hardware recommendations for ToEE

I have heard of many problems associated with the VIA 4in1 drivers. The general recommendations were to not use the 4in1 drivers but download individual drivers (well hidden on the VIA website, but available none the less) and use them. It seemed to be a problem with the multipack download and install.

 

1. Problematic drivers -=- VIA drivers ... integrated + chipsets + more

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for alternate VIA motherboard drivers to download
-> alternate VIA driver downloads by operating system
* I've noticed that, sometimes, links on their website need to be clicked more than once.

Notes: Hyperion 4in1 drivers versus HyperionPro drivers
* You must know what type of motherboard is in your computer to determine whether you need to use either Hyperion 4in1 drivers or HyperionPro drivers for any motherboard with a VIA chipset. (Yah, it's time to search in the closet for that small book that came with the computer.)

1. Hyperion 4in1 drivers are for older motherboards with these types of processors and these VIA chipsets.
* 'XX' letters below represent numbers like 100, 133, or 266.
> Super Socket 7 processors: VP2, VP3, MVP3, MVP4
> Intel PentiumII/III processors: Apollo ProXX series
> AMD processors: KT1XX, KN1XX, KM1XX
> AMD processors: KT2XX, KN2XX, KM2XX
> Intel Pentium4 processors: P4X2, P4X3, P4M2

2. HyperionPro drivers are for newer motherboards with these types of processors and these VIA chipsets.
> AMD K7 processors: KT400, KT400A, KT600, KT880, KM400, KN400
> AMD K8 processors: K8T800, K8T800Pro, K8M800, K8N800, K8T890, K8T890Pro, K8T900
> Intel Pentium4 processors: P4X400, P4X400A, PT800, PT880, PM800, PN800, PM880, PN880, PT880Pro, PT894, P4M800/Pro/CE

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2. Problematic drivers -=- nVidia video graphics drivers

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nVidia video graphics drivers, including SLI and PCI Express drivers
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Windows 98SE and ME
* for GeForce3 series and newer cards
** read the linked web page for details
-> Forceware 81.98 for Windows 98SE and ME

Windows 2000 and XP Home/Pro (32-bit only)
* for GeForce 6200 and newer cards
** read the linked web page for details
-> ForceWare 82.65 for Windows 2000 and XP 32-bit operating systems

Windows 2000 and XP Home/Pro (32-bit only)
* for GeForce3 series through GeForce 5900 cards
** read the linked web page for details
-> ForceWare 81.98 for Windows 2000 and XP 32-bit operating systems

Windows XP Pro x64 (64-bit only ... NOT Vista or Longhorn, just XP Pro x64)
* for GeForce4 MX 420 and newer cards
** read the linked web page for details
-> ForceWare 82.12 for Windows XP Pro 64-bit operating system

Windows Longhorn (Alpha testing) and Windows Vista (Beta testing) ... not supported here ... have one of your favorite cookies and some milk, good luck

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Do you want to check the computer RAM memory you have installed in your computer?

check here for the memtest86 download and instructions

-> http://www.memtest.org/

* You can do simple tests using this software that only take a couple of minutes or will run for a few hours or a test that runs for an entire day [like a 24 hour burn-in test].

 

updated post # 20 - steps I took to buy a new CPU using pricewatch

is a good reference like a checklist for using pricewatch site

http://www.co8.org/forum/showpost.php?p=20824&postcount=20

 

user requested help with failed install using ToEE CD discs

reinstall failed
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I've played the game for about two weeks and was having problems getting the quest to complete (figure that one out in the posts), so I uninstalled, and tried to reinstall the game, but the reinstallation will not complete now. I get a componet transfer error. data2.cab had a data error for a cyclic redundacy check. When I uninstalled, I removed everything including the folder, though I did move the saved game folder to my desktop and renamed it. I also tried made sure all my hardware is up to date. Considered it worked good (with the bug exceptions) two days ago, and nothing has changed with my PC, and was surprised it wouldn't install.
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I suggested..
Suggestion: Buy a motorized CD/DVD disc cleaner for about 30 US dollars price.
* uses a battery or batteries you buy and put in it...comes with special cleaning fluid, probably, in a small plastic container with a spray nozzle...follow its directions and use it, accordingly

I also suggested..
After you get the ToEE CD discs properly cleaned - meaning also do not additionally scratch or further damage the CD discs, check the install instructions, posted here at Co8 - click the following link to view the instructions.

link has changed since this post -=- Official releases: A step-by-step download guide

fyi - in case you didn't realize this..

* Use the setup.exe version of Livonya's Beta 1.5.1 MOD if you did not already know about it. (Livonyas 1.5.1 Beta MOD is included with the new Co8 4 MOD.)

