hl2 wont start

[Delicious Bass]

i just spent my day reformating and redownloading hl2 cuz steam ****ed up before. i got steam installed and downloaded hl2. i waited about 8hours for the download! when i tell steam to launch hl2 it says 'preparing to play half-life 2' then that goes away. the screen changes to 800x600 (because i havent had the chance to get into the game and change resolutions) then it doesnt do anything. the hdd light is not on, i have to hit ctrl, alt, delete and it says hl2 is not responding.

some one help plz

EDIT: Nevermind, it just started, but seemed to freeze while loading the menu. ill try again

 

[Delicious Bass]

sorry for the double post, ran out of time. it froze again, so now i have a new problem, hl2 freezes while loading the menu. plz help

 

[Dr. Love]

hey why check out my post...I feel your pain

 

[LordGary]

Locking up on blurry loading screen

The first time I installed the game it worked. However, it locked up upon save game feature. I tried running it again and get the blurry loading screen. It locks up and I hear some beeping and two errors come up. I cannot see what they are. I hit escape and it kicks me off the screen. I've tired waiting for 45 min. on the loading screen and nothing still happens. I've even reinstalled the game and tried turning off my sound card. Same thing happens. Someone suggested copying same files from the Bin directory to the Half-life directory. I've tried this no effect.

Windows XP service pack 2
Pentium 4 1.8 Ghz, 512Ram
Integrated audio SoundMax Digital
Integrated Video Intel 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV
Directx 9C

I've tried slowing down directx sound acceleration to the lowest setting. No effect. All drivers are up to date.

This game needs a patch!