Games: Error Message: Ddhelp Caused an Invalid Page Fault in Module Gdi.exe (286006)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings 2.0
  • Microsoft Age of Empires II Expansion: The Conquerors
  • Microsoft Baseball 2001
  • Microsoft Casino
  • Microsoft Classic Board Games
  • Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2: WWII Pacific Theater
  • Microsoft Crimson Skies
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 Professional Edition
  • Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition
  • Microsoft Links LS 2000
  • Microsoft Links 2001
  • Microsoft MechCommander 2.0 1.0
  • Microsoft MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries
  • Microsoft MechWarrior 4: Vengeance
  • Microsoft Metal Gear Solid
  • Microsoft Midtown Madness
  • Microsoft Midtown Madness 2 2.0
  • Microsoft Motocross Madness 2 2.0
  • Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000 1.0
  • Microsoft NFL Fever 2000 1.0
  • Microsoft Pandora's Box 1.0
  • Microsoft StarLancer 1.0
  • Microsoft Train Simulator
This article was previously published under Q286006

SYMPTOMS

When you play any of the Microsoft games that is listed at the beginning of this article, you may receive the following error message:
This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.
When you click Details, you receive one of the following messages:
DDhelp caused an invalid page fault in module Gdi.exe.
DDhelp has caused an error in GDI.exe.
DDhelp has caused an invalid page fault in module Ddraw.dll.
DDhelp cause an invalid page fault in module unknown.DDhelp caused an error in filename.
DDhelp caused an exception 038 in module file name
where file name is a .dll file that your computer's video driver uses.

You may also receive the following error message:
DDhelp error: an error has occured in your program, click ignore to continue.
When you click Ignore, the computer stops responding ("hangs").

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the video driver for your video adapter is outdated.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use the following methods in the order in which they are presented.

Install the Latest Video Driver

Contact the manufacturer of your video adapter to inquire about how to obtain and install the latest version of the video driver for your video adapter.

For information about how to contact the manufacturer of your video adapter, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K

60781 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P

60782 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z

If updating the video card drivers do not help, proceed to the next method.

Reduce Graphics Hardware Acceleration

To reduce graphics hardware acceleration:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click System.
  3. Click the Performance tab, and then click Graphics.
  4. Move the Hardware Acceleration slider until it is one notch to the right of None (the Basic acceleration setting).
  5. Click OK, and then click OK again.
  6. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.

MORE INFORMATION

To identify the manufacturer and model of your video adapter:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click System.
  3. Click the Device Manager tab.
  4. Click the PLUS SIGN (+) next to Display adapters to expand the branch.
  5. In the Display adapters branch, note the manufacturer and the model of your video adapter, and then click OK.
  6. Close Control Panel.

More About DDHelp

DDHelp.exe is DirectDraw's "helper" program. Its purpose is to make first contact with the video driver, assess its DirectDraw capabilities, and send the driver into DirectDraw compatibility mode.

This is very simplistic. However, when a user has display issues in a game or a game doesn't launch, it may be because the game cannot get the video driver to switch to the proper resolution to run it. This will sometimes manifest itself as an error in the file DDHelp.

Another one of DDHelp's functions is to perform the resolution switching chores for DirectDraw and Direct3D.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/18/2005
Keywords:kbdisplay kberrmsg kbprb KB286006
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.