You may receive a fatal exception error message, an invalid page fault error message, or a general protection fault error message when you play Microsoft games on a Windows 98 Second Edition-based or on a Windows Millennium Edition (Me)-based computer (890152)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Age of Empires
  • Microsoft Age of Empires, Gold Edition
  • Microsoft Age of Empires II Expansion: The Conquerors
  • Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
  • Microsoft Age of Empires II Gold Edition
  • Microsoft Allegiance 1.0
  • Microsoft Baseball 2000
  • Microsoft Baseball 2001
  • Microsoft Best of Windows Entertainment Pack 1.0
  • Microsoft Classic Board Games
  • Microsoft Casino
  • Microsoft Close Combat for Windows
  • Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator: WWII Europe Series 1.0
  • Microsoft Crimson Skies
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 Professional Edition
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 98
  • Microsoft Golf 1999 Edition
  • Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition
  • Microsoft International Soccer 2000 1.0
  • Microsoft Links 2001
  • Microsoft Links LS 2000
  • Microsoft MechWarrior 4: Vengeance
  • Microsoft Metal Gear Solid
  • Microsoft Midtown Madness
  • Microsoft Midtown Madness 2
  • Microsoft Monster Truck Madness
  • Microsoft Monster Truck Madness 2 2.0
  • Microsoft Motocross Madness 1.0
  • Microsoft NBA Full Court Press for Windows 1.0
  • Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000 1.0
  • Microsoft NFL Fever 2000 1.0
  • Microsoft Outwars 1.0
  • Microsoft Pandora's Box 1.0
  • Microsoft Pinball Arcade 1.0
  • Microsoft Plus! Game Pack: Cards and Puzzles
  • Microsoft Return of Arcade for Windows
  • Microsoft Return of Arcade, Anniversary Edition
  • Microsoft Revenge of Arcade 1.0
  • Microsoft Soccer 1.0
  • Microsoft StarLancer 1.0
  • Microsoft Urban Assault 1.0, when used with:
    • Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
    • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you play any one of the Microsoft games listed in the "Applies to" section on a Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition-based computer or on a Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me)-based computer, you may receive one of the following types of error messages:
  • A fatal exception error message
  • An invalid page fault (IPF) error message
  • A general protection fault (GPF) error message

CAUSE

Typically, you receive a fatal exception error message if one of the following conditions is true:
  • A program or a component of the operating system tries to access data that is not valid or code that is not valid.
  • An instruction is encountered that is not permitted.
  • The permission level of an operation is not valid.
For additional information about fatal exception errors, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

150314 What are fatal exception errors

Typically, you receive an IPF error message or a GPF error message when a program or a component of the operating system tries to read or to write to a memory address that is not allocated to the program.

For additional information about general protection fault error messages, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

82710 Causes of general protection faults and troubleshooting tips

RESOLUTION

To resolve the issue that is causing any one of these error messages, use the following methods.

Method 1: Restart your computer by using a clean-boot procedure

Use a clean-boot procedure to restart your computer, and then quit all the programs that are running. When you start Microsoft Windows, there are typically several programs that start automatically and run in the background. Antivirus and system utility programs are examples of programs that run in the background. When you try to play a game, some of these programs may interfere with the game. These programs may not appear in the task bar or in the notification area. Therefore, you may not know that the programs are running. When you perform a clean-boot procedure for your operating system, you prevent these programs from automatically starting.

To perform a clean-boot procedure and to quit all the background programs, follow the appropriate steps for your operating system.

Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  2. Click the General tab, and then click Selective startup.
  3. Under Selective startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
    • Process Win.ini file
    • Load startup group items
    • Load environment variables
  4. Click the Startup tab.
  5. Click StateMgr, and then click OK.

    When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.
  6. After the computer restarts, click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  7. Click the General tab, make sure that the check boxes that you cleared in step 3 are still clear, and then click OK.

