computer crashing during gameplay

[* kittie *]

I have a question. What could be causing my computer to crash?

The thing is, it never used to. I got this computer a little over a 1 1/2 years ago, and I always played games like UT03 and Warcraft 3. But now, all games (UT, Warcraft, Neverwinter Nights) make my screen go blank. Also, if I run any application that has animation...it crashes. I haven't tried movies yet though. Maybe it'll do the same thing?

Anyways, I have the latest drivers (for NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 and I have Direct X 9.0b)...but I don't see how those would be a problem anyways, since my games used to work.
I started having problems after I installed the UT04 demo. Not to say that caused the problem; but I guess you can figure out how long this has been going on. The last time I played a game before the UT04 demo was on Thanksgiving, which was UT03.

The comptuer crashes pretty soon after. Sometimes, even a few seconds after I open the game. I thought it would be due to the heavy graphics, but Neverwinter Nights isn't that...intense. At least not when you're walking by yourself in some town.

Oh yeah...RAM is at 256, because I had one stick of RAM die on me a while back. ...it collected dust, and so on.
I vacuumed my computer yesterday (mainly the fan...whatever it's called), but that hasn't helped either. Anyways, I checked the temperature after it crashed, and it read 32 Celcius and...50 (um...132 F) something. So I don't think my computer is overheating.

I'm not sure if this thing below matters...but I checked the Application Log, and at the times my computer had crashed, it had this.

Error - Source: Perflib Category: None Event: 2002

The open procedure for service "WmiApRpl" in DLL "C:\WINDOWS\System32\wbem\wmiaprpl.dll" has taken longer than the established wait time to complete. There may be a problem with this extensible counter or the service it is collecting data from or the system may have been very busy when this call was attempted.

 

[OceanAngel]

Have you checked your main board drivers?

Also it may be worth going back to an earlier version of your graphics drivers. I had some annoying problems with catalyst drivers for my 9500.

What is your PC btw?

 

[OceanAngel]

A web search on that error has led me to this:This error occurs after restarting the server because Resource Manger is attempting to query counters of a service(s) that has not started.

 

[OceanAngel]

Check your processes, see what running and do a virus and spyware check.

Lemme know how things go.

 

[* kittie *]

heh i had a virus (found it yesterday afternoon ), but the problem has existed before i had a virus. the last time i did a full system scan before yesterday was on march 11.
i also checked for spyware yesterday, and i had a few.

um...i have a

AMD Anthlon (tm) XP 1500+, MMX, 3dNow

is that what you wanted? sorry, i'm a bit computer illiterate. and how do you check the processors?

thanks for the help.

 

[SirKenin]

Does it crash to desktop? Vertical coloured bars? Or does it lock the screen and keep the music playing? Crash to a black screen and lock up? What exactly happens when the computer crashes?

 

[* kittie *]

it crashes to a black screen.
the light on the monitor turns orange
and no music.

 

[Brother]

A quick thing to check is try running the computer with the case off. Obviously you don't want to make any contact with the internal parts while its running so be careful of electrical hazards. When it is on check to see if all the fans are working especially that on the graphics card. You may be experiencing an overheating problem due to a dead fan. Or like mentioned before you may want to step back those graphics drivers.

 

[godscreation8888]

It seems that one of your processes are taking too long to respond and the computer decides that it is over, so it shuts down the task.

 

[* kittie *]

hmmm...i'll have to get my brother to translate that for me. lol thanks.

oh yeah, i found out it's not an overheating problem. well...my computer did overheat the other day. but i got a new fan today, and it still does that. but i'll ask my brother about the proessing thing.

 

[SAPguy]

Loading the demo could have somehow corrupted/removed/moved a .dll file while installing. Make sure whatever version of windows you are running is fully updated with all current patches and drivers, etc. If it is not, that might fix it. I had an issue where my computer was crashing due to a missing .dll file. I just needed to reinstall it and it was all good after that.

Try uninstalling the demo that you loaded.

Something could have happened with that .dll. For some reason, it isn't being read or isn't there anymore. Use the search function and look for wmiaprpl.dll. If it isn't there, go download it and reinstall. If it is there, make sure it is in the directory that you listed that the error is looking in.

Also check your vid card settings. You normally have the choice between using DirectX or OpenGL. This doesn't usually matter, but make sure those settings are appropriate for the game you are trying to run.... some games run better or worse (or not at all) depending on setting.

I am just throwing out some suggestions .... maybe something will work. Good luck.

 

[OceanAngel]

If you can try a full system format, that sorts out odd problems, I had a problem when I installed a game a year ago, the system when mad and nothing would fix it.

To check processes try press ctrl alt del, that brings up task manager and you can see what takes up the processor time, you may notice system idle takes up process time .

 

[SirKenin]

You know what else causes really funny anomalies? Malfunctioning power supplies, believe it or not. Just something to look at when you run out of options.

 

[doofus125]

it crashes to a black screen.
the light on the monitor turns orange
and no music.

Sounds like a bad driver on your video card or a bad video card (or motherboard failure if it's an integrated video card)....

 

[OceanAngel]

Run that sandra program that tests your pc out, it may help, also can you does it run if you dont play games and just leave on desktop for a hour or so?

Sandra lives here:
http://www.octools.com/index.cgi?caller=sandra.html

 

[MattBauer4Him]

Heres the things i would do. Run SpyBot Search & Destroy, Run AdAware, Rollback Graphics Card Drivers, Turn VSync To Always off in the video card settings, Check your power supply see if it is corrupted because i had the problme that my power supply wasn't strong enough to power my computer after 2 months it crashed similiar to what your experiencing. I recomend if you get a new power supply to get the Aspire Turbo available at NewEgg.com for about 50 bucks with shipping. Best of luck.

 

[* kittie *]

i found out what the problem is. actually...my brother did.

my graphics card was slowly dying. he's been saying that that was the problem for a while, but he finally sent me another card yesterday.

yay thanks everyone.

 

[Ezekiel]

Hi Kittie,

AMD's are well known for running hot. However, it sure sounds like your issues are related to your vid card.

It might be driver related or it could be that your card is bunk..

You did say that your machine over heated the other day right? How do you know that it over heated..? Did it shut itself down?

Out of curiousity what OS are you running? Cause 256 is not a great deal of ram... Especially if it's only SD..

Shalom

 

[* kittie *]

it works now. i switched out the card (with the one i mentioned in the post before yours).

about the overheating, i knew because it smelled like it was burning. and when i check the temp, it said 119 (which is supposed to be around 50)

i only have 256 because one stick of ram died. dust...lots of dust...

 

[t3hs0x]

LoL.. Some stuff im curious about... It's your vid card that overheated?