Hi I've been having problems with the picture going blank and then only showing shadows or other images and I can never pull down controls. I've been through two or three ages already, without problems. It's not related to a certain age though. I reboot and it works fine for awhile. I'm running Win 2000 Pro.
CPU = 2.6 Gig
512Mb Ram
NVIDIA GeForce4MX 440 with AGP8X

Sounds like a video driver problem, or maybe an overheating problem.

Suggestions:

1. Take a look at Myst V: Installing Video Drivers With Win XP, under Installing NVIDIA Drivers.

2. If you haven't cleaned the dust out of your computer case recently (or ever), you may have a component overheating problem. This can result in crashes, spontaneous reboots, lockups, etc.
-- a. Open up your PC's case, and - carefully - remove all:
----- 1. Obvious dust bunnies.
----- 2. Dust clogs from computer case vent holes.
----- 3. Dust coatings from all chips on the motherboard.
----- 4. Dust coatings from all accessible fan blades.
----- 5. Dust clogs from all fan ports in the power supply case. Do not try to open up the power supply!
----- 6. Dust from between the fins of the CPU heat sink and all other motherboard heat sinks. Clean the fins themselves if dust coated. (Be careful not to bend the fins or accidentally detach the heat sinks!)
----- 7. Dust from expansion cards - fans, heat sinks, and chips.
-- b. Check all fans - case/CPU/video chipset/power supply/motherboard - to be certain that they're all turning at speed.
-- c. Make certain that computer case vent holes are not obscured, like by ribbon cables.
-- d. Make certain that the fan mounting base on your GeForce4MX 440 hasn't come loose at one of the corners. Some fans are secured by only two attachments, and if one comes loose, you don't get good heat transfer and overheating results. Or, if there's no fan, make certain that the heat sink is firmly in place. Same comment about attachment points coming loose.
-- e. If you remove dust from fans by using "canned air" to blow it off, carefully hold the fan blades stationary. If you don't, you can spin the fan fast enough to damage it.
-- f. Blowing dust off of circuit boards with 'canned air' can result in static electricity charge buildup. Turn off both the PC's power supply switch (on the back panel) and the power strip switch, but don't unplug the power cord. This maintains case, motherboard and card grounding, and helps prevent static electricity from trashing the electronics. If you're not using a power strip, unplug the power cord from the wall plug. (Just turning off the power supply switch on your PC's back panel may NOT kill all power to the PC's motherboard.)
-- g. Try leaving the cover(s) off of your PC's case with a fan blowing into the case, then play Uru. This can make a large difference in temperatures if you've got poor air circulation inside the case, but it's not a good way to operate long-term!
----- 1. If leaving the cover(s) off helps, try re-routing ribbon cables or whatever else may be obstructing air flow.
----- 2. If you don't have a case fan, try installing one. Most cases have a case fan position and mounting holes available.

Heimdall
Semper ubi sub ubi.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Heimdall G,