Free Software Program Tools

[Joseph]

Your ATI drivers are outdated.

1. Download Catalyst 7.2 from this page, to a folder you create on your desktop. Do NOT install it yet!
2. Download and install Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86)
3. Reboot the PC.
4. Uninstall your previous ATI drivers.

Removing Old ATI Software

1. Click on Start, then Control Panel, then go to Add/Remove Programs.
2. At the top of the list you should see several ATI entries. Select the entry entitled ATI Software Uninstall Utility, and click Change/Remove.
3. You will be prompted to restart your system once the uninstall is complete.
4. Once restarted, check the Add/Remove Programs list again for any remaining ATI software.
5. If any ATI software is still listed, click Change/Remove on those entries to uninstall each one individually.
6. Next, please scroll through the list until you find an entry called DAO (see screenshot below).
7. Select DAO, then Click Change/Remove to uninstall this program.

NOTE: If you encounter any error messages while uninstalling, such as “Error 1905 – DLL failed to unregister”, please follow the directions listed in the Manual Removal Instructions section below. Otherwise, please scroll down to the bottom of the page, and choose your product.

Manual Removal

Once all of the remaining ATI entries have been removed from the Add/Remove Programs list and the computer has been rebooted, the remaining registry entries, program, and temporary files will need to be removed.
Section 1

1. Click on Start, then Run. Type in regedit, and click OK. This will launch the Registry Editor.
2. Create a back up of the registry by clicking on File, then Export. Choose a name for the file, and save it on your desktop. You have backed up your registry.

1. Click on the (+) next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
2. Click on the (+) next to Software.
3. Click on each folder that references ATI Technologies or ATI, and press delete on the keyboard. When prompted for confirmation, click Yes.

1. Click on the (-) next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to collapse the list.
2. Click on the (+) next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
3. Click on the (+) next to Software.
4. Click on each folder that references ATI Technologies or ATI, and press delete on the keyboard. When prompted for confirmation, click Yes.
5. Close the Registry Editor.

Section 2

1. Click Start, then My Computer.
2. Double click on the C: drive or the drive in which your operating system is installed.
3. Double click on the Program Files folder.
4. Delete any folders that reference ATI (e.g. ATI Multimedia, ATI Technologies). See the screenshot below for reference.

1. Click on the back button until you are back at My Computer.
2. Double click on the C: drive or the drive in which your operating system is installed.
3. Double click on the Windows folder. Some systems may have a folder entitled WINNT instead.
4. Double click on the Temp folder.
5. Click on the Edit menu, then click Select All.
6. Click on the File menu and select Delete. When prompted for confirmation select Yes.
7. If any files remain in the Temp folder, repeat steps 9 to 10 until all files are gone.

Now that you have removed the existing ATI software, you are ready to install the new drivers and software.

3. Reboot, and CANCEL all Windows messages about "found new hardware"!!!

4.Install the new downloaded Catalyst 7.2

[Joseph]

» What is the PC specification for Legend?

Minimum (with TnL Graphics card)

• Windows 2000/XP
• P3 1.0GHz or Athlon XP Equivalent
• 256MB RAM
• DirectX 9.0c -compatible 64MB 3D Accelerated Card with TnL
• DirectX 9.0c -compatible Sound Card
• 4x DVD-ROM drive
• 9.9GB free disk space
• Win2000/XP compatible mouse and keyboard

Recommended

• Windows 2000/XP
• P4 2.0GHz or Athlon XP Equivalent
• 512MB RAM
• 100% DirectX 9.0c -compatible 256MB 3D Accelerated Card with TnL
• DirectX 9.0c -compatible Sound Card
• 8x DVD-ROM drive
• 9.9GB free disk space
• Win2000/XP compatible mouse and keyboard

Optimal / Next generation capable

• Windows 2000/XP
• Intel Core2Duo / P4 3.0GHz or Athlon XP Equivalent
• 1024MB RAM
• 100% DirectX 9.0c -compatible 512MB 3D Accelerated Card with TnL
• DirectX 9.0c -compatible Sound Card
• 8x DVD-ROM drive
• 9.9GB free disk space
• Win2000/XP compatible mouse and keyboard

» What cards do support TnL (Transform and Lighting)?

nVidia

• nVidia GeForce FX series
• nVidia GeForce 4 series
• nVidia GeForce 3 series
• nVidia GeForce 2 series

ATI

• ATI Radeon series (except 7000, but the /64MB version can run Legend in basic settings, see *below.)
• ATI X series

*ATI Radeon 7000 /64MB settings to run the game at 800x600:


» What cards support DX9?

