# Can't play games because of DirectDraw error



## MsKitti (May 31, 2004)

I've been spending way too many HOURS on this when I could be playing my games... lol! I've actually been receiving 2 error messages, but not quite sure what one has to do with the other. 

One error message I've been receiving when trying to play a game from a CD (Age of Empires, for one example) has been this: "Could not initialize graphics system. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with DirectDraw." The game loads, I selected "play" and after a few seconds the screen goes black. When it disappears and reverts back to the desktop, that's when the Error message pops up. 

The other error message pops after rebooting: "Error loading NvQTwk. Specified module could not be found." I would ignore this message since it didn't seem to effect anything I was doing at the time. 

I tried doing a search for both NvQTwk and DirectDraw... and even on the graphics card I use (NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420) to see if it can be fixed. The only thing I found was the possible relation of the two... and confusion! I did manage to find some HP Help instructions with the Display troubleshooting, but that didn't seem to help at all. I checked to see if the drivers need updating, but everything seemed to be fine. 

After scanning this forum and several others for help and I just keep getting more confused about how to approach fixing this error. Back the days of Win95 it was very possible for me to find my way around with little instructions. But now that I have XP, I can't seem to find anything unless it's by accident... lol! 

This is extremely frustrating, but I'm entirely out of my element with this.... please HELP!!

Kat


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## brianF (Dec 2, 1999)

Try going to microsoft and redownloading and installing directx, then reinstall or download and install the newest drivers from nvidia. Hopefully that will take care of the problem.
www.microsoft.com/directx
www.nvidia.com


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## vesselle (Feb 17, 2003)

i had the same error and black screens a year or so ago with my GeF 4 ti 4200. i'd recommend that you bring up your DX Diagnostic and run ALL the DD and D3D tests to see if you pass or fail.

if you fail, i'll bet my old GeF card that your graphic chip on the card has blown. 

V***V


/edit

i beleive that NvQTwk is for your nVidia Tweak utility for the card. y'know? usually resides in your systray so that you can, on the fly, change resolution, color depth and monitor refresh rate.

/end edit


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## MsKitti (May 31, 2004)

Brian, I will go the the microsoft site tomorrow and see about downloading the directx. I believe I've done that before with no problems! It's the downloading and installing the drivers is what I'm worried about! Don't the old ones have to be deleted first? Oh well, I will do what has to be done... just a step at a time... lol!

Vesselle, before I posted my questions here, I did run all the tests you suggested. Yes, there was one error. I wish I could remember now at what point it was, but the screen went dark and then went away... and a message came up saying the test was cancelled because hit a button or moved the mouse... or did something! But I hadn't touched anything! I really hope you're wrong about the possibility of my card being blown... it's just barely a year old! Warrenty or not, I hate doing without my computer for too long of a time... lol!

Well, thanks to you both for responding so quickly! I appreciate the help a lot... it gets me started doing something about it other than gritting my teeth or whimpering! I work 2nd shift so I probably won't be able to get to do anything about my computer until tomorrow. But I will post again once I find out anything more.

Kat


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## MsKitti (May 31, 2004)

Hello again. I posted previously here about my computer not being able to let me play the Ages of Empire game. A couple of you wrote in some suggestions and I'm here now to respond to those suggestions. 

I'm sorry I didn't get back here sooner, but between illnesses and a family crisis, I just didn't get a chance to try your suggestions as soon as I had wanted. But yesterday I was finally able to see what I could do. I printed out all of the various instructions from the support pages and microsoft.com and experimented with their step by step instructions. 

A few of their suggestions were to turn off the "Enable Write Combining" feature, or to set the refresh rate to the adapter default, and even asked me to verify that the shortcut contain accurate information. 

While I could play a few of my other games, none of those particular methods worked with the Ages of Empires game. I just tried to see if Diablo and a few other games would play, but no luck there either. The only way I could play was to go through a series of instructions that made it possible for me to play the game, but almost impossible for me to do anything else! (They told me to go into msconfig and clear the check boxes for the system.ini and win.ini files and for the load startup items, then told me to click on the services tab and click to disable all but the microsoft services. ) In order to get on line again I had to go back into the msconfig and change everything back. 

I'd really rather find another idea that would make it possible for me to do both! Anyone else have other comments or suggestions? 

Thanks for listening!

Kat


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Out of curiosity, and I'm not a gamer, but two questions:

1) original game cds?
2) compatible with XP?


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## MsKitti (May 31, 2004)

Yes, I'm using the original cds. I've played the game on the same computer before (using XP) and had no problems. Same with the other games. I hadn't played these games in a while so I just don't know when the problem started.

Kat


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## bluejay914 (Jul 3, 2004)

Ages of empires, I understand, is made by microsoft. If this is correct, use the Windows XP Game advisor at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/games/gameadvisor/default.mspx
to check what might be the problem. Now, for the other games, it might be your nivida graphics card that is causing the problem. I believe that this is one of the cards that is not compatible with many games. I know this because I have the same trouble with my Intel made graphics card and when I go to the game support sites it lists both our card as not compatible. The games advisor should tell you.


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## kenoverby (Oct 1, 2007)

I disabled write combing in troubleshooting of advanced button from display properties. I have no idea what caused this error. I have fresh equipment and run the games at a lower cpu level then they want. But anyways I realy don't want to mess with it. I am making future upgrades of a cpu and the best memmory. Good luck guys! Spending time on computers sure pays off. "Direct Draw tests passed and they don't tell me that I canceled it by pressing a button!"


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