* After you get ToEE installed and patched, use the no-cd fix, as per below.
-> You can replace the ToEE.exe executable file with the no-cd fix executable file after you install and patch ToEE and reboot your computer.
=> You can get the ToEE no-cd fix below.
DOWNLOAD *** Temple of Elemental Evil v2.0 [ENGLISH] No-CD/Fixed EXE (V2.0 for ENGLISH ToEE)
-> http://m0002.gamecopyworld.com/game...ntal_evil.shtml

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user responded..

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That got me working again. Thanks for all the help.

 

user posted elmental node slowdowns issue with CPU usage at 100 % utilization

AAAARRRGHHHH elemental plane freez up
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I keep getting freeze up when I am trying to walk around the elemental planes. It seems to be the worst in the fire plane. Is my system to weak or is this a bug. When I control alt delete the task manager tells me my cpu usage is 100%. If this is a bug is there anyway to minimize it?
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I suggested..
Check the Windows drivers installed for updates...try windowsupdate.com first. If ToEE runs poorly, then, try the manufacturer websites for updating the hardware that is installed.

* Update the drivers for the motherboard before updating anything else [cause it's a good idea]...reboot and, then, grab other Windows updates. If needed after updating from windowsupdates.com, then, proceed to install hardware manufacturer Windows drivers.

** Also run disk scandisk and defragmenter after updating the drivers.

*** You could also run full antivirus & full antispyware scans.

 

Here are the current hardware specifications that Atari recommends for playing ToEE.

item: recommended as a minimum / (suggested for better gaming)

Processor: PentiumIII 700MHz or equivalent / (PentiumIV 1.7GHz or equivalent)
RAM Memory: 128 MB RAM / (256 MB)
Hard Drive space: 1100 MB / same
Video: 16 MB VRAM / (64 MB VRAM)
DirectX: DirectX v9.0 / same
CD-ROM: 10X CD-ROM / same

Please realize they do NOT take in to account someone might have a computer running 50+ processes when running the ToEE game. Their consideration is a computer with the Windows operating system and ToEE installed.
* Their requirements do not include the idea of a PC having other softwares installed and running in the background...no Internet security and antivirus and antispyware programs or Instant Messaging or weatherbug and similar junkware or any other software running every time the computer is booted and runs.
** If you have lots of software running when your computer is on, you need to have more RAM installed.

Personally, I would suggest a barebones minimum of 512 MB RAM and an addon video card with 128 MB VRAM. It would be better to have one stick of 512 MB RAM than to have two sticks of 256 MB RAM. If you have a 256 MB stick of RAM and you want to add some RAM, add one stick of 512 MB of RAM to give your computer 768 MB of RAM where the 512 MB stick of RAM is in the first memory slot the computer uses and the 256 MB stick of RAM is in the second slot the computer uses.

 

I copied the steps for three Windows 2000 items to do some maintenance from the atari.com site. People tend to learn how to do these things in Windows 9x versions. Windows XP is somewhat similar to Windows 2000, in steps. I feel I do not need to include the instructions for these other versions of Windows.

Here are some Windows 2000 instructions, listed below as A, B, and C.

A. Update the video drivers on your system
B. Update the sound drivers on your system
C. Disable 3rd party applications running in the background
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A. Update the video drivers on your system

First determine what type of video card you have. To do this:
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. In the box type DXDIAG. Click OK. This will bring up the DirectX Diagnostic Tool
4. When the tool finishes loading, click the Display tab.
In the Device section, next to Name is the name of your video card. You may want to write this down. The Manufacturer is the company that manufactured your video card.

To find the latest driver go to the manufacturer's web site. They should have a support section or a driver section where you can find the drivers for the device listed in DXDIAG.

Follow the instructions on the manufacturer's web site to download and install the latest drivers.

If you can't find a driver or the manufacturer's site, refer to the documentation that came with the hardware or your computer for support.

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B. Update the sound drivers on your system

First determine what type of sound card you have. To do this:
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. In the box type DXDIAG
4. Click OK. This will bring up the DirectX Diagnostic Tool
5. When the tool finishes loading, click the Sound tab.
In the Device section, next to Name is the name of your device. You may want to write this down. The Manufacturer is the company that manufactured your sound card.

To find the latest driver go to the manufacturer's web site. They should have a support section or a driver section where you can find the drivers for the device listed in DXDIAG.

Follow the instructions on the manufacturer's web site to download and install the latest drivers.

If you can't find a driver or the manufacturer's site, refer to the documentation that came with the hardware or your computer for support.

If the problems persists, please click the Save All Information... button in the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, click No to the "Did this information help you" question below, and send the information in your response.

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C. Disable 3rd party applications running in the background

Background applications can be either closed temporarily or disabled. If they are temporarily closed, they will start again when the computer is restarted. If they are disabled they will need to be manually re-enabled to run them again.