• nVidia GeForce FX series
• nVidia Quadro FX series
• ATI 9000 series
• ATI X series

What cards support the Next Generation content?
Theoretically, every shader model 3.0 supporting card.
• nVidia GeForce 6xxx and 7xxx series
• ATI X1000 series
Practically, only the 512 MB versions of these cards:
• nVidia GeForce 7800/7900GTX (512 MB)
• ATI X1800/1900XT (512 MB)
MOTTO: excellent graphics can do fine with 1 frame per minute but excellent gaming requires an average not below 30 frames/second.

» What cards do NOT support TnL? (and will most probably not play Legend)
• ATI Rage series (128, Pro, Fury etc)
• Intel (810, V3800)
• SIS (650/750 etc)
• S3 (Pro Savage, Twister)
• Matrox (Mystique, Millenium etc)
• Voodoo 3DFX (3, 5 etc)
• Geforce TNT, TNT2 (Ultra, Pro etc)
• Diamond Viper

>>>I want Next Generation. Why can't i enable it?
If the game setup has not detected a shader model 3.0 supporting card, that option will remain greyed out. If you still insist on Next Gen, you need to upgrade your PC with a new graphic card.

>>>For Legend Next Generation in FULL Glory (1600x1200, maximum settings, still smooth framerates, no stutterings / lags, natural responsiveness of mouse and keyboard), a high end PC with a high end graphic card with 512MB GRAM is needed.
The following available cards (brands are random) are then the options:

PCI-Express:
ATI Radeon X1800XT 512MB GDDR3, PCI-Express
Sapphire Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, HDCP, 2xDVI-I, Lite-Retail € 209,00

ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express
ATI Radeon X1900XTX 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express
Club3D Radeon X1950XTX 512MB GDDR4, PCI-Express, Dual-DVI-I, VIVO, CF Ready € 362,00
HIS Radeon X1950XTX 512MB GDDR4, PCI-Express, ViVo, 2xDVI/Tv-Out/HDCP € 372,01
Sapphire Radeon X1950 512MB GDDR4, HDCP, PCI-Express, Crossfire Edition (Master) € 419,00


NVIDIA GeForce 7900GTX 512MB, GDDR3, PCI-Express,
POINT OF VIEW GeForce 7950GT 512MB, GDDR3, PCI-Express, 550/1400Mhz, 2xDVI € 273,00
XFX GeForce 7900GX2 1GB GDDR3, Bulk, PCI-Express, 2xDVI/Tv-Out/HDTV, Dual-GPU € 422,00

Club3D GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, HDTV-Out, HDCP, Dual DVI € 410,00
Gainward GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, "BP8800GTS-640M-TV-DD" € 385,00
XFX GeForce 8800GTS 550M 640MB XXX GDDR3 ,PCI-Express,2xDVI/HDTV/HDCP,550/1800Mhz € 505,00
XFX GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, 2xDVI/HDTV/HDCP, 320-bit € 419,00

Club3D GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, HDTV-Out, HDCP, Dual DVI € 549,00
MSI GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3, HDCP, PCI-Express, 2xDVI-I, Tv-Out, 384bit € 569,00
XFX GeForce 8800GTX 630M 768MB XXX GDDR3 ,PCI-Express,2xDVI/HDTV/HDCP,630/2000Mhz € 679,00
XFX GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, 2xDVI/HDTV/HDCP, 384-bit € 590,00
AGP:
HIS Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3, IceQ3, AGP8X, "Turbo", 2xDVI/Tv-Out/HDCP, Retail € 282,01
By the size of the card's ventilator it takes space of 2 slots on your motherboard.

A card that has the power on paper but doesn't perform as well as the Radeon X1950PRO :
Gainward GeForce 7800GS 512MB GDDR3, AGP8X, "BA7800GS-512-GS-TV-DD-GLH" € 331,00

NOTE: For these cards a high quality Power Supply Unit (that delivers and is stable) is required. Example: Hiper PSU ATX 530W Zwart, Type-M, 120mm Fan, 2xSATA, 2xPCI-E, 20/24pin € 67,00

I also play TR Legend Next Generation on a GF 7800GT/256MB @1280x1024/60 Hz. Some stutterings here and there because the textures are swapped constantly.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&


Nevertheless, it is possible to "force" Next generation content on older (only shader model 2.0/2.1 supporting cards. See this post further down in this thread.

