Crash-freezing... Plz Help!!!

TX3RN0BILL · September 17, 2010

Hi! I'm starting to have freezing issues with my game... (and before anybody asks, YES my copy is legal - downloaded it from Atari - I can give you the purchase order if you need confirmation) Don't know why but it suddenly started to get very annoying... there was a time when the game just wouldn't let me play for long, so I went to see what there would be as a problem... then I noticed a "testdriveunlimited(somethingorother)166A.dmp" file which was created in the "My Documents" - "Test Drive Unlimited" - "savegame" folder... I deleted it (it was around 11megabytes large) and the game was working fine for some time, but then at the second part of a cruise I was partaking in it crashed again... I'm wondering why this is happening now when before I've spent hours and hours on the road with no problem at all... I've read somewhere that cleaning the game's "cache file" would help, but I don't remember where I've read it or where it was again... anybody know anything that could help plz??

If it helps, here are my system's stats:

WinXP Pro SP3

Intel Core2Duo 8400 (@ stock 3Ghz)

2Gb Ram

Gigabyte GTS 250 1Gb (running at 1920 x 1200, everything at max except FSAAx2 and no HDR)...

Andreas¹ · September 17, 2010

I don't think you should have deleted that .dmp file.. However. The "cache" file that they are talking about is most likely the radial.cdb which is located in Documents And Settings/All Users/Application Data/Test Drive Unlimited and is known to cause random problems.

To see it you must set up Windows to show both hidden folders and system files.

TX3RN0BILL · September 17, 2010

Well, the file didn't even exist before the problems started, and deleting it DID help me out momentarily - I'll see if that radial.cdb is the problem, hopefully it is... Won't be checking today since I'm going away for the weekend... Thanks for the quick reply though, Andreaz1 :btup

TX3RN0BILL · September 22, 2010

Well, sorry for the bump, but I finally came back yesterday and went looking for the radial.cdb file, with hidden and system files visible, and it was nowhere to be found... at least using the windows search function - is that normal? Then again, it crashed only a couple of times and I've managed to stay ingame and online without much fuss... was just wondering if there was anything else I could do to mitigate even more the tendency to crash of the game... much thanks in advance for any help!!!

Jazzi · September 22, 2010

Why don't you just uninstall and reinstall? That'll fix any missing/corrupt files and will probably fix your freezing issue.

TX3RN0BILL · September 22, 2010

I've read that that can sometimes be messy due to registry residues... Also, since my profile is stored locally, won't I lose what I had? Or is profile progress data normally not the cause of crashing so as to be safe to be backed up and reused in a fresh installation?

Jazzi · September 22, 2010

If its just a normal reinstall you wont need to worry about the registry (I think) Just back up your save game and any mods you've got and then you can slot them back in the right places after you reinstall.

That's my guess anyway, it works for The Sims

Camel · September 22, 2010

If you uninstall via the control panel, then it will remove all of the registry keys related to the game.

Andreas¹ · September 22, 2010

Well, sorry for the bump, but I finally came back yesterday and went looking for the radial.cdb file, with hidden and system files visible, and it was nowhere to be found... at least using the windows search function - is that normal? Then again, it crashed only a couple of times and I've managed to stay ingame and online without much fuss... was just wondering if there was anything else I could do to mitigate even more the tendency to crash of the game... much thanks in advance for any help!!!

What OS are you on? The path I posted is for XP. For Vista and 7 it's C/Program Data/Test Drive Unlimited, but you still need both hidden and system files visible. ;)

TX3RN0BILL · September 22, 2010

Thanks for the quick reply, folks! I'll check it out tonight and if it bugs me enough, I'll reinstall it...

Andreaz1, my OS is WinXP Pro SP3, and the search function didn't accuse any radial.cdb, even with system and hidden files visible. When I went to the directory you mentioned all I saw was the two CD-key files (from TDU and addonpack) and some other file starting with "B"... I'll see if I'll post some screenies of it when I get home from work...

TX3RN0BILL · September 23, 2010

Well, you were right Andreaz1 - apparently I had not marked the proper selection for showing the system and OS files in that proper folder - found it this time and removed it - and now it's back to working like a charm!!! Thanks all for your kind help and attention!!!

:thumbsup: :excited: :thumbsup:

Sponge · September 23, 2010

In future, I recommend THIS tool (Click the link) Much easier to use, and it's a standalone exe, you don't need to install it, and can store it anywhere you wish.