Windows XP. Quicken XG.

Hahaha. Saved.

If it hasn't been tried, who can know? I know Microsoft does it with staff, but that's about all I know of.

You just need the internet to send your cd-key, and they send some info back that "turns your game on" not exactly sure the size of these file transfers since I purchased through steam, but I imagine it wouldn't take very long at all, after that, no connection is necessary.

Every Sonic Foundry product until about a year and a half ago used telephone registration (as well as online activation) on an honor system. And during those years Sonic Foundry's products were the most piracy friendly because a key generator was so easy to make and use. Since they abandoned telephone registration piracy methods have either resorted to direct patching of the software or abandoning the piece for another easier to crack program.

Sonic Foundry is one the many companys who used to participate in the telephone registration honor system and have since abandoned it. Most companies whose software cost many hundreds more refused to use telephone activation for the very same reason. Of course I shouldn't have to actually educate you in the matter since you shouldn't start arguments about subjects you know little to nothing about.

WHY IS THE HL2 DEMO CRASHING MY MACHINE AT RANDOM POINTS IN GAMEPLAY???

anyone else have this problem??

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

is there a crash or event log somewhere?

no idea, at random points my entire computer just restarts itself

APart from that it runs real nice

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

Sounds like it's overheating your stuff.

how can i go easier on my cpu??

Less resolution and sound quality??

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

the atmosphere is nice, the graphics look good on my rig, the guns it let me play with are a little bland.

the gravity gun pwns.

Clan, I've been having the exact same problem with the full version, and from what I've seen, overheating might not have much to do with it. I've been running checks, and as far as I see, the temperature doesn't even come close. Furthermore, it is a known problem, check various troubleshooting forums at HL2 fan sites.

That shouldn't happen unless you're on windows 9x or you have a serious hardware problem in 2k/XP. The only time I've seen a computer completely restart itself is because of a hardware problem.

Well you could try running it on a computer that met the specs.

Some Native Instruments stuff uses phone activation, too. Not to mention norton. Phone registration is super easy to crack. But hell, so is internet-validation.

Do you know anything about computers?

It could be overheating, it could be Windows XP and it could be bluescreening (restarts by default), there could be a conflict with drivers (though that is doubtful), could be a conflict with hardware, wrong drivers for hardware (for instance, if you're using ATi drivers on a Hercules card), etc.

Seriously, hardware problems almost never restart windows, it's usually software.

I'm sorry you've carried your holy war into new territory but I'm not going to follow you into this one. Nothing you've said has gone against anything I've said so far. In fact you've only been more vague about the problem than I've been. Stop trolling this thread and just try to be of some use to someone. Hell yoshi, Try being of some use to anyone.

Oh, and Merry Christmas.

Clan - if you have an error log somewhere it would be much useful. You might want to post system specs as well, since that *usually* helps people find the problem.

here is an idea DJ Yoshi,

if you hate HL2 so much, stop posting on threads related to it, don't bring it up in threads that aren't about it and leave the disscussion if it is brought up.

Because the way you are going, it is only a matter of time before a thread gets so heated that a banning results (not necesarily you but caused by an argument induced by you).

/me puts on flame-proof suit.

If they're going to ban me, let them, but I never once said I hated it, so stop putting words in my mouth.

And Farix--way to dodge the issue. Thanks buddy, you're a real winner at life.

shut up arguing children.

my specs,

AMD Athlon+ 2700

480MB of Ram

NVidia with 32 + 128MB

wheres the problem???

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

What's the actual card name? Would help.

card name:

nVidia GForce 4 MX intergrated
AGPx4




Error :

BCCode : 1000008e BCP1 : C0000005 BCP2 : E33612DB BCP3 : EC505AF4
BCP4 : 00000000 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 2_0 Product : 768_1

error signature details:

C:\DOCUME~1\lynne\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERf6b9.dir00\Mini122504-01.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\lynne\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERf6b9.dir00\sysdata.xml

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

Tryupdating you video drivers. Also check how much ram is dedicated to your integrated card.

Actually I doubt updating your drivers will help--nVidia in all their idiocy has about 4 different sets of drivers, all of which address different generations, and the current ones don't address the old MX cards at all.

Unless, that is, you haven't updated within the past year or so :p

And Farix--it's 32 mb.

How about you stop posting. Period.

I think everyone should agree to disagree on steam, I for one find it a bit of a pain in the arse as I'm one of those people that has had to wait till the winter break to be able to access steam because of my stupid uni, <<< stupid uni not stupid steam.

I have a bunch of friends who regually download games for free off bit torrent and the like, when i say I'm actually going to go buy the game they give me a weird look as if I'm some strange being from outter mongolia....

Piracy needs to be addressed in the pc market if pc games have any chance of surviving, steam may be a bit of a pain in the arse but it works....

As for the demo, pretty good, would have liked a different level from the game (which I'm getting in a few days) but on the whole good.

Playing through on hard setting the shotgun is absolutly useless against the "super-zombies" (ones that leap at you), only decent weapons other than the grav-gun were the revolver and mp5 (or whatever its called).....i've heard there is a lack of ammo throughout the game and going by the one level in the demo with weapons i'd have to agree so far....

Steam was really only a first of it's ilk. There will be many more, and logically, some will bet better than steam, and some will be worse. In either case, people upset about valve's anti-piracy policy will have to deal with what piracy has caused developers to resort to. Steam is very little other than a antipiracy and anticheat platform with content delivery options. From the initial response, valve's method seems to be doing it's job fairly well.

Except not. The only game it's stopped people from pirating is HL2, people still pirate and play CS:S regularly (I know these people), and HL2 is only really good for one or two plays through anyways.

So yeah...no.

So says you.

I've yet to talk to anyone who has the urge to play through it again, even though it was released over a month and a half ago.

Meh.

Yo.

I don't even have the urge to finish it :\

I have the urge to play through it again. You lose.

I have heard many people say that Half Life 2 is one of the first games they've felt like playing through again straight after finishing.
If you ever go to any forums about Half Life 2, you'll find plenty of people like that. There was even quite a few people saying those very words in #massassi.

Yea, I played through HL2 twice, once on medium and then on hard.
Now I just jump to diifferent chapters to play different levels again.

Usually, I buy a game for it's community, editing, and engine, nowadays. The story mode and bundled multiplayer are bonuses for me.

Even thwere, steam has failed. I know someone that has a rip of hl2 on dvd, and all he has to do is copy the dvd to his HD, make a desktop shortcut of hl2.exe, and add "-steam" to the target of the shortcut, and he has a working HL2.

The ironic part is that its easier to install than the legit versions.

Also, piracy is not a legit threat. People have been pirating software since the 1980s, and the software industry is still alive and well. warezers are being used as a scapegoat here.

Adobe Products use either Telephone Registration or Online Activation.

The bad thing about steam, is for those of us STILL on dial up, where anything over 20mb will take almost all day to download... Steam is a big problem. Besides, someone made the point that what about in the future, when someone buys HL2 in a bargain bin at big lots and tries to install it and they cant because its so old its no longer supported. Then they just wasted thier money.