To temporarily close any extra applications and services running in the background in Windows 2000:
1. Hold down the Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys simultaneously on your keyboard.
2. This will bring up the Task Manager. If it brings up Windows Security, click the Task Manager button.
3. Click the Applications tab. This will list programs currently running on your system
4. Hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard and click each program to highlight it.
5. When all the programs are highlighted, hit the End Task button. If you get any messages that state the program is not responding, hit End Task again.
6. Now click the Processes tab. Click the bar that says User Name to sort the list.
7. Click on any of the processes except EXPLORER and TASKMGR that have your login name in the User Name column. Then click End Process. Click Yes on the Task Manager Warning. Repeat this step to remove all processes that are under your login name except EXPLORER and TASKMGR.

This should temporarily close any conflicting background applications. These applications will start up again when you reboot.

!!! -> I did not, meaning purposefully, include a copy of their method [excluded it] to permanently disable processes from running in memory as doing this can cause serious problems if you do not know enough about what you are doing.
* Expect that a fubar induced installation of Windows from a 1D10T action, normally, requires reinstalling Windows from scratch. I cannot say this with more clarity.

 

You can clean your installation of Windows and help your ToEE game run better. I found a 100 percent free application that works nicely to clean your computer of unneeded files and even does more, as selected.

Note from the developer: BeClean is freeware. Feel free to use and give this program to anyone you know. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy...

copied from website:

1. Registry Cleaner, clean up registry entries from the files that no longer exist on the system
2. Internet Cleaner, clean up internet cache and related
3. History Cleaner, clean up common Windows applications recent file lists
4. Temporary Files Cleaner, clean up temporary files
5. Start Menu Cleaner, clean up Start Menu of broken links
6. Desktop Cleaner, clean up Desktop of broken links
7. Empty Recycle Bin, clean up all deleted files in the Recycle Bin
8. Custom Cleaner, clean up your specified folders and registry keys
9. Disk Clean Wizard, clean up your computer drives

!!! If this program is used unwisely by someone who is clueless about computers, unwise use of this program could delete important files if poor cleaning selections are made. !!!

* It's safe to use, but if someone is guilty of commiting "An Act of 1D10T" - such as keeping copies of wanted or needed files in the recycle bin and selects to delete files in the recycle bin, let's just say it's not recoverable and you just permenently lost your files in the recycle bin. The same applies to Temp folders and temp environment folders, etc.

!!! I WOULD SUGGEST YOU ONLY SELECT [CHECKMARK] THESE OPTIONS. !!!
-> Internet Cache Cleaner
-> Temporary Files Cleaner
-> Empty Recycle Bin

* Once you checkmark to mark your checkbox selections, click the START CLEANING button to use BeClean.

** Suggestion: Do NOT use the DISK CLEAN WIZARD to do a customized drive cleaning unless you know exactly what you are doing before you start, meaning you know what files and filetypes and the locations you are telling it to permanently delete.

Download from here -> http://boozet.xepher.net/beclean/index.htm

I've tried different ones and like this BeClean software.

 

[EDIT] -=- entire post

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-> please refer to my newer post in this thread about the NO-CD fix

 

Here is general information as a fyi advising on possible changes needed for ToEE to work properly.

Re: The virtue of minimalism
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There are two basic motherboard chipsets, VIA and nVidia. There can be varying results from both, depending on the motherboard manufacturer vendor [Asus, Abit, Biostar, etc.] and what chipset they used for your particular version of motherboard. You may have updated your device drivers from windowsupdate.microsoft.com and from playing ToEE find you further need to update your Windows device drivers for the motherboard and your addon sound and video cards from the manufacturer websites. Also, you might find you, additionally, need to tweak your motherboard BIOS settings. Or, you might find as a last result that you need to flash the motherboard BIOS with the latest ROM update.

 

Oh, and btw, here's the link for the nvidia drivers download section of their site.

nVidia motherboard drivers, nVidia video card drivers, nForceware, etc. - for Windows

-> http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

 

Do you have Windows 98/98se/ME? If you do, download and use this program, instead of the Disk Defragmenter that is included with Windows 98/98se/ME.

Executive Software free version 7.0.418 of Diskeeper named Diskeeper Lite (11.8 MB)

http://www1.execsoft.com/dklite.exe

!!! You do not need this program if you have Windows 2000 or XP.

enjoy!..

 

Are you thinking about ToEE needing to be uninstalled and reinstalled?

Would you like to wipe just the free space on your computer after uninstalling ToEE? Or, are you looking at rebuilding the software installed on your computer, including the installation of Windows and everything on the hard drive of your computer? Do you want to wipe the entire hard drive in your computer as a part of the process of re-loading your computer?
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Eraser 5.7
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Here are the final TweakUI updates for Windows operating systems.

!!! -> PowerToys only work with U.S. English regional settings.

This TweakUI 1.33 update lets you adjust your Windows User Interface, including menu speed, window animation, and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
-> TweakUI 1.33 for Windows 2000, NT, ME, 98 or 95

This TweakUI 2.10 update lets you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.
-> TweakUI 2.10 for Windows XP SP1 or SP2

* These addons give a user the ability to have much extra control over configuration in one application.