Locks up with standard Windows screensaver

[Knack]

WinXP Pro (SP1); no Plus! pack. System has all but about four security and
OS updates(The excluded updates pertained to either servers or DirectX.).

Selected the standard Windows screensaver named Starfield. It's not an
OpenGL graphic. When it comes on, it locks up my whole system, which is a HP
Laptop; not even the power button responds. Then I must depress a tiny metal
contact pointon the bottom of the laptop's case with a paperclip in order to
deenergize the laptop and thereby shut the system down.

Laptop has a 1.3 GHz Athlon 4 with a vastly obsolete VGA chip of the
technology of about 5 years ago: S3 Graphics TwisterK HP. However,
regardless of which screensaver is selected (including OpenGL ones) there is
no change in anything seen in Task Manager > Performance if compared to no
screensaver being applied.

Laptop is out of warranty, and HP website has no new drivers to download for
the VGA chip.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Knack]

WinXP Pro (SP1); no Plus! pack. System has all but about four security and
OS updates(The excluded updates pertained to either servers or DirectX.).

Selected the standard Windows screensaver named Starfield. It's not an
OpenGL graphic. When it comes on, it locks up my whole system, which is a HP
Laptop; not even the power button responds. Then I must depress a tiny metal
contact pointon the bottom of the laptop's case with a paperclip in order to
deenergize the laptop and thereby shut the system down.

Laptop has a 1.3 GHz Athlon 4 with a vastly obsolete VGA chip of the
technology of about 5 years ago: S3 Graphics TwisterK HP. However,
regardless of which screensaver is selected (including OpenGL ones) there is
no change in anything seen in Task Manager > Performance if compared to no
screensaver being applied.

Laptop is out of warranty, and HP website has no new drivers to download for
the VGA chip.

I surmise that it's probably because of overheated laptop hardware. Right
now that same screensaver is not causing a lockup. However, I've observed
the laptop lockup last night after it was on almost all day, and there was
no screensaver enabled then.

Must've been a coincidence when I enabled the screensaver before; laptop may
have been very hot at that time. It was 3 days ago, and I don't recall what
the conditions were.