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GW 2.0: Program Hangs at Login Screen

Article ID: 174906

Article Last Modified on 1/20/2007

APPLIES TO

This article was previously published under Q174906

SYMPTOMS

When you run Greetings Workshop, you may experience either of the following symptoms:
  • Sound playback in your Greetings Workshop projects may be scratchy or distorted.

  • When you start Greetings Workshop, your computer may stop responding (hang).

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if either of the following conditions are true:
  • The versions of the Dslite.dll and Dsound.dll files installed on your computer are incompatible.

  • You need to install and updated sound driver for your sound card.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use the following methods.

Install the Latest Version of the Sound Driver

Contact the manufacturer of your sound card to inquire about how to obtain and install the latest version of the sound driver for your sound card.

If the latest version of the sound driver for your sound card is installed on your computer and the issue continues to occur, proceed to the next method.

Install the Latest Version of DirectX

Download and install the latest version of DirectX from the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/directx

If the issue continues to occur, rename the Dsound.dll file. To do this:

  1. Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
  2. In the Named box, type dsound.dll.
  3. In the Look in box, click My Computer.
  4. In the list of found files, right-click the Dsound.dll file, and then click Rename.
  5. Type dsound.old, and then press ENTER.
  6. Close the Find: Files or folders named dsound.dll window.
NOTE: If you experience any sound related problems in other programs after you rename the Dsound.dll file, rename the file back to "Dsound.dll," and then proceed to the next method.

Disable Sound Playback in Greetings Workshop

To work around this issue, disable interface sounds in Greetings Workshop. When you do this, multimedia sounds remain available in all of your projects. Only the interface or menu sounds that use dsound.dll are disabled.

To disable interface sounds in Greetings Workshop:
  1. Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
  2. In the Named box, type gworkshp.exe.
  3. In the Look in box, click My Computer.
  4. In the list of found files, right-click the gworkshp.exe file, and then click Create Shortcut. When you are prompted to create the shortcut on your desktop, click Yes.
  5. Close the Find: Files or folders named gworkshp.exe window.
  6. Right-click on the Shortcut to Gworkshp.exe icon, and then click Properties.
  7. Click the Shortcut tab.
  8. Click the Target box, press the END key, and then type /q.

    "drive:\Program Files\Greetings Workshop\ Gworkshp.exe" /q

    where drive is the hard disk on which Greetings Workshop is installed.
  9. Click OK. to this window and double-click the icon.
To start Greetings Workshop, double-click the Shortcut to Gworkshp.exe icon. When your receive the following message, click OK:
Sound is not available on your machine.

MORE INFORMATION

To play back sound, Greetings Workshop installs and uses the Dslite.dll file. However, Greetings Workshop uses the Dsound.dll file instead if it is also installed on the computer. DirectX installs the Dsound.dll file in the Windows\System folder.

The Dsound.dll file controls the DirectSound component of DirectX.

The following table lists the file version and file size of the Dsound.dll file for each version of DirectX:
DirectX versionFile versionSize
DirectX 24.03.00.109684kb
DirectX 34.04.00.068112kb
DirectX 54.05.00.0155143kb
DirectX 64.05.00.0155143kb
On a Microsoft Windows 95/98-based computer, replace the Dsound.dll file if it is not the correct version for DirectX 5 or later.

On a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0-based computer with Service Pack 5 or later, replace the Dsound.dll file if it is not the correct version for DirectX 5.

On a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0-based computer with Service Pack 3 or 4, replace the Dsound.dll file if it is not the correct version for DirectX 3.

Additional query words: 2.00 gw2 gw2dlx bad terrible noise ambient crash wrong greetingsw

Keywords: kbenv kbfaq kbprb kbsound KB174906


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