Game crashes before I get to play!

[xMrPolyx]

Whenever I try to play this game, it runs just fine... up until the loading screen before the match starts. Then it crashes and I get an error message, which the computer does not explain (in other words, can't find out what the problem is)

I've actually been able to play very few times, though. And only offline. Whenever I try online, it just never works. And I know that it has nothing to do with the maps, because one time, I actually got a glimpse of the map RIGHT before the game crashed.

I don't think it's a hardware issue, because I've been able to run this game PERFECTLY for the first few weeks. The whole crashing problem actually started when I installed the Half-Life 2 Episode Pack onto my computer. I don't think it actually has anything to do with that, but either way, I deleted it. I still get the problem, though.

But in any case, here's my computer:

Vista, quad-core, 2.4 GHz
2 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

Oh, and before you ask, yes, I've tried reinstalling. Twice, actually. The problem persists.

[xMrPolyx]

Bump

No idea what could be causing this?

[Moo Cowliber]

wow, uh how about some more detailed specs. Make and CPU model, etc...

You don't get any codes or anything during, after, before the crash??

Also you "mentioned" that it started occuring after installing Half Life.
Could it be a registry issue???

Try installing a registry cleaner such as RegScrubXP.
Then try the game.
If you WERE running it fine, then I'm to assume that there was a change made somewhere along the line that caused this issue.
Which is "usually" effected in the registry.

Mabey not though.
Give it a try. Let me know!

[Moo Cowliber]

side note to anyone reading this.
It's ALWAYS a good idea to create a restore point before installing programs.
Most people don't do it.
But it's true that registry changes can effect system performance.

[Moo Cowliber]

EDIT:
I just saw you had Vista.
Try
EUSING it's a registry cleaner as well.
I'm not too sure if there are other Vista registry cleaners out there or not.
BTW it IS FREEWARE.

[xMrPolyx]

Well, here's what it says when I look up the error in UT3:

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: UT3.exe
Application Version: 0.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 47b39d39
Fault Module Name: UT3.exe
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 47b39d39
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00742411
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: fd00
Additional Information 2: ea6f5fe8924aaa756324d57f87834160
Additional Information 3: fd00
Additional Information 4: ea6f5fe8924aaa756324d57f87834160

By the way... the computer is a Dell XPS_630I. Is that also important?

[Moo Cowliber]

have you tried registry software yet?

[xMrPolyx]

Well, I must say - after I used that EUSING program I started up UT3, and I played 3 matches - 1 online - without crashing!

I think that this has definitely fixed the problem. If it returns, I'll just post again.

Many thanks!

EDIT: Well, ok. I have to say, the crashing continues every so often. So far it's only happened when trying to play online. This time I don't think it's the registry. I've cleaned it over and over again and nothing new happens.

[Moo Cowliber]

No Problem. Glad it gave you good results.
then it more than likely has something to do with your Network Interface card or the net work settings within the game.

If you have firewalls and virus programs it's a good idea to disable while playing online.

otherwise there may be more to it.
Mabey some of the game admins here will be able to help you improve your online portion.

[Moo Cowliber]

Edit: double post.
I'm having lots of trouble posting on this forum........