>>>But i have a SLI in my system. Two GF 6800 / 256MB. So that is high end 512 MB isn't it? I should be able to run Next Gen!
Please realise that SLI does not double your card. Even if you have two 6800GT's with 256MB Ram each, that does not make the equivalent of 1 high end 512MB card. You will simply have a 6800GT/256MB set in SLI mode.
I couldn't say it better with my lame english than the Wikipedia from which i quote:
Scalable Link Interface (SLI) is a method for linking two (or more) videocards together to produce a single output. It is an application of parallel processing for computer graphics, meant to increase the processing power available for graphics. With SLI, it is possible to roughly double the amount of graphic complexity that can be handled by a computer just by adding a second identical video card.
It works in two methods, either: Split Frame Rendering (SFR), or Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR). SFR analyzes the rendered image in order to split the workload 50/50 between the two GPUs. Both GPUs work on the same frame simultaneously, each performing roughly half of the calculations required to render the frame. The second method is AFR, in which one GPU processes the current frame, while the next frame is processed by the second card. End of quote.

This is talking about the GPU of which the computing potential is roughly almost doubled. BUT THE GRAM ON BOTH CARDS IS NOT DOUBLED! It stays 256 MB on each card for use.
Next Generation needs ONE chunk of 512MB on a card to load the complete package of textures for quick grab while gaming. So either you play it on a single high end 512MB card or on two high end 512MB cards in SLI.

BTW: SLI is hardly doubling the results in gaming. In practice you see this:
See a comparison

This explanation is valid for CrossFire (ATI) as well.

>>>Which drivers should i download? I don't know exactly where to look for the hardware on my PC.
Download Everest Home to your desktop. Unzip (extract) the file and install.
Start the program. In the left pane you'll see a rootstructure, select any item or, via clicking on the +, any sub-item. At the right pane you'll see the details about your selection.
Now please select Computer + >>> Summary in the left pane. Then in the right pane right-click any item and select Copy as Text (it will copy ALL as text). Could you post it in your next reply in a thread on this forum, where we help you find the right drivers.

>>> TR Legend - PC patch 1.1. ~European Version Only! Download it from tombraiderchronicles.com HERE

>>> TR Legend - PC patch 1.2. ~Incorporates patch 1.1. All disk versions (USA and European). Download Legend patch 1.2 from Trchronicles.com.

From the Legend README:

Tomb Raider: Legend

README file 21/03/2006 Version 1.0

Part 1: Things You Should Know



Please read through the DirectX section of this document. This section has information that is vital to successfully running Tomb Raider: Legend on your system.


1.1 DirectX

This game is optimised for Microsoft's DirectX 9.0c. In order for you to play the game, you must have DirectX 9.0c compliant drivers for your video card and sound card. Please note that although DirectX 9.0c is installed with the game, your video and sound card drivers will not be upgraded to DirectX 9.0c drivers.
You will need to obtain the latest DirectX 9.0c drivers from your card manufacturer or PC supplier. These drivers cannot be supplied by Eidos.


1.2 Memory and Performance

While the game will run fine in 256 Mb of RAM, your playing experience will be smoother if you have at least 512 Mb.
Regardless of how much memory you have, you can maximize your available memory and increase the overall performance of the game engine by doing the following:
q Closing any open windows
q Shutting down all other programs, including menu-bar programs like ICQ
q Defragmenting your hard drive
Eidos recommends that you have no other programs running at all while playing Tomb Raider: Legend. Other programs, including virus checkers, system utilities and screen savers can cause system degradation when playing games software and may conflict with the game for system resources, potentially resulting in instability and crashes.


1.3 Known Issues

q Ensure you are running latest drivers from nVidia and ATI.

Crystal Dynamics, Nixxes Software and Eidos Interactive are committed to providing customer support for our games on a continuing basis. In that spirit, there may be a patch for Tomb Raider: Legend forthcoming; visit the Eidos website for more information.

http://www.eidos.com/
http://www.tombraider.com




q Stuttering while running High End

When running the next-generation features, a small number of people may experience slight frame rate instability (stuttering) during game play. This is a video card driver problem and you must make sure you have downloaded the latest drivers for your video card. Card manufacturer’s websites where you can obtain these are listed at the end of this ReadMe file.

q Graphical issues 1

There are some areas in the game when you may experience some graphical problems (corrupt / missing textures) when running the next-generation features. Again you will need to make sure that you have the latest drivers from your video card manufacturer to help solves these problems.

q Updates

We are committed to bringing you the best game experience possible therefore its likely that we will keep your version up to date with patch downloads from time to time. Installing Game Shadow ™ will help keep your version of Tomb Raider: Legend up to date. Customer support details can be found at the end of this ReadMe.



