Windows XP crashes games and restarts without warning.

[Guest]

I'm using a PC @ 3.4 GHz Pentium D processor, 1GB or DDR2 RAM, 512 MB NVIDIA
6200 Turbocache Videocard on ASUS PVDC-X Motherboard. The problem here is
that whenever i play games of any kind, after some period (usually 2 minutes
or so) Windows XP crashes the game and restarts the PC. Note that no shutdown
screen is shown. PC is automatically restarted as if pressing the reset
button on the CPU.

Im running Windows XP SP2 and installing every update in the Security
Center. Please help me ASAP coz this PC is used for my Thesis for Bachelor of
Science in Electronics Engineering.

Please help me...

 

[Edwin vMierlo]

Quantum,

do you know the stop code when it crashes ?
(that would help)

does it only crash on games ? or does it crash on "normal" programs ?
does it always crash on that / these games ?

also, make a backup of your data for your Thesis ! Just in case things go
_really_ bad.
or alternatively; stop playing games on the same computer as you work on for
your thesis. (just for the moment)

 

[Guest]

It crashes only games like Rise of Legends, Command and Conquer Generals and
the like. The catch is, it doesn't crash games like NBA Live 07 and Need For
Speed Most Wanted.

 

[Edwin vMierlo]

Quantum,

you only answered part of my questions,

do you know the "stop code" when your machine crashes ?
if not, look in the system event log, or enable a crash dump

will it always crash on "rise of legends" ?

do you have a backup of your data files (for your Thesis) ?

would you consider not playing games until the problem is solved ?

rgds,
Edwin

 

[Guest]

It has no stop codes, it just resets the whole system. Nothing else is
logged. It always crashes tactical games like CNC Generals, Rise Of Legends,
Rise of Nations and the like. I made a backup DVD of my thesis. I can
consider not playing for a while too. But i think it is a very big and awful
problem now since it crashes every game i play.

 

[Malke]

It has no stop codes, it just resets the whole system. Nothing else is
logged. It always crashes tactical games like CNC Generals, Rise Of
Legends, Rise of Nations and the like. I made a backup DVD of my
thesis. I can consider not playing for a while too. But i think it is
a very big and awful problem now since it crashes every game i play.

Most likely hardware failure, probably the video card but could be other
components. Here are general hardware troubleshooting steps:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke

 

[Guest]

I have successfully ran Rise of Legends for 20 minutes. But the PC hung up
again. What I did is opened the chasis and made an electric fan face the
motherboard. I think a good cooling system will make the job for me but i
also think my 350W power supply isn't enough. Help me assess things first, A
Pentium D 3.4 GHz CPU @ ASUS P5VDC-X MB, 1024MB RAM DDR2, 512 MB VIDEO CARD.
Do you think that a 500W power supply would make it run better? Thanks.

 

[Malke]

I have successfully ran Rise of Legends for 20 minutes. But the PC
hung up again. What I did is opened the chasis and made an electric
fan face the motherboard. I think a good cooling system will make the
job for me but i also think my 350W power supply isn't enough. Help me
assess things first, A
Pentium D 3.4 GHz CPU @ ASUS P5VDC-X MB, 1024MB RAM DDR2, 512 MB
VIDEO CARD. Do you think that a 500W power supply would make it run
better? Thanks.

Absolutely.

Malke