XP Pro SP3 / ISBoxer / LOTRO no longer a working combo?

[lax]

Yes, you can switch back to the live branch by unchecking the box. Have fun

Hi Lax!

I was just wondering if there were any reports of further XP SP3 32-bit launch issues with the current version of LOTRO. I seem to be seeing a somewhat similar problem again.

The difference this time is that it seems to be only happening 30% of the time. But the really annoying issue is that the client will sometimes still crash randomly after it reaches the character selection, or even after one's character has loaded.

I've upgraded 1 of my PC's to Win 7 Ult 64-bit. The clients there seem to be working okay. I was hoping to hold off upgrading the other PC until I run more compatibility tests with my other software.

Please let me know if I should move this to a new post.

Thanks again!

The crash at the char select screen actually feels like it's happening about 60-70% of the time. If I restart the character set slot enough times, I can get by. But it' rather annoying.

Since this last update - 11.4, it feels like it's happening about 95% of the time now, and it is easily reproducible.

lax, please let me know if you need further info, or if you'd like a new thread started.

This is also happening for me.

It looks as though it's been going on for a long time now, any chance of a fix ? After all, this is a service we're paying for.

[lax]

The crux of the problem here is that Windows XP is an outdated operating system and does not fully support features built into newer technologies used by LOTRO, and more specifically Awesomium the in-game browser. The fix back in March was to -- specifically for Awesomium on Windows XP -- build support on XP for something only found in Vista/later. That fix may not work forever, eventually you will need to drop Windows XP in order to move forward and you can't just blame good old Lax for "not providing any support for a service we pay for" forever.

"But it launches fine on XP without Inner Space" - yep, indeed compatibility issues are different with Inner Space than without it. It also launches fine with Inner Space on Vista or later.

With that said... I am investigating the new issue but do not currently have an ETA.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

So, basically, if I remove XP from the equation then the problem will go away and I can merrily box lotro ? (I boxed d3 for many months on the same computer and XP without problems?)

If moving from XP is required, is it just a matter of me grabbing a different OS and installing it? If so, what OS would you recommend? Its a dual core AMD x2 250.

Last month, I successfully migrated one of my XP Pro SP3 PC's to Windows 7 64-bit. It's running some of my isboxer clients without any problems, though the OS seems to use up a lot more RAM. (Windows 7 64-bit uses up a bit more than 1GB, vs XP Pro 32-bit using about 200MB).

I chose to use Ultimate, but I think that "Home Premium", "Professional", or "Enterprise" should be fine as well. "Home Premium" is limited to 16GB of RAM. The higher editions can support up to 192GB.

The only reason the other PC's haven't been upgraded yet was that I'm running some tests and looking for some of my registration keys and install media for some of my older business software. When I upgrade those other PC's, I'll have to re-install all the programs again. I do plan to do this before the end of the year.

Club, consider waiting for Windows 8.1 to release (on October 18, 2013). Purchase your licenses for Windows 8.1 Pro, then install Windows 7 Pro to your PC's with the same license key. Downgrading (to the same lower edition (such as Windows 8 Pro down to Windows 7 Pro) is permitted by Microsoft.

Pros to Windows 7
-OS has been out for 4+ years (since late 2009)- Compatibility issues have been mostly resolved
-Windows 7 represents about 60% of all Windows installations, vs about 7% for Windows 8 (as of Aug 2013)
-With Windows 7 (and higher), I believe you can use either 32 or 64-bit with the same license key.
-Windows 7 will be supported with security updates until at least January 2020.
-ReadyBoost with a USB flash-drive (NTFS formatted) will boost disk IO performance

Pros to Windows 7 64-bit (Pro, Ent, or Ult)
-RAM is virtually unlimited (restricted only by computer motherboard)

Pros to Windows 7 32-bit
-Easier Windows migration from XP Pro SP3 32-bit
-Possibly better support for current software & drivers (debatable from this point forward)

Cons to Windows 7 32-bit
32-bit limits available RAM to about 3 to 3.5GB, depending on your display card memory

I hope this info helps.

Epic reply, thanks so much OneWay,

It's going to be a tough decision to refrain from boxing until mid Oct!

Last bit of advice if you don't mind... a nice cheap place to purchase from? I assume I can do digital downloads etc ?

[lax]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

So, basically, if I remove XP from the equation then the problem will go away and I can merrily box lotro ?

If moving from XP is required, is it just a matter of me grabbing a different OS and installing it? If so, what OS would you recommend? Its a dual core AMD x2 250.

Yes. The issue is specifically with Windows XP, and is resolved with any later version of Windows including Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and so on. OneWay's suggestions are pretty good, I don't have much else to add to it. I would go with either Windows 7 or 8.1.

(I boxed d3 for many months on the same computer and XP without problems?)

D3 will still work on XP as far as I know; D3 does not use Awesomium


I do have something to experiment with as far as a fix for the current issue, I don't know that it will work for sure (that's why I'm calling it an experiment) until I try it but it will take at least a couple days either way

Club, here's something you can try. Microsoft allows you to install up to 30 days for free anyways. Go ahead and just upgrade to Windows 7 now and just don't activate yet. It will nag you from time to time for 30 days, but you can still use it in the meantime.

If you're on 32-bit, just upgrade to Windows 7 32-bit first so you don't have to re-install everything yet. Then when you get your official license, you can decide whether you want to upgrade to 64-bit or not.

You should be able to legally download the Windows 7 SP1 media from many places now. Maybe start here...

Digital River's official Microsoft Partner media site:
http://www.mydigitallife.info/official- ... tal-river/

Microsoft's site (confusing):
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 61745.aspx

Until Windows 8.1 is released, we won't be sure where the best deals are at yet. But I'll start checking...