To download drivers, you need to contact your computer manufacturer (or motherboard manufacturer if your computer custom built).

Part 2: Technical Issues

2.1 Installation & Set-up

System Requirements

The minimum system requirements are as follows:

OPERATING SYSTEM:
MicrosoftWindows 2000, XP
CPU:
Pentium 3 1.0Ghz or Athlon XP Equivalent
RAM:
256MB
GRAPHICS:
100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 64 MB 3D Accelerated Card with TnL (GeForce 3Ti / Radeon 9 series)
SOUND:
Microsoft Windows 2000/XP compatible sound card (100% DirectX 9.0c -compatible)
DVD-ROM:
Quad-speed (4x) DVD-ROM drive
HARD DRIVE:
9.9GB free disk space
INPUT DEVICES:
100% Windows 2000/XP compatible mouse and keyboard


The recommended system requirements are as follows:

CPU:
Pentium 4 3.0Ghz or Athlon XP Equivalent
RAM:
1GB
GRAPHICS:
100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 512 MB 3D Accelerated Card (Nvidia GeForce 7800 / Ati X-1800)
SOUND:
Microsoft Windows 2000/XP compatible sound card (100% DirectX 9.0c compatible)
DVD-ROM:
Eight-speed (8x) DVD-ROM drive or faster
HARD DRIVE:
9.9GB free disk space


Preparing Your Hard Drive

To ensure that your installation is trouble free, you should check to see that your hard drive and file system are both tuned for optimum performance. Windows comes with two utility programs that find and fix any errors and optimise your hard drive performance. The first of these programs is called scandisk. Scandisk will check your hard drive for problems and can fix any that it finds. You can run scandisk by clicking on the Start button from the Windows Taskbar, followed by Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and finally scandisk.
Once scandisk has finished running, you should next optimise your hard drive's performance by running a program called Disk Defragmenter. You can run Disk Defragmenter by clicking on the Start button from the Windows desktop, followed by Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and finally Disk Defragmenter.


Installing Tomb Raider: Legend

Installing Tomb Raider: Legend is easy. Simply insert the DVD into your DVD-ROM drive. After a few seconds, the Launch Panel will appear.

This program will guide you through the remaining process via onscreen prompts. If at any time you are instructed to restart your computer, do so.

In the event the Launch Panel does not appear when you insert the DVD:

Double-click on the My Computer icon, then double-click on the DVD-ROM icon, and lastly double-click on the autorun.exe file to bring up the Launch Panel OR:

q Click on the Start button.
q Choose Run from the pop-up menu.
q Type d:\autorun in the box provided (where d: designates your DVD-ROM drive letter).
q Click on the OK button to begin the install program.



You will be prompted to select the path and directory to which you wish to install the game on your hard drive. The default is

C:\Program Files\Tomb Raider Legend

You may change this if you wish to.

At some point, the Microsoft DirectX 9.0c install prompt will appear if you do not have it on your system already. Please read the on-screen information before selecting an option. You may either choose to install or not install at this time. If the Tomb Raider: Legend installer detects an active version of DirectX 9.0c on your system, we encourage you to notreinstall DirectX. If the installer does not detect DirectX 9.0c, you must install it before you are able to play Tomb Raider: Legend (please refer to the next section of this guide before proceeding).


Starting/Loading The Game

Once the install has finished the Launch Panel will appear on the screen.

Simply click on the Play button to start the game.

You may also:

q Click on the Uninstall button to uninstall the game.
q Click on the View Readme button to view the readme file.
q Click on the Exit button to exit the Launch Panel.


If you are going to play the game at a later time insert the DVD into the DVD-ROM drive. After a few seconds, the Tomb Raider: Legend Launch panel should appear on the screen via the AutoPlay feature. Now click on the Play button to start the game. There is also a button present to Exit.

In the event the AutoPlay feature does not work, you may click on the My Computer icon and then click on the DVD-ROM icon to bring up the Launch Panel.

OR

q Click on the Start button.
q ChoosePrograms from the pop-up menu.
q Drag your mouse to the right and click on Tomb Raider: Legend from the list.
q Click on Tomb Raider: Legend from the ensuing pop-up menu.


