Have you got the latest version of Direct X on your computer (it should be 9.0c at least) and does your card pass all the tests that can be run on it? Click on START->RUN and type dxdiag into the box and click on OK. When the Direct X Diagnostic Tool window appears click on the Sytem tab and look down near the bottom to see what version your Direct X is. Then click on the Display tab and click on the Test DirectDraw and Test Direct3D buttons and run the tests.

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Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...