Help - Computer Freezes When I Play Games

[RiPpEviL]

Hello Everybody,

I often read this forum and i was wondering if someone here can give an hint about a very boring problem i'm encountering with my pc.
In a few words, everytime i play a game the pc freezes, the screen is totally frozen and the sound repeat in a very quick loop, i only have to push the reset button and reboot.
the weird thing is that this problem comes out with random timings, sometimes i'm able to play for more than an hour, and sometimes just few seconds.
I thought it was a problem of my O.S., so i've formatted and after that the problem was still the same.
I also thought about an over-heating and i've opened the case and switched the air-conditioner on in my room, but the only result was to catch a cold :-)
The CPU temperature is fairy low, about 35 degrees, so i'd exclude that could be the problem.
I've tried several drivers, now i'm with detonator 40.21 WHQL, i've tried both direct-x 8 and 9, VIA all in one drivers, but nothing...
My configuration is
Athlon XP 1800+
Abit siluro Geforce 3
512 mb DDR ram
ABit kg7 raid
sound blaster live
So if anyone has something to suggest me about this, i'd be very very glad.
Cheers

p.s. Sorry 4 my poor english, i hope you understood what i wanted to say...:-)

[Livy]

what os are you running? also where about do u live, because if its ahot place it could maybe still be overheating. maybe try setting up your case, tidy up wiring, make sure it isnt blocking air flow, make sure it isnt clogged up with dust, also for proper case airflow you need to suck in air low at front, and blow out high at back.

[RiPpEviL]

Sorry, i've forgot the O.S. that's windows XP PRO SP1
Well the place i live it's quite hot cos i live in Naples, South Italy... but as i've already said the temperature of the pc should be ok, all the fans are up and running, plus the temperature of the room is pretty low , besides, with other applications that make CPU and system work a lot (like video editing) everything it's fine it never crashes...

what a mystery :-)

[aintgottime]

How often does this problem effect you? Like does it happen daily, weekly or monthly. Now and again you have to expect freezing or crashing sorry to say but its part of the technical world! Is it a certain game or anything like that? Sorry for asking for so much but it may help more.

[super_science_monkey]

did you use the compatablty feature in win xp.

right click .exe ->compatablity tab -> set to win 98 (most likely)


this happened to me before. my games ran for 15mins then crashed but this seems to fix it.

[Mïcrösöül°V³]

I used to get the same thing with my ATI radeon 9500 pro, it turns out that the card was bad, try another video card, even if its a cheap one to see if your comp locks up again.

[kazaaliterock]

i have the same problme w/ my MX440. i think it was overheatin or sometin cuz when i play battefield 1942 the first couple minutes are ok but after that there would be things like spike that appearing out of random places.w/ gta it would play for about 15 mins and freezes. i switch the card to another pci slot and it work ok there is still some random freezes in gta and things still appear in bf 1942 but not as much. should i get better cooling.

my spec are

1.8ghz
384 ddr2100
winxp home
dont know what mobo though

[uNz[i]]

Heh.. I got the same prob. I've been trying to fix it for MONTHS.

Celeron 2 850
64Mb Geforce 2 MX 200
AOpen AX3SP mobo
384Mb SDRAM
XP Pro w/ SP1

So far I've:
Reformatted multiple times, swapped out gfx card and the RAM, updated ALL drivers AND the BIOS, got a new cmos battery... nothing fixed it.

Freezes using these programs:
Flash files in any program: IE6, Flashplayer, Flash 5 AND MX.
M$ Word: reads existing .docs ok, but freezes after typing one paragraph.
Windows Fax and Picture viewer: when paging thru multiple images.
Acrobat reader: Everytime it tries to view B&W images.. colour images work fine tho.
Photoshop: using bucket fill tool, making a complex selection and when changing colour modes.
GTA3: although it seems to run well 9 times out of 10.
Freelancer 2: freezes occasionally when going through a jumpgate or tradelane.

Just recently the cursor has started to get 'sticky'.

A solution would earn you the title of 1337est person I have ever met.
I've had lots of tech smart people take a look at this prob, and it's got them all beat.

[kazaaliterock]

so i guess no one know how to fix this problem we have.

[Mosfos]

I had this problem, turns out there was a folder on my D drive, b529e or something, inside that were two folders- download and update. I couldn't access or delete the folders. After I formatted the drive, it stopped freezing.