    Note If you have to clear any one of the check boxes again, you may have to restart your computer one more time.

Windows 98 Second Edition

  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  2. Click Selective startup.
  3. Under Selective startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
    • Process Config.sys file
    • Process Autoexec.bat file
    • Process Winstart.bat file
    • Load startup group items
    Note Some of the options in this list may or may not be available for your computer.
  4. Click the Win.ini tab.
  5. Expand the [windows] folder, and then click to clear the following check boxes:
    • load=
    • run=
  6. Click OK, and then click Yes to restart your computer.
For additional information about how to perform a clean-boot procedure on different operating systems, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

331796 Games: How to perform a clean boot to prevent background programs from interfering with play

Method 2: Quit all the programs that are running

To quit all the programs that are running and that may interfere with the game, repeat the following steps for every program that appears in the Close Program dialog box.

Note The Microsoft Windows components Explorer and Systray are exceptions. Do not close these components.
  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
  2. Click any one of the programs in the Close Program dialog box, except for the following Windows components:
    • Explorer
    • Systray
  3. Click End Task.
  4. If you receive a message that states that the program is busy or is not responding, click End Task again.
Start the game that you want to play.

If the issue is not resolved, go to Method 3.

Method 3: Restore the computer to use a Normal startup

  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  2. Click Normal startup, and then click OK.
  3. Click Yes to restart your computer.
Start the game that you want to play.

If the issue is resolved, quit the game and then go to Method 4.

Method 4: Try to determine the program or the operating system component that is causing the issue

Determine whether one of the items under Selective startup is causing the issue. To do this, follow the appropriate steps for your operating system.

Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  2. Click the General tab, and then click Selective startup.
  3. On the General tab, click to select one of the following check boxes that is not selected under Selective startup, and then click OK:
    • Process Win.ini file
    • Load startup group items
    • Load environment variables
  4. Click Yes to restart the computer.
  5. Try to play the game.
If the issue is resolved, the item that you selected is causing the issue. For more information about how to resolve this issue, contact your computer manufacturer or Microsoft Windows technical support.

To play the game until the issue is resolved, follow these steps:
  1. Repeat Methods 1 and 2.
  2. Under Selective startup click to clear the check box for the item that you selected in step 3 in the Method 4, click OK, and then click Yes to restart your computer.
If the issue is not resolved, repeat steps 1 through 5 in Method 4 for another Selective startup item until you have tried all the items. If you have tried all the items and the issue is not resolved, follow these steps to restore the computer to use a Normal startup, and then go to Method 5:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  2. Click Normal startup, and then click OK.
  3. Click Yes to restart your computer.

Windows 98 Second Edition

  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  2. Click Selective startup.
  3. Click to select any one of the check boxes under Selective startup that is available in the following list, and then click OK:
    • Process Config.sys file
    • Process Autoexec.bat file
    • Process Winstart.bat file
    • Load startup group items
  4. Click OK, and then click Yes to restart your computer.
  5. Try to play the game.
If the issue is resolved, the item that you selected is causing the issue. For more information about how to resolve this issue, contact your computer manufacturer or Windows technical support.

To play the game until the issue is resolved, click to clear the check box for the item that you selected in step 3, click OK, and then click Yes to restart your computer.

If the issue is not resolved, repeat steps 1 through 5 for another Selective startup item until you have selected all the items. If you have selected all items and the issue is not resolved, follow these steps to restore the computer to use the Normal startup - load all device drivers and software option, and then go to Method 5:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  2. Click the Normal startup - load all device drivers and software option, and then click OK.
  3. Click Yes to restart your computer.

Method 5: Determine whether a program that starts automatically is causing the issue

  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
  2. Select one of the programs in the Close Program dialog box that is not Explorer or Systray.
  3. Quit all the programs that are running except for the Windows components Explorer or Systray.

    To quit a program, follow these steps:
    1. Click the program.
    2. Click End Task.

