My pc crashes when i play games(pretty much any game)

[zach555]

Its starting to get worse, i dont really know that much about pc things so does anybody have any info they could share or know of anything that could cause this?

 

[Thavion Hawk]

Its starting to get worse, i dont really know that much about pc things so does anybody have any info they could share or know of anything that could cause this?

If its only happening when your system is loaded down with a game or doing memory intensive things, then it might be that one or more of your memory sticks is corrupted those giving you a BSOD and crashing the system. I have run into it many times and most of the time its a High Bit Value on the memory map so its on a stick that windows never normally uses until its really pushing it. download a boot disk with memtest x86 on it and run it. I recommend building a copy of The Ultimate Boot CD for Windows ubcd4win.com as it has not only a memory testing tool integrated, it can loads a full copy of windows off CD so you could test your system and scan for virus' and spy-ware outside your install of windows. Hope this helps yah.

 

[number13]

well to ask a few questions, do you get any error reports, what kind of processor, memory, hard drive size and unused space, how long has the OS been operating, what do you do with your computer, do you have a good A/V program and keep it up to date, do you have the windows updates turned on, what games are you playing, and can you reboot the computer or do you have to force the shutdown, and if you restart how long before the problem again

 

[blackhawk1928]

-Okay first ov all....specs specs specs (give them to me)
-Secondly, drivers,drivers,drivers, and I mean video, audio...etc
-It could be very much be a virus...even if its not just to be on the safe side and to eliminate any possibly threat just download "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware", intall it, update it, then do a full scan, if problem persists then boot into safe mode and do a full scan also

 

[zach555]

well to ask a few questions, do you get any error reports, what kind of processor, memory, hard drive size and unused space, how long has the OS been operating, what do you do with your computer, do you have a good A/V program and keep it up to date, do you have the windows updates turned on, what games are you playing, and can you reboot the computer or do you have to force the shutdown, and if you restart how long before the problem again

umm yea i don't really know how to find out the memory stuff but its a dell flatscreen 8400, with a 2gb ram and something about 3Ghz, i have a good A/V program that i update daily, windows update is turned on, i played oblivion the sims 2 and some downloaded online games like conquer online and eudemons, they all worked just fine after we got our pc fixed from some guy because our cd rom drive didnt work, but now oblivion doesnt even start up it just makes the computer shut down itself, and its the same with sims except when the sims crashes the screen turns different colors after you start it back up. the other games start up and work for about 5-15 minutes before it crashes the computer. There is also a problem with my themes thing on the desktop if that helps understand anything, its stuck on classic and i already have the files for luna but it just pops up the error message saying "visual styles did not load because they cannot be loaded" or something like that.

 

[blackhawk1928]

idk about you guys but it sure looks like a driver...

 

[aford10]

What is your video card? PSU?

Download speedfan to keep an eye on your temps.

 

[zach555]

how do i check the video card, its just the one that came with the 4800 windows xp

 

[aford10]

Your PC comes with a 350w PSU. It has a Radeon X800 XT video card.
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/22197/review/dimension_8400.html

That video card draws less than 100w. Your PSU should be fine powering that card. Your video card may be overheating causing the shut down.

Your video card should look similar to this
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-powercons_5.html
Try pulling it out and blowing out the fan with a can of duster. When you put it back in, make sure it's in the slot secure.

 

[nowwhatnapster]

Better question... Is your PC under warranty? If so. Hop on the phone with dell (india) and stop posting here. If you paid for the warranty use it! Most of the time dell will just ship you brand new hardware.

P.S. If you have no morals tell them its insanely hot, the logo is peeling off because its so hot. you burned your hand when touching the back of the computer! they will freak out and give you a new pc! haha (good times!) ok we'll you shouldn't do that, but it works (The company I worked for did this, I nearly cracked up listening)