Random Ctd Solved

[Arcanist]

A couple of days ago i got Oblivion and installed it on my rather low spec rig (Athlon 2600, 768MB ram, ATI 9600XT 256MB AGP Video card). I let the game detect my system and took the low settings it reccomended.

 

I started a new game and got through the inital character selection stuff without incident. Once i started playing I started getting random crashes. What was happening was the game minimised itself to the task bar and put me back at my desktop. When i restored the game the very next mouse click or keystroke caused the game to freeze requiring me to end task with task manager. This happened 5 times between initial character selection and getting to the part you choose your class.

 

I tried all the normal stuff like latest video and sound drivers. I tried disableing my internet connection, virus software and firewall software. Was still getting crashes.

 

It turned out to be my hp1315 all in one USB printer drivers that were causing the crashes. After completly uninstalling the drivers and all associated software for my printer i was able to play 5 hours straight. I read somewhere (cant remember where) that Bethesda has said that some HP printer drivers are known to cause problems.

 

Today i wanted to print some stuff so had to reinstall the printer driver. I forgot how long it took to do, it automaticaly installs drivers and software. For a printer it took way too long for my likeing.

 

So tonight i'm going to leave the printer drivers and software installed and disable the drivers in device manager and see if that works so im not having to uninstall and reinstall the printer stuff everytime i want to play or print. Will update this post when i know if this works.

 

Whilst figuring out this problem i also used "Whats Running" to get rid of a stack of start up programs that i didnt need and were just taking up resources, my comp is running better for it all round :)

 

Anyway just wanted to share my crashing problem and solution with the community in case it can help others. FYI my rig runs 640 x 480 no bloom (reccomened by the game) at 30 FPS and over, at 800 x 600 with bloom on im getting around 18-20 FPS most of the time and at 1024 x 768 no bloom I'm down to 10-12 FPS.