      If you receive a message that states that the program is busy or is not responding, click End Task again.
  4. Try to play the game.
If the issue is resolved, the program that you selected is conflicting with the game. For more information about how to resolve this issue, contact the software program manufacturer for help. For more information about how to contact the software manufacturer, see the "References" section.


If the issue is not resolved, repeat Method 5, steps 1 through 4 and select another program until you have tried all the programs that start automatically on your computer.

To play the game until the issue is resolved, quit the program that is conflicting with the game. If you cannot determine a cause for the issue, contact your computer manufacturer or Windows technical support for help.

Method 6: Change the Windows color quality setting

Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

  1. Change the color quality to High Color (16 bit). To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
    2. Click Display.

      Note Depending on the state of Control Panel, you may have to double-click Display to open the Display Properties dialog box.
    3. Click the Settings tab.
    4. In the Colors list, click High Color (16 bit).
    5. Click OK.
    6. If you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.
    7. Try to play the game.
    If you still experience the issue, go to step 2.
  2. Change the color quality to 256 Color.
    1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
    2. Click Display.

      Note Depending on the state of Control Panel, you may have to double-click Display to open the Display Properties dialog box.
    3. Click the Settings tab.
    4. In the Colors list, click 256 Color, and then click OK.
    5. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.
    6. Try to play the game.
If the issue is not resolved, go to Method 7.

Windows 98 Second Edition

  1. Change the color quality to High Color (16 bit). To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
    2. Double-click Display.
    3. Click the Settings tab.
    4. In the Color Palette list, click High Color (16 bit).
    5. Click OK, and then click OK again.
    6. If you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.
    7. Try to play the game.
    If the issue is not resolved, go to step 2.
  2. Change the color quality to 156 Color. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
    2. Double-click Display.
    3. Click the Settings tab.
    4. In the Color Palette box, click 256 Color, and then click OK.
    5. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.
    6. Try to play the game.
If the issue is not resolved, go to Method 7.

Method 7: Change the graphics hardware acceleration

Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click System. If the System icon does not appear, click view all Control Panel options.
  3. Click the Performance tab, and then click Graphics.
  4. Use the following guidelines to set the Hardware Acceleration setting:
    • If the game that you want to play requires 3-dimensional (3D) graphics, drag the Hardware Acceleration slider to Full.
    • If the game that you want to play does not require 3D graphics, drag the Hardware Acceleration slider until it is one notch to the right of None.

      When the slider is positioned at this notch, the description under the slider describes this setting as the Basic accelerator functions setting.
  5. Click OK.
  6. To close the System properties dialog box, use one of the following methods:
    • If you changed the Hardware Acceleration setting, click Close.
    • If you did not change the Hardware Acceleration setting, click OK.
  7. If you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.
  8. Start the game that you want to play.
If the issue is resolved, your graphics adaptor driver may be causing the issue. If you experience this situation, install the latest updates for Windows and for your graphics adaptor driver. For instructions about how to install these updates, see Method 4 or contact your computer manufacturer. For information about how to identify your graphics adaptor, see the "References" section.

If the issue is not resolved, go to Method 8.

Windows 98 Second Edition

  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. Use one of the following methods to set the Hardware Acceleration setting:
    • If the game that you want to play requires 3-dimensional (3D) graphics, drag the Hardware Acceleration slider to Full.
    • If the game that you want to play does not require 3D graphics, drag the Hardware Acceleration slider until it is one notch to the right of None. When the slider is positioned at this notch, the description under the slider describes this setting as the Basic accelerator functions setting.
  5. Click OK.
  6. Close the System properties dialog box.
    • If you changed the Hardware Acceleration setting, click Close.
    • If you did not change the Hardware Acceleration setting, click OK.
  7. If you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.
  8. Start the game that you want to play.
If the issue is resolved, your graphics adaptor driver may be causing the issue. If you experience this situation, install the latest updates for Windows and for your graphics adaptor driver. For instructions about how to install these updates, see Method 8 or contact your computer manufacturer. For information about how to identify your graphics adaptor, see the "References" section.

