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General discussion

Ddhelp problem

by dennisl Jun 8, 2005 1:40AM PDT

For some time now I've been getting a situation -mainly on one website, where it gradually freezes & finishes with ''Ddhelp caused an error in GDI.exe'' & sometimes followed with ''Explorer caused an error in GDI.exe''.Often a restart is needed at this point.

I've done extensive searches on the subject & the favourite fix seems to be updating the video drivers & Direct Draw.
Only snag is this is an old Compaq Deskpro running on W95 & the Adaptor is a Compaq S3V2 PCI V1.60 (S3), which seems to be pretty obsolete now. In the Driver information reference is made to Software V4, although when I checked & ran a test it appears that version 7 of Direct Draw is installed.

I'd appreciate help on this.

Thanks
Dennis

Discussion is locked

4 Posts
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You do what you can.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Jun 8, 2005 1:53AM PDT

If you look to compaq.com for last/latest drivers you do that. Then you update to the latest directx.

Yes, this is what I have done for such.

Bob

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ho ho ho...video knows...
by reefurbb Jun 9, 2005 12:13PM PDT
www.belarc.com, free, small, save profile as web page only, to desktop.
I've revived many an old Compaq. If processor is 166mhz mmx, you have a chance. Non-mmx 133mhz and lower, can be a losing battle.
Next, see if the S3 is 1mb or more. If 1mb, you need to find a cheap used 2mb, 4mb, video card, then drivers for W95. www.driverguide.com
I use 2mb all the time...no problem with DD.
You should also have I.E. up to 5.5.
Think seriously about upgrade to W98SE, also more ram up to 48mb or more...Ebay. It's harder to find utilities..spyware stuff..etc. for W95 (hopefully B version and not A version).
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Re : Ddhelp answers
by dennisl Jun 9, 2005 8:16PM PDT

Thanks for the info:

HP only list the original drivers from 1997 so I can't really see any point in installing those again, as there haven't been any updates.
There is a version 8 of Direct Draw , which is the highest W95 will accept, but I was wondering if this would be compatible with such an old computer.As you don't seem to be able to go back once you've updated I've been holding back on this one.
Any thoughts whether V8 might help?

Yes I'm pretty sure it's the 166 mhz MMX & definitely W95B. I only use this computer for the internet at home & will be replacing it in a few months so I'm really just checking to see if there's a quick fix & don't really want to start changing IE or Windows at this late stage.

How do I check to see the S3 size?

Thanks
Dennis

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if Belarc doesn't tell....
by reefurbb Jun 10, 2005 2:29PM PDT

start-run-dxdiag, or start-programs-accessories-system tools-system information- tools (at top)-directX diagnostic. Check display tab and it will list video info including video ram.

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