Very odd problem

[Astarte]

I used to be able to run Half life 2 fine on my computer, but then all of a sudden it stopped working. Whenever I try to play on it it just crashes saying 'HL2.exe has encountered an error and needs to close. The odd thing is I got GOTY edition with CS:S, HLM and HL:S and they all run fine, only Half life 2 crashes. I tried updating all my drivers, reinstalled it about 3 times and so I contacted the steam support team. They said I should try launching the game with '-nosound' set on the launch options, as it turns out I can run the game fine like this with all the graphics notched up to full but as soon as I turn the sound back on it crashes. Has anyone encountered this problem before, I am running it on a 'Realtek AC97' intergrated audio device and was thinking that maybe buying a PCI sound card would solve the problem, but it used to run it fine and I can't see why it would suddnely stop. Any help is much appreciatted, thanks.

 

[Drackard]

When you say "all" your drivers, i assume you also updated your Sound Drivers ?

 

[Astarte]

Yeah, I updated the sound drivers.

 

[Barney Fife]

Well, it once did that to me and the only solution was to reinstall HL2, unlock all maps and start from where I had left off.
This was the third time around I wanted to finish the game.

But wait for other replies before doing this.

Good Luck.

 

[Astarte]

i already re-installed it loads of times and it always crashes no matter where I start it from, be it the start of a new chapter or a save game it still just crashes.

 

[Mr.Magnetichead]

Did you actually remove the files that get left behind? Have you tried getting rid of steam all together?

 

[Astarte]

I uninstalled half life 2, then steam, then deleted the valve folder, then cleaned it from the registry. Rebooted and re-installed, re-downloaded the updates and it still doesn't work, I've done that about 3 or 4 times.

 

[Barney Fife]

What is your Spec?

 

[bbson john]

"HLM"
lol

 

[Astarte]

I got a 2.67Ghz intel celeron processor, 1 gig of ram, a 6600 turbo graphics card but I'm using a Realtek AC97 sound chip. I might buy a cheap 20 quid sound card and see if that works.

 

[Barney Fife]

Yeah SB live or gamer dont cost that much.

 

[Astarte]

Well, I got a Soundblaster Audigy SE and the problem still hasn't stopped, any more suggestions please?

 

[Phisionary]

well, this is just an idea, but...

firstly, i had some audio lockups when i got the game. I was overclocking, and found that the game did not like that. If you are overclocking, try running at stock speeds and see how it does. Note that this was on an otherwise rock-solid system.

Secondly, you could try reducing the hardware acceleration level of your sound system. No promises, but it's what I'd try. Do this:
Click "Start" button
click "Run..."
type 'dxdiag' and click "Ok"
Once it starts, click the "Sound" tab.
Reduce the hardware acceleration level. reduce it 'till it runs.
If it works: Look for a better solution. hardware acceleration is a good thing, so you'll want to fix this for reals...

 

[Phisionary]

oops dbl post.

 

[Shasta]

Check that your firewall isn't blocking it.

 

[Astarte]

I tried both of them in both online and offline mode and it still isn't working, I just hope that I can run episode one without this problem or I'll have to play through it with no sound, how fun.