If the issue is not resolved, go to Method 8.

Method 8: Install the latest Windows updates

To view and install the latest updates that are available for Windows and for your computer hardware, follow these steps:
  1. Install the latest Windows updates. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Visit the following Microsoft Windows Update Web site:

      http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

    2. If you are prompted to install the Windows Update software, click Yes.
    3. Click Scan for updates.
    4. Download and install the updates.

      For additional information about how to download and install Windows updates and hardware driver updates, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

      323166 How to download Windows updates and drivers from the Windows Update Catalog

  2. Contact your graphics adaptor manufacturer for information about the latest driver updates that you can install. For more information about how to identify and contact your graphics adaptor, see the "References" section.
  3. Try to play the game.
If the issue is not resolved, go to Method 9.

Method 9: Temporarily disable the sound card in Windows

This method helps you determine whether the sound card is causing the issue. To determine whether the sound card may be causing the issue, temporarily turn off your sound card. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click System.
  3. Click the Device Manager tab.
  4. Expand Sound, Video and Game Controllers, and then double-click your sound card.
  5. On the General tab, under Device Usage, click to select the Disable in this hardware profile check box.

    This action will turn off your sound card after you restart your computer.
  6. Restart your computer.
  7. After your computer restarts, start the game.
If the issue is resolved, your sound card may be causing the issue. If you experience this situation, complete the remaining steps in this method to turn on your sound card. After you complete the remaining steps, use the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to troubleshoot the sound card issue.

For additional information about how to troubleshoot sound-related issues, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

812394 How to troubleshoot sound-related issues


If the issue is not resolved, turn your sounds card back on, and then go to Method 10. To turn your sound card back on, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click System.
  3. Click the Device Manager tab.
  4. Expand Sound, Video and Game Controllers, and then double-click your sound card.
  5. Under Device Usage, click to clear the Disable in this hardware profile check box, click OK, and then click Close. This action will turn your sound card back on after you restart your computer.
  6. Restart your computer.

Method 10: Scan your computer for viruses and third-party programs

When you play a game and your computer is infected with a virus or your computer is running a third-party program, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:
  • The game may unexpectedly quit.
  • You may receive an error message.
  • The game may stop responding.
For additional information about how to detect viruses and third-party programs on your computer, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

827315 Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by third-party software

After you remove any third-party programs and any viruses on your computer, try to play the game. If the issue is not resolved, go to Method 11.

Method 11: Remove and reinstall the game

Perform a clean-boot procedure on your computer. You perform a clean-boot procedure before you remove and reinstall your game for the following reasons:
  • To prevent game files from being corrupted during installation.
  • To install the game without interference from programs that are running in the background.
To perform a clean-boot procedure, follow the steps that appropriate for your operating system.

Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  2. Click the General tab, and then click Selective startup.
  3. Under Selective startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
    • Process Win.ini file
    • Load startup group items
    • Load environment variables
  4. Click the Startup tab.
  5. Select StateMgr, and then click OK. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.
  6. After the computer restarts, click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  7. Click the General tab, make sure that the check boxes that you cleared in step c are still clear, and then click OK.

    Note If you have to clear any one of the check boxes again, you may have to restart your computer one more time.

