PC Crash Workaround (sort of)...

Daemonwings on 2/8/2002 at 03:11

Sorry, this isn't a fix to make the program stop crashing.
Anyway, most (if not all) of us who play Morrowind encounter a 'random crash' problem.

When Morrowind crashes on my system (Windows ME) it does one of two things:
1) It crashes to desktop and I have to restart the computer via start menu.
2) The program freezes, I get a view of the last screen rendered, and a regular windows mouse pointer moves around over it when I move my mouse, but -I get no response from the keyboard- so I have to reset the computer manually (argh) and get admonished by Microsoft:p

A couple days ago when I had a screen freeze, I happened to click where the start menu was, which resulted in a satisfying start menu click.
I move my mouse up a little, where the Shut Down link should have been, and click- my system percolates a little bit, like it is coming up with the dialogue box for shutdown/restart.
After some random clicks in the middle of my screen, I manage to hit some button and my computer begins to restart (yay!)

As this happens quite a lot, I made up a little sheet that goes over my monitor as a guide to show me where the OK button was. It's also a little easier if the last shutdown command I gave the computer was restart.

Make your own shutdown sheet (not recommended if you have an LCD monitor):
-Grab some piece of paper that you can sorta see through.
-Get a crayon or some other writing implement which will not bleed through paper or scratch the monitor.
-Go into your start menu and click shut down so you get the shut down dialogue box on the screen.
-Stick the paper against the upper left of your screen and make a mark on the paper indicating which corner of the paper goes into which corner of the monitor.
-Trace the edges of the dialogue box onto the paper.
-Trace the locations of the buttons onto the paper, mark the OK button so you don't hit 'Help' by accident:p
-If you want to be more or less intricate, go ahead, it's your paper...

Striker on 2/8/2002 at 03:59

If you are on the desktop, I've always found that pressing ALT+F4 then enter does the job much better. You may have to press the down arrow once or twice to get to reset. You can check this by pressing ALT+F4 on the desktop when you can see, then work out where the reset option is. Usually after the first reset, it stays on that option until you shut down.

-Striker

DeC on 6/8/2002 at 01:00

Damn kids today and their "point and click" ;)

When your system locks up in game mode or you get dumped to the desktop in a weird resolution:

Press Alt+F4
Press r to reboot or s to shutdown
Press Enter