Graphics Bug & re-installation question

[shanethemain]

Hey folks, just wondering if I could get a little advice with this issue...

I've been cleaning out my hard-drive and deleted a couple of non-SC4 programs which really seem to have inflicted a nasty bug on my graphics. One of them was a program called Roxio (a file saving application) which is notorious for worming itself into other files and programs. So now, after 3 years of relatively trouble-free playing, whenever I scroll around a city, remnants of the last image are left super-imposed over the screen. And sometimes I even end up with a block of giant yellow lines which don't leave until I zoom out and back in again. What I'm wondering is, for those (if any) who have had this kind of graphics glitch, did re-installing seem to fix the problem? Also (and I know this a totally ridiculous and naive question ), if/when I do re-install, do I need to delete and then re-install GMAX, Lot Editor, etc. as well (for the nightlights again)?

Thanks for helping an old foagy out! 

     

[shanethemain]

Bottom Line Question:

If I re-install, do I need to first delete GMAX, Lot Editor, etc. and then re-install them too? I don't want to lose the night lights, and I am just worried that only re-installing SC4 will mess things up. Please, any help would be tremendous and very gratefully appreciated.

Thanks!

[TheTeaCat]

Have you deleted the backgound pics that are in your plugins folder?. if so this sort of bug appears well with me at least

[shanethemain]

I sure did. Not a good idea?     I had always been told that they (along with readme's, gif's, ping's, etc.) didn't belong in the plugins as they slowed down performance (in fact many downloads warn to keep them separate and/or actually move them to a completely different area anyway). Guess I should have thought twice about it ( and weirdly enough soon after I did notice things running a little...different) Things definitely took a turn for the worse however once I deleted the two programs (non SC4 related). One of them I found had created a myriad of shared common files with over 30 of my other programs, so perhaps it did the same with this one...   

In any case, it sounds like at least in your case the glitches finally went away... Did you do anything, or did they eventually leave on their own? Maybe there's some hope for me if its the latter... 

Guess I'll find out the old fashioned way! 

Thanks for your help!

[Pat]

Shanethemain, I would suggest a complete un install if you dont have to much to loose... if have stuff that you made personaly i would suggest leaving it alone and trial and error as you reload simcity 4, as every thing you still can download is still avaible with out any troubles to get...  just my 2 cents worth - pat

[shanethemain]

That is very excellent advice, Pat!  I think I will do just that! Glad I kept that handly list of all my buildings/dependencies. After all, us old dudes tend to be pretty forgetful 

Now where'd I put that blasted un-install button.... 

[Pat]

LoL i hear ya's on that 100%  I do hope that unistalling helps as i had to do the same thing myself that is why i said go ahead... I hate Roxio, the funnie thing about what it did to me it seemed it only really effected SC4, well then again SC4 is the only major game/program i use lol...

[shanethemain]

Thanks again for your help, Pat!  One thing, when you re-installed, did you re-install GMAX, LOT EDITOR etc. ?  The reason I ask is, that I could not get the nightlights to show up without installing all of them to begin with (There was a STEX forum page that had a 5 step list for getting the nightlights to work). I know most people say you only need the update patch, but I had tried it 4 times with no success. And then when I read the forum page ("Night Lighting for BATs") I added those other things and it totally worked! So I just am wondering if its safe to only re-install SC4, or if I need to delete and re-install absolutely everything... Cause I NEED those lights!     

[shanethemain]

P. S. -- yes, Roxio is a scary program. I just recently bought something called "partition magic" to add space on my "C", and now I'm reading horror stories about that one too. I'm just not computer savvy enough to fix everything manually or internally. Why oh why did I ever become a gynecologist... 

[Pat]

LoL.... Shane sorry for the long delay RL stuff... Well i do have everything as forementioned but i didnt delete them when i unistalled sc4... Give that a crack first... It should work... If sc4 dont then try unistalling the forementioned and reinstalling them as well.... cause Roxio for me caused me to just to whipe my HD totaly clean and start fresh without it of course lol

[shanethemain]

Haha, yeah I totally hear ya! I'm thinking of doing the very same thing. If I were a masochist, I think I would be in paradise right now. And it just keeps getting better. I've noticed now my audio crackles from time to time, and even seems to hum at low frequencies. I mean, its like the gift that keeps on giving. In fact, the blasted thing had been hiding away for so long, sucking the life out of my hard-drive, that when I finally managed to get rid of it (well, most of it--those .dll and shellex files are hardcore), I actually felt like a part of me was missing...lol...

Well, I will give it a shot and see what happens. And I will certainly not take up any more of your valuable time (RL is constantly bamming at my door too...unfortunately its never polite enough to ring the doorbell  ).

Thanks for all of your help and insight!  Rock on!

[Pat]

Dude shane you are all good man i dont mind helping at all... RL is nothing at the moment cept a wee storm starting to track threw my area... Its because i noticed the time stamp from your last question i was just wanting to let you know i didnt forget about ya's...  by all means feel free to pick my brain anytime - pat

[shanethemain]

I really appreciate it, Pat! You and everyone here on the forums have been lifesavers! This place is, for lack of a better word, ROCKIN' AWESOME!

Oh, and you were so right---re-installing just SC4 worked almost flawlessly! I had to tweak a few things, but overall it couldn't have gone more smoothe. And here I almost didn't post at all because I figured nobody would know what the heck I was talking about. After all Roxio isn't exactly a household name for most people (and hopefully it never will be  ).

Well, take it easy, bro, and my sincerest thanks again!!

[Pat]

hey shane im sooo jazzed that it worked for you do a reinstall and i hope soo to that no one else has to deal with Roxio as its the devils spawn lol - pat

[shanethemain]

Lol!!! Amen, brother! Couldn't agree more! In fact, they should have just called it that to begin with... Then again, I probably still would have ended up buying it...