Wierd computer crashes :S

[koshi† 0]

I play computer games a ton, and all of a sudden my computer has made a habit out of crashing while I'm playing a game, almost always accompanied by a screen of vertical stripes of two different colors (if it isn't that, it's just a blank screen). I've tried all of my games, and nearly all of them have this problem.

 

At first I thought that maybe my computer was overheating, so I tried elevating the back of it (where the vents are; it's a laptop) a few inches. This did cause the crashes to happen less often (or so it seemed), but it didn't eliminate them completely, and some games (like Team Fortress 2) were unaffected and still crashed just as often.

 

I've run a virus scan and disk defrag, neither of which had any noticeable effect. I'm doing a registry cleanup right now, but I really don't even know what the problem is, so I'm not sure what to do.

[Ryland† 0]

Update your graphics drivers.

[koshi† 0]

Update your graphics drivers.

 

I used the device manager and it told me my driver was up to date...after a few internet searches I couldn't find an updated driver for the video card I have. (AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200...at least I think that's the video card :s)

[Hybrilynx† 0]

we have a laptop that turns off at random but i dont know what that is or causes it T-T

[Flechmen 0]

Go to the manufacturer's website and download the most current drivers for your video card. Uninstall them and re-install them.

[silent eclipse warrier† 0]

do you download all these games off the internet? There could be a chance you downloaded a trojen or something. how long has it been since you updated your virus protection?

 

Viruses can cause your computer to continually do that.

[HuskyDog† 0]

I play computer games a ton' date=' and all of a sudden my computer has made a habit out of crashing while I'm playing a game, almost always accompanied by a screen of vertical stripes of two different colors (if it isn't that, it's just a blank screen). I've tried all of my games, and nearly all of them have this problem.

 

At first I thought that maybe my computer was overheating, so I tried elevating the back of it (where the vents are; it's a laptop) a few inches. This did cause the crashes to happen less often (or so it seemed), but it didn't eliminate them completely, and some games (like Team Fortress 2) were unaffected and still crashed just as often.

 

I've run a virus scan and disk defrag, neither of which had any noticeable effect. I'm doing a registry cleanup right now, but I really don't even know what the problem is, so I'm not sure what to do.

[/quote']

 

If reinstalling updated drivers don't help (which I doubt they will), it sounds to me like a hardware problem.

 

I think if your laptop was overheating to the point that it was shutting it down before, it's very likely that it got so hot at some point that it caused some physical damage to your computer. Your graphics chip probably suffered some damage, causing you to see this effect.

 

I think your only recourse is either to get it serviced by the manufacturer (if it's possible, use the warranty), or try and fix it yourself. If neither is an option, then you may need a new laptop.

[norzman5 0]

I'm pretty sure it's your graphics card that's broken. I've seen a problem similar to this before, the graphics card is might overheating due to a soldering problem with the chip, it can get weaker with heavy use over time. Just like Husky, I would recommend sending it to your manufacturers repair center. You might have to pay if it's not it under warranty.

 

If you want to try, the latest graphics drivers can be found here:

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

 

Hope you get your laptop fixed.

[The Lone Wolf† 0]

I've been finding the AMD graphics card to be a hassle. It seems to me to have a lot of support issues regarding games.

 

I don't have much help to offer though :-/

[Ryland† 0]

I've been finding the AMD graphics card to be a hassle. It seems to me to have a lot of support issues regarding games.

 

I don't have much help to offer though :-/

 

Its just ATI in general. Their cards arent half bad and are affordable, but their driver support sucks, and from my experience ATI/AMD products overheat like crazy in laptops. Their desktop GPU's seem to be pretty good though.

[HuskyDog† 0]

I've been finding the AMD graphics card to be a hassle. It seems to me to have a lot of support issues regarding games.

 

I don't have much help to offer though :-/

 

Its just ATI in general. Their cards arent half bad and are affordable' date=' but their driver support sucks, and from my experience ATI/AMD products overheat like crazy in laptops. Their desktop GPU's seem to be pretty good though.

[/quote']

 

Disclaimer: I used to work for ATI/AMD...

 

They historically tended to run hot. The stuff from the past couple years though are actually pretty decent about heat output. I have an all-AMD laptop that I'm using right now and it's ridiculously cool. I can leave it sitting on my bed while running for hours and it doesn't heat up significantly. I never was able to do that with any other laptop.