Uninstalling Tomb Raider: Legend

If you need to UNINSTALL Tomb Raider: Legend, you may do any of the following three things:

Insert the Tomb Raider: Legend DVD into the DVD-ROM drive to activate the AutoPlay feature. This will bring up the Launch Panel. Click on the Uninstall button, then click on the Yes button from the ensuing pop-up panel to uninstall the program

OR

q Click on the Start button.
q ChoosePrograms from the pop-up menu.
q Drag your mouse to the right and click on Tomb Raider: Legend from the list.
q Click on UninstallShield from the ensuing pop-up menu and follow the onscreen instructions.

OR

Go to the Control Panel and choose Add/Remove Programs. Click on Tomb Raider: Legend from the pop-up panel to follow, select the Add/Remove button, and follow the onscreen prompts.


2.2 DVD-ROM Problems


Tomb Raider: Legend requires at least a Quad-Speed DVD-ROM drive with 32-bit Windows drivers.

I receive a "xxxxxx.xxx not found" error message when installing or running Tomb Raider: Legend

This error message is usually the result of your computer using MS-DOS (16 bit) drivers instead of Windows (32 bit) drivers for your DVD-ROM drive. You can easily check to see if this is causing problems by opening the Control Panel (either click on the My Computer icon or click on the Start button followed by Settings, then Control Panel).

In the Control Panel window, double-click on the System icon then click on the Performance tab. You should now see a summary of the performance status of your computer. One of the lines should say "File System: 32-bit" and the last line should say "Your system is configured for optimal performance." If you see a message saying "Drive X is using MS-DOS compatibility mode," then you will need to contact your system vendor to obtain and install 32-bit drivers for your DVD-ROM drive.


AutoPlay Issues

Why doesn't the AutoPlay feature come up when I insert the Tomb Raider: Legend DVD into the DVD-ROM drive?

This is usually a configuration issue. There are many different ways to enable the AutoPlay functions of Windows. The standard method is described below:

1) Enter the Control Panel from the desktop by clicking on the Start button, followed by Settings, and then Control Panel.
2) Double-click the icon labelled System, usually located alphabetically towards the bottom of the Control Panel window, to bring up the System Properties panel.
3) Click on the tab at the top labelled Device Manager and when the new panel appears, locate the section labelled DVD-ROM and click the Plus (+) sign in front of it. (If there is a minus sign in front, don't click it.)
4) Now double-click the DVD-ROM drive revealed and the DVD-ROM Properties panel will appear.
5) Click on the Settings tab at the top.
6) Towards the middle of the panel, you should see a few checkboxes within the Options section. At the bottom of that section, you should see a checkbox labelled Auto insert notification.
7) Make sure there is a check mark in the box provided and click on the OK button to complete the process.


If the game Auto Plays multiple times:

Some DVD ROM drives cause Tomb Raider: Legend to AutoPlay multiple times, which also may result in lack of control within the game. To remedy this problem click on the DVD ROM properties in the System Properties panel and under settings turn off Auto Notification.


2.3 Crashes and Lock-Ups


When I start Tomb Raider: Legend, my mouse cursor disappears and my computer locks-up.

Chances are your installed audio card drivers are not compatible with DirectX. The only solution is to get a DirectX 9.0c -compatible driver from your audio card manufacturer.


When I start Tomb Raider: Legend, I receive the following error message:

"The application TRL.exe referenced memory at address xxxx:xxxx that can't be read from."

Its likely that your installed video card drivers are not compatible with DirectX. The only solution is to get a DirectX 9.0c -compatible driver from your video card manufacturer.


The Installer keeps stopping when a certain percentage is complete.

There are three likely causes:

q You may have run out of free space on your hard drive. Please remove unwanted programs to free up additional space for the game, and then reinstall Tomb Raider: Legend.
q Files are possibly being copied to a corrupted area of your hard drive. If this is so, you'll need to run the scandisk program and make sure to use the Thorough option (see previous). After scandisk has finished running and has informed you that your drive is free of errors, try to re-install.
q There may be dirt or fingerprints on the DVD-ROM disc itself. Examine the bottom of the disc; if you see any fingerprints or dirt, carefully clean the disc using a clean, soft, lint-free cloth by wiping from the centre of the disc (near the hole) towards the outer edge in a straight line.


Tomb Raider: Legend is crashing to the desktop with no error messages.

