OK, listen......

[Coelacanth]

The reason I started a separate topic on lock-up problems was:

1. The original thread veered so far into a long, long discussion of features that could be added for chips like the GeForce 3, that it no longer resembled the original subject title in the least.

2. It goes on for a couple of pages, and you know, I doubt that few people would reallllly notice yet a *third* post in succession by yours truly at the very end of the thread.

At least you provided a link to the original thread. But can you say AR? Geez.

[Jim Sachs]

The reason these lockup threads veer off is because people just run out of suggestions.

There are literally millions of combinations of hardware/drivers/software/operating systems/DLLs/TSRs/viruses out there, so it is extremely frustrating to try to diagnose these things from a distance.

Lockups are very rare, and are usually fixed by new drivers or a re-install of DirectX. Occasionally some other program running in the background is the culprit (WinAmp has been mentioned). Anything that tries to take over the graphics hardware is going to cause trouble.

All I can do is write the program using standard DirectX calls. What the card and drivers do with those bytes is anybody's guess. I test the program on all the major configurations, and I don't release a new version until there are no problems here.

I'm always on the lookout for new information, and will post it as soon as any shows up.

[Coelacanth]

Actually the reason the last thread veered off is because I brought up the GeForce3 suggestion myself, but anyway...

I realize that these problems are sometimes hard if not impossible to diagnose. As far as background programs running, I shut down everything except for Explorer and Systray to test. It still locks up -- so I don't know what else to tell you there.

You are using standard DirectX calls, which is good. But so are many other programs, games and screensavers I have on my system. None of them lock up. Only the Fish screensaver does. I can run all other DirectX screensavers continuously (I have over two dozen of them; I keep collecting them). Some of them, like the Silex "dancing skeleton" screensaver, are pretty taxing to the system, probably moreso than the aquarium. They never lock up. I can also run 3DMark 2001 in looping mode continuously with no problems.

Since the problem only appears in the Fish screensaver, I would tend to come to the conclusion that it is the Fish screensaver that is the source of the problem, at least in reference to this particular PC's configuration.

Anyway, like you said, I'm out of ideas. Guess I just won't run the screensaver on this PC.

[ajlaban]

Recently I noticed that .99k locks up on my system if another program, like task scheduler, takes over when .99k is running as a screensaver. The later minimizes and the sound is still on but I have no mouse control until I reboot. Never had this problem with .99j or h.

So I have taken it off of screensaver duty and just run it as a program. Perhaps whatever is going on will be ok with the next version.

[FishyBusiness]

I don't know if this helps but i am grasping at straws.

Whenever I install Microsoft Office 2000, a program called Machine Debug Manager gets installed. The program runs once I start the computer. I set it so that the program will not run when I start the computer. The program will periodically turn itself on and start running. I just delete the .exe and everything is fine.

I mention this because every time that program runs, my computer locks up. I am not even sure what it is trying to do except crash my computer.

Like I said, I am grasping at straws. You might not even have Microsoft Office.

[Coelacanth]

I have MS Office 2000, but I killed all extraneous background programs.

See this for a pretty good list of them: www2.whidbey.com/djdenham/Uncheck.htm

This is one of my pet peeves -- I hate all this unnecessary junk that programs install nowadays. Why does every program think it has to install a component in the systray? One of the worst recent examples is when I installed a new D-Link network card in one of my PCs. It put a D-Link icon on the systray. When I clicked on the icon, it just said something like "D-Link make network cards for performance all to use better" or some badly translated Chinese like that.

And don't get me started on those otherwise legitimate programs that also install some spyware along with the legit app!

I run a pretty clean system now. I don't even have Find Fast or Task Monitor running. I get rid of *everything* that isn't absolutely necessary.

[Digital Lungfish]

If you or anyone else is concerned about spyware and your system's security, you should be running nothing less than ZoneAlarm as your firewall. It's free and it's simply the best you can get, trust me. It absolutely will NOT allow anything to go in or out of your system via your net connection (cable, DSL, dialup, etc.) without your permission. The home page resides here:

www.zonealarm.com

You might also want to stop by:

www.grc.com

They have all the info you could ever shake a stick that has to do with net security and spyware. They also show you how to make your system bullet proof against intrusion from net-based hackers, especially those running port scanners.

These 2 sites are easily the best addititons to my IE favorites to date and I've been using them for a LONG time now.

- DL

[Coelacanth]

Yep, I have Zone Alarm running on my system. As well as a hardware firewall with port blocking, and BlackICE Defender. (Call me overly cautious )

With reference to spyware, though, the best program I have found is Ad-Aware by Lavasoft: www.lavasoft.de/eintro12.html