right back when restarting.
But still have same blinking issue
Please help!!
system info DELL
windows xp professional version 2002
service pack 3
pentium (R) 4 cpu 2.0 ghz
1.99 ghz 1.25 mb ram
installed 3d force fx 5200tv graphics
what is going on
Is it the game or just coincidence.
I have updated drivers and restarted and that does come right back when restarting.
But still have same blinking issue
Please help!!
system info DELL
windows xp professional version 2002
service pack 3
pentium (R) 4 cpu 2.0 ghz
1.99 ghz 1.25 mb ram
installed 3d force fx 5200tv graphics
0
Comments
Welcome to Icrontic!
Rich
Game works fine when playing...
Thats good. Illegal games that are downloaded are often laced with Viruses which could cause your problem. As yours is purchased you should be fine.
What spec is your PC and how full are your HDs? You can find this out by clicking start then My Computer. This will open a list of all your local storage devices. There should be a section called Hard Drives. Right click on the first item in the list it should have (C:) after the drive name. Select properties. This will give you a summary of you C: drive where your operating system is stored. Can you post back your used space, free space and capacity figures please.
I know the Sims 3 is quite a large game and if you have limited disk space you may have these problems.
If it loads this morning will do as you asked and check space.
Computer is finally up ...took an hour...will post info here
used 36.4 GB
free 1.81 GB
capacity 38.2 gb
No. this is a computer from work and haven't had it but a year now and haven't backed up and reinstalled windows.
Your hard disk is very full! I would recommend that you uninstall the Sims and run a disk clean up. I am currently at work. If you remove the sims then you should be able to free up enough space to get it back up and running. You can unistall it from either the start menu then go to the sims 3 and click the uninstaller. Alternatively if you click start then control panel then add/remove programs. click on the sims 3 and click uninstall at the top.
I will post back with instructions on how you can free up some hard disk space this evening.
Rich
forgot to mention that sims 2 and all the addons are also on the computer i have uninstalled all sims 2 and other unneeded programs.
Restarted
Local c drive properties have changed
used 26.1
free 12.0
cap 38.2
I will shut down and see if it comes back
I have completed disk cleanup and will defrag later
If there is anything else i can do to avoid unistalling sims 3 let me know.
Whoohoo...
Now to the backing up files...I do not know the first thing about this ...I can research and figure it out if it is too detailed of an issue to go into on this forum.
Thank you again
Kat
If your PC is back up and running you do not need to back up and re-install windows. I would recomend that you back up on a regular basis though.
It is a desktop Dell that my husband brought from work when our other computer died.
A second hard disk? don't think so.
I will check out HighjackThis and ccleaner
And as for backing up...I would need instructions.
The Problem
Basically when you installed the sims 3 you filled up your hard disk to the point where it only 1GB of free space left. Computers need a reasonable amount of free space to operate efficiently. I wont go into the detail but if you want to do some reading google "page file" and virtual memory. They are basically areas of hard disk that your computer use to supliment its system memory or RAM.
I generally try to keep at least a quarter of the hard disk that my operating system is stored in free. The reason I ask whether it is pre built or custom built is that it may limit your options on how you can stop this happening again.
The Solution
Given how you have purchased the computer it is unlikely that you will be able to reformat your PC or replace the existing hard disk as I doubt you have a windows disk. You probably have a recovery cd which you cant use on a new hard disk. This means that you really only have one option. You can buy a second hard disk and install it along side your existing one. Your existing one would be known as your Master Hard disk and your second hard disk would be known as you slave.
You can keep your master disk relatively clear by only keeping your operating system (windows XP) and your documents on there. the second hard disk would appear under My Computer and look much like your C: drive but with a different letter. You could then install all your software onto this second disk which would help to keep your existing drive empty.
Back up
Backup is quite individual depending upon your own needs. The question that you have to ask yourself is "If my computer died tonight and I lost everything on it, what could I not do without?"
Until recently I have never backed up any data that I have mainly due to the fact that I didn't have much that I was bothered about and also nievity. Nowadays I back up my music collection, my business records my photos and my girlfriends university work.
My solution is an old hard disk from previous computers that I have built which I have installed as a slave hard disk and I use an application to copy all my data onto this second disk.
My advice to you would be similar. If you buy a second, slave, hard disk to store applications on, then keep all your important documents on you existing Master drive but periodically copy them into a folder on your slave drive. This way you have two copies on two separate hard disks. If one disk ever fails you have a second copy you can restore from.
If you would like help in purchasing and installing a new hard disk please let us know as we can gladly help you.
CCleaner
CCleaner can be downloaded here. There are three areas to CCleaner. The first is "Cleaner"; here you can clean a lot of the temporary files that litter your hard disk and can take up space. The second is "Registry"; this will scan your registry and look for items that can be removed. It wont make a difference to your hard disk space but may improve your performance. The last is "Tools"; here you can view a list of all the programs that you have installed. you can click on the save to text file button to create a list. If you like you can paste the list and we can make recomendations as to what you may like to remove.
Don't bother with HijackThis. I did not realise that CCleaner created a list of installed programs.
Let us know if you would like any further help.
Rich
Thanks for all the helpful info ...
My computer is not loading again after letting it sit in sleep mode for an hour or so and came back to use it , the screen is blinking again ...it is a dell wide screenish the thin one and the light on it blinks on and off continually and will not shut off with the monitor off button.
I have tried to reboot but still this blinking . It has been doing this for an hour 20 min.
I guess all my efforts have not fixed the issue.
I really only use the computer for the internet research and to print lables. the sims game is for my daughter and she uses her laptop but it is not suitable for the sims 3 game.
I don't have a recovery disc for this computer
Computer came on last night was running fine when it is on but shut down and turned it on in the am and back to this blinking issue.
If this fails to work then make sure you back up any data that you want to keep on your USB stick. Then follow this guide on how to resore you PC back to its factory setting. You will need to reinstall any software that you currently have installed that did not come with your PC.
I hope this help and you get it fixed.
Rich
We uninstalled sims 3 , after a 4 hour wait for computer to load. Computer has been fine all day ...sleep mode was working fine came back to windows when I wiggled mouse ...Let it sit on and off all day.
I used the computer for research for a while and left it alone again..blinking started again.
We are thinking maybe it's the monitor.
The monitor continues to blink when the computer is not on.