Question concerning PC

My mom is gonna get me & my younger brother new-computer that is Vista, I love the idea, but you see I own Doom 3, Quake & F.E.A.R. as well as several Serious Sam games & I m not ungrateful but I can't but to think that the games I mentioned may very well likely be compatible. Because I have an XP right now. Tell me would they work?

I have Vista and Doom 3 doesn't work

Windows Vista Compatibility Center will tell which products will work out-of-the-box with Vista.

However, I would go as far and claim that any piece of software that used to run in XP can also reach acceptable functionality with Vista, either by some file tweaking, experimenting with compatibility modes or third-party hotfixes. Of course, if you don't consider your skill set moderate enough to grasp the basic understanding of inner workings of an OS, there might be some troubled times ahead.

If I were you, I wouldn't actually be as worried about software compatibility as you should be about hardware inside the new rig. Especially modern video cards and multithread processing units that weren't around only five years ago are running on wholly different APIs than some elderly games published hardly half a decade ago were designed to run on. One can always try to find workarounds for compatibility issues between a program and OS, but if modern computer innards are causing hiccups for elderly games, there is very little end user can do.

IndyJess said:

I have Vista and Doom 3 doesn't work

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It does, in fact. Just requires a little tweaking.

I think as long as the whatcha dingie video memory gizmo is strong enough it'll be ahright. I know, I know, I know. You're welcome.

Since we're on the topic, my PC died a week ago, as in it wont reboot after being shut down. And it showed no signs of bad health, really that is. Is there anyway I could possibly save it?

gear guardian said:

I think as long as the whatcha dingie video memory gizmo is strong enough it'll be ahright. I know, I know, I know. You're welcome.

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Sometimes those can actually be little too juiced up, causing an elderly program to run in a way that can cause some funny hitches, like making the game remind you of that old Alvin & the Chipmunks show (seriously).

Oftentimes though it just refuses to run...

gear guardian said:

Since we're on the topic, my PC died a week ago, as in it wont reboot after being shut down. And it showed no signs of bad health, really that is. Is there anyway I could possibly save it?

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There could be a lot of reasons why it doesn't boot up anymore, and therefore lot of different forecasts concerning its future.

A little extra info could be useful, like, have you made any hardware additions recently, has there been any power outages, and even how have you been taking care of its physical health (has the central unit stood on table or on the floor, have you ever opened it up and looked into the innards and things like that).

Also describing the actual symptoms as well as you can would be big help. Does it whirr up but just refuses to send data to the monitor or is it completely dead, meaning pushing the button doesn't do absolutely anything?

Yeah, sorry, a bit vague?

Well, it's an older computer lent/given to me to replace the older computer I had.

The tower sits on the carpet. It has not had any hardware added recently nor have I had to poke around inside. However, about three weeks ago I hooked it up with a sound system; a universal that also works with TVs, game consoles, etc.

The entire time I had it (working) it would make exactly that, a loud whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sound each time it booted.

The monitor is working fine, it's the actual hard drive that doesn't respond to having it's power button poked.

I see.

A quick clarification though which I tried to get through in my previous post, does it stay completely dead when you try to boot it up by pushing the main power button or say something but either shuts up immediately thereafter or just keeps whirring on but the screen stays dead? And no, I'm not asking if the monitor's fine or not, I'll buy your word on that. All I want to know if there's any life in the central unit at all when you try to power it up.

No. No sound, no lights, no breathing... Silence...

Okay, the power unit's definitely toast then.

However, that means if it's only thing that's dead the rest of the comp might be very much salvageable.

Tell me about the sound unit. Does it have its own power cord (going into wall socket) or does it draw its power through whatever device's it's been hooked into?

And one more thing... you should open the unit and have a look at its innards. Don't worry though, all you have to understand from it is the very healthy poodle farm probably residing inside.

Computers in fact do need some general mainteinance by means of opening up the unit and gently removing dust from its innards... especially if it sits on floor level. Giving it some higher leverage (putting it on a small box or stool only 10 inches from the floor alone is going to be big help).

So bottom line... my diagnosis (based on the knowledge you provided and some assumptions) is that the machine drew in enough dust specs to heavily affect the cooling system. This was too much to the power unit which overheated and fried.

The good news however is that a lot of parts are probably going to be salvageable, especially the hard drive. So whatever data you had can probably be retrieved by just hooking the disk up with another comp. With any luck you can save the memory sticks, video card and whatever other "just plug 'em in" parts there might be. The motherboard is probably toast though.

The sound system draws it's own power from the wall. The only connection it has with the actual computer is of course the inputs (Right & left channel, input, RCA). It's an Altec Lansing if that helps any.

That makes it pretty much irrelevant then. It would have been weird anyway for the thing to draw power through the comp as even small tabletop speakers have their own power cords. Had to ask anyway.

In any case, like I said already, if it's not saying anything on boot, that likely means the power unit or MB (or both) are toast. Data and random parts might be salvageable, but I hardly doubt there's going to be any magic tricks that would awaken it as it is.

Eh, really there wasn't all that much on it anyway. I'm sure everything from it will be salvaged (whether they're working or not), I have a few computer junkies in the family who'd probably enjoy ransacking it.

Thanks for the help, Finn.

My pleasure.

For what it's worth, tell those computer junkies have one final look at it before they start ripping it apart. Don't just buy the diagnosis based on very little information made by a guy on the other side of the planet who never had a chance to actually check it out. Especially since all I told you is what it sounds like, not necessarily what it is.

But if I may give you one solid piece of advice; if you love your next computer, give it some high ground.