 

Driver support has typically been kinda meh. It has gotten better, though, but it has its issues. I don't think you'd run into it though unless you're doing more enthusiast type setups (like Eyefinity/Crossfire/3D).

 

However, when you're dealing with laptops, heat will always be an issue. It's not a matter of the chips so much as it's a matter of how well they built the laptop. This is one reason why laptops are bad gaming machines. Even if it had identical specs to the desktop, the laptop would run slower because heat is not as well ventilated.

 

The best advice I'd give you is to be very attentive to how you are using your laptop and to its temperature. It should not heat up significantly with decent airflow. Do not use it on surfaces that don't provide good ventilation, like a couch or bed. Always let the vents have room to move air. Or this will happen.

[Galantine Knight Misticore† 0]

Well I use an ATI 5870 and i had to recently use a windows driver to run because of ATI being as they are retarded with their driver updates :S

 

Also I recently downloaded a game promising only 3 G's of data and went to bed to find out they uploaded 10 G's following the download and it was a malicious software that came with instillation... yeah i was pissed cause I got charged

[Carson Coyote† 0]

What kinda laptop is it? Cuz I've got the same chipset in my laptop, and it's been acting up recently, too.

[koshi† 0]

I tried downloading the newer driver but that didn't seem to have an effect.

 

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I think all it needed was a good dusting. I used an office duster to blow out all the vents, and as soon as I turned it back on, I immediately noticed that it was running much quieter and I was able to play several matches of Team Fortress 2 without crashing. It hasn't crashed at all while playing games since I did that, so maybe all the dust had clogged up the fan or something.

 

When I blew out the vents with the office duster, visible clouds of dust emanated from the other vents. It was pretty funny, and a little sad at the same time

 

What kinda laptop is it? Cuz I've got the same chipset in my laptop' date=' and it's been acting up recently, too.

[/quote']

 

HP Pavilion dv7, or something like that.

[HuskyDog† 0]

With the dust, that makes sense. Sometimes dust buildup mimics a hardware failure. Glad you got it fixed.

[Flechmen 0]

Oh gosh, an HP.. no wonder. Yeah, keep that puppy clean

[The Lone Wolf† 0]

When I blew out the vents with the office duster' date=' visible clouds of dust emanated from the other vents. It was pretty funny, and a little sad at the same time

[/quote']

 

That's always funny =P

[Carson Coyote† 0]

HP Pavilion dv7' date=' or something like that.

[/quote']

 

Oh gosh' date=' an HP.. no wonder. Yeah, keep that puppy clean

[/quote']

 

Yep, my HP Pavilion was really sensitive to dust. I had to clean it at least once every two weeks or so.

 

My sister currently has a Compaq Presario CQ-61, which is nearly identical to the dv7 line of Pavilions. Whenever her computer needs to be cleaned, she constantly gets blue screen errors, and graphics issues.

 

I'm glad you got everything to work!

[Wisconsin Wolf† 0]

I immediately noticed that it was running much quieter and I was able to play several matches of Team Fortress 2 without crashing. I disagree we joined a losing team who was 0-7 on TF2 with one match to go' date=' I would say the other team Crashed and burned. :cool:

 

 

What kinda laptop is it? Cuz I've got the same chipset in my laptop, and it's been acting up recently, too.

 

I disagree we joined a losing team that was 0-7 on TF2 with one match to go, I would say the other team Crashed and burned when the score was 1-7 and we were 1 and 2 on the leader board. :cool:

[koshi† 0]

LOL Yeah! It was fun until our team decided that winning was simply too awesome though and forgot how to try. Either that or the other team suddenly had a burst of unyielding resolve that fueled their dreams of victory. Maybe both. XD

[koshi† 0]

Ugh...the issue seems to have returned, and this time cleaning out the vents didn't seem to do anything. Updating the drivers again also had no effect...

 

I even tried a system restore, but I don't know if it helped or not. When the restore finished I found that I was no longer able to connect to the internet, so I undid it.

 

I don't know what to do...I've spent the past couple of days trying everything I can think of and nothing seems to work... I hope I haven't fried anything... :s

[Carson Coyote† 0]

How old is the computer? If it's still under warranty, you should contact HP.

[koshi† 0]

How old is the computer? If it's still under warranty' date=' you should contact HP.

[/quote']

 

I guess it's around 3 or 4 years old. We only had a 1 year warranty on it though...

[DasPurpleSegway† 0]

Make sure the motherboard is wearing it's seatbelt.

[riddle kat† 0]

lol^