This problem can be caused by several different things. Here's a list of the most common culprits associated with these crashes:

q Make sure the DVD-ROM is clean (check for both scratches and smudges on the reading surface of the DVD).

q Make sure the game has been installed properly.

q Make sure DirectX 9.0c has been installed properly.

q Make sure you have the latestdrivers for your video card and that they are DirectX 9.0c -compatible.

q Make sure you have the latest drivers for your sound card and that they are DirectX 9.0c -compatible.

q Make sure Virtual Memory is enabled on your system.

q Run Scandisk.

q Run Disk Defragmenter.

q Try exiting the game, rebooting your machine, and re-entering the game.


Note:That if your system crashes to the desktop while playing Tomb Raider: Legend, you should probably reboot your computer before starting a new play session. Otherwise, DirectDraw or DirectSound may be in a locked state, and the game will be unable to use your sound or video hardware.

Logitech Headset
When using a headset, we advise that this is connected and set as "Favourite Audio Device" within your control panel before launching the game.
NOTE: Should the headset become disconnected during play, as this hardware is detected as a soundcard device you may lose audio as the ‘Valid Sound Device’ would have been lost, should this occur we recommend you check the connections to your Headset and re-launch the game as appropriate.



2.4 DirectX-Related Questions

DirectX has become the new standard in Windows application development. Nearly all high-performance software will be tuned around this technology, so we do not normally recommend that customers attempt to alter its installation on their system


Can I Run Without DirectX?

I cannot use DirectX on my computer! Is there any other way to run Tomb Raider: Legend?

If you do not have DirectX installed on your computer, you will not be able torun Tomb Raider: Legend.

[Simulation]

Diskeeper Lite (freeware) which does the job much faster and more efficiently and with a better User Interface than the Windows default defragger.

[Simulation]

CD Bremse (freeware)
Modern CD-ROM devices work in speed ranges, that in the past were exclusive to harddiskdrives. Depending on the Quality of the drive's mechanics and applied media minor or major vibrations occur. Luckily there are many developement departments of wise engineers, that give their drives the possibility to alter their speed to slower, if desired. With CD Bremse you are able to activate these more modest rotation speeds.

After launching CD Bremse appears above Dialog. Size and kind of offered Configuration settings depend on the possibilities of your device. The page is in German, but the tool itself supports also English. The recent version of CD Bremse can be downloaded here:
CD Bremse 1.47 (791 KB)

[Simulation]

The nVidia TNT2 pro/32MB card's latest supported drivers, with nVidia control panel to adjust the 3D settings for your card more precisely.


Version: 71.89
Release Date: April 14, 2005
WHQL Certified

from HERE.

Driver Installation Hints

• "Download Accelerator" utilities should be disabled when downloading any drivers.
• Do not run virus protection software in the background while installing the drivers. This prevents the driver from configuring itself properly.
• Before installing new drivers make sure you uninstall all NVIDIA display drivers from the Windows Control Panel. Browse to the Start Menu > Windows Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs and search for "NVIDIA Windows Display Drivers" or "NVIDIA Display Drivers" and select remove.

After you first uninstalled the nVidia drivers (you MUST!!!), then rebooted, CANCEL all Windows messages about "found new hardware"! Then install the downloaded new drivers pack.

[Simulation]

new page

[Simulation]

Problem: your CPU is a hyperthreaded or dual core Intel CPU, and Tomb Raider 1 on DgVoodoo sometimes/quite often crashes when saving, causing a corrupt savegame.
You have installed TR1 on XP exactly following these instructions, (installed VDMSound 2.10, rebooted, installed TR1 using the Advanced Installer, enabled DgVoodoo).

SOLUTIONS:
- The manual fix (to do each time after launching the game):
When you launched the game, minimize (Windows key), open Windows Task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del), on the Processes tab find ntvdm.exe, right-click on it, select Affinity, set affinity to CPU0 only.

- Permanent fix:
Download and install: setaffinity.zip
You only have to run this little tool once, set the affinity for ntvdm.exe to CPU 0, and it will be applied permanently.

(You will find ntvdm.exe in the WINDOWS\system32 folder).

Setaffinity maintains this setting invisibly on the background: even after a reboot and launching the game the normal dgvoodoo way, you can see that the affinity is still set to CPU 0 only.

For more details about the tool directly from the creator, read the first post on this page on forums.amd.com.

[Simulation]

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[Simulation]

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