How to fix my computer when it freezes?

I was playing the game World of Warcraft when my screen froze and was disconfigured. Now when I turn my computer on it won't go to the desktop. It will do all the things it normally does before it goes to desktop but the desktop never shows up even in safe mode. What is the problem here???? Is it my video card????

This question was answered on December 27, 2004. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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You may need to reinstall your Direct X version, or download the 9.0c installer from www.microsoft.com/directx.

Your Direct X Diagnostic tool should have been able to detect it There may be a corrupt Direct X file.

Next, make sure your virtual memory settings are configured.

Virtual memory

From your desktop, right Click on "My Computer", then choose Properties.

Click on the Advanced Tab, then on the "Settings" button in the Performance box.

Click on the "Advanced" Tab and then set the Virtual memory settings.

Set your Maximum memory to 2044MB and you minimum to 681 MB.

Click on Apply and then Ok.

Try ending background tasks before playing the game There may be a conflicting process running.

Make sure that you are logged in as the Administrator (for Windows XP Professional) or Owner (for Windows XP Home) This will usually be the first account that was created once Windows XP was fully installed If you are not certain, contact the manufacturer of your PC for assistance in finding your Administrator/Owner account.

Make sure that all background tasks are closed before running the game:

Hold the Ctrl and Alt keys down at the same time and hit the key once This will in turn bring up a window called "Task Manager".

Select the Processes tab

Close all programs that have your login ID next to them Your user ID is listed in the second column next to the program name.

For example here is a portion of what you should see; Image Name User Name Session ID Explorer.exe Owner 01 The Image Name column is the name of the programs currently running The User Name column is where you will find your User Name The best way to check this is to locate "Explorer" and see what it says under User Name Also, do not close any applications that say "System" next to them Be sure not to close a program labeled "Explorer" or "Taskmgr" as well You close each one of these applications by clicking on each one and hitting the button "End Process" Note some applications may take multiple times before closing Don't worry that you are permanently changing your system configuration; these applications will return when you restart your system.

About the author

Posted by Kareem of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on December 27, 2004

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