Windows 98 Second Edition

  1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
  2. Click Selective startup.
  3. Under Selective startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
    • Process Config.sys file
    • Process Autoexec.bat file
    • Process Winstart.bat file
    • Load startup group items
    Note The msconfig options in this list may or may not be available for your computer.
  4. Click the Win.ini tab.
  5. Expand the [windows] folder, and then click to clear the following check boxes:
    • load=
    • run=
  6. Click OK, and then click Yes to restart your computer.
For additional information about how to perform a clean-boot procedure on different operating systems, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

331796 Games: How to perform a clean boot to prevent background programs from interfering with play

Windows Millennium Edition (Me) and Windows 98 Second Edition

Remove and then reinstall the game. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
  3. In the list of installed programs, double-click the game that you want to remove, and then click Add/Remove.
  4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to complete the removal process.
  5. Insert the game installation CD into your CD or DVD drive.
  6. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to complete the installation process. If the game installation wizard does not start automatically, manually start the installation. To do this, click Start, click Run, type CD/DVDdrive :\setup.exe, and then click OK. In this directory path, CD/DVDdrive is the drive letter of the CD or DVD drive where you insert the game installation CD.
  7. To restore the computer to use a Normal startup, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
    2. Click Normal startup, and then click OK.
    3. Click Yes to restart your computer.
  8. Try to play the game.
If this issue is not resolved, go to Method 12.

Method 12: Look for multiple instances of a single device

When you play a game, you may receive an error message if your computer has incorrectly initialized more than one instance of a single device. For example, your computer may initialize more than one instance of any one of the following devices when it starts Microsoft Windows:
  • CD drive
  • Graphics adaptor
  • Sound controller
  • Video controller
  • Game controller
For additional information about how to look for multiple instances of a single device and resolve the problem, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

187916 Game stops responding or quits unexpectedly with multiple devices on Microsoft Windows

If multiple instances of a device are found and removed, try to play the game. If the issue is not resolved, go to Method 13.

Method 13: Install the latest VIA Technologies chipset drivers

If you are using a VIA Technologies chipset motherboard, install the latest drivers for the chipset.

For additional information about game performance on VIA Technologies chipset motherboards, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

274629 Hangs or slow performance on AMD system with VIA chipset

MORE INFORMATION

Fatal exception error message

When a fatal exception error occurs, you may receive an error message that is similar to the following:
A fatal exception 0X has occurred at xxxx:xxxxxxxx in xxx+xxxxxxxx. The current application will be terminated.

Press any key to terminate the current application. Press ALT+CTRL+DEL to restart your computer. You will lose any unsaved information in all applications. Press any key to restart.
In this error message, 0X is a hexadecimal number from 00 to 0F that defines the processor exception, and xxxx:xxxxxxxx is the code segment pointer and memory address where the exception error occurred.

Note A fatal exception error message typically appears on a blue background on your computer screen.

IPF error message

When an IPF error occurs, you may receive an error message that is similar to the following:
This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor.
If you receive this error message, the following method that is appropriate for your operating system to view more information about the cause of the error:
  • Windows 98 Second Edition:
    Click Details.
  • Windows Millennium Edition (Me):
    Press ALT+D.
When you choose to view more information about the cause of the error, a message that is similar to the following appears:
Program caused an invalid page fault in module filename at xxxx:xxxxxxxx .
In this error message, xxxx:xxxxxxxx is the memory address where the exception error occurred.

When you click Close in the error message dialog box, the program quits.

GPF error message

When a GPF error occurs, you may receive an error message that is similar to the following:
Program caused a general protection fault in module filename at xxxx:xxxxxxxx.
In this message, xxxx:xxxxxxxx is the memory address where the exception error occurred.

If you receive this error message, the following method that is appropriate for your operating system to view more information about the cause of the error:
  • Windows 98 Second Edition:
    Click Details.
  • Windows Millennium Edition (Me):
    Press ALT+D.
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

REFERENCES

To learn how to determine the manufacturer and the model of the graphics adaptor that is installed on your computer, click Play to view the following video:

For information about how to contact your hardware or software manufacturer, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

65416 Hardware and software vendor contact information, A-K

60781 Hardware and software vendor contact information, L-P

60782 Hardware and software vendor contact information, Q-Z

Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/2/2006
Keywords:kbtshoot kbprb KB890152 kbAudEndUser
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