My computer hates Civ

[The_Big_Con]

I used to have Vista -- it hated Civ 4 in a very similar way. I killed Vista off my computer for several reasons, including what i thought was its hatred of Civ 4, only to find out that on Windows XP -- which is what I'm using now -- the situation has not improved.

Here's what happens. When I launch Civ, everything is peachy for a few rounds. Then the screen pauses for 3-5 seconds, cuts to a black screen, and gives me the message "Auto detect - Analog input". Then it's back to the game again, for a few minutes, before another pause.

The third time or so that it pauses, it goes to a black screen and stays there. I have to start the Task Manager to end Civ 4. As you can imagine, this has reduced the enjoyment I get out of Civ 4 immensely.

I'm no computer guru, but I think my machine should be able to handle Civ 4 + BTS. It's a Dell Inspiron 5305.

What do you think? Tell me it's just a matter of downloading the right driver or cleaning my CD drive.

Thanks

 

[jeffreyac]

I dunno - I had a heck of a time abnout 6 months ago getting Civ IV - BTS to run. I still have a hard time with vanilla Civ, but for some reason I learned that if I installed Civ IV, updated, the installed BTS, and updated - then it'd run.

For me I think it was one of the Vista updates that helped, in the last few months. If it's not helping you - yeah, drivers and updates are the best place to start. Oh, and run it as an administrator, with compatability mode set to XP - I think that helped for me.

 

[The_Big_Con]

I'm pretty sure my XP is fully updated -- do I go to the Firaxis site to get Civ's drivers & updates?

 

[JonathanStrange]

Is there a new MS product coming out that will replace Vista and love Civ IV?

 

[binhthuy71]

I can't find any specs for the Inspiron 5305 but, if you're using onboard video (rather than having a dedicated video card) you might try going to Advanced>Options before you start the game and then turn off all of the animations and reduce the quality on the graphics as low as it will go.

 

[The_Big_Con]

Even with animations frozen and graphics at Low, same problem. Would a better video card solve my problem?

 

[binhthuy71]

Even with animations frozen and graphics at Low, same problem. Would a better video card solve my problem?

What are your system specs (Processor, RAM, sound, video)? The error message you're getting usually means that the monitor has temporarily lost video and it's found an input. That you can play a few turns before you error out suggests that your computer is running out of resources but, absent the system info, I'm just guessing.