All Games crash on PC

[zwarlordz]

Hi there, I have a laptop that crashes with every game I try playing on it. I know the laptop is capable of handling the games and I set all games to lowest settings. Within several minutes or seconds the game will crash strait to desktop screen, sometimes leaving the screen a bit messed up.

I Have a

Custom Alienware laptop

AMD Turion 64 Mobile ML-40 2.21GHz
1.50 GB of RAM
Dual Nividia Go Geforce 7900 GS
Windows XP SP-3

I have tried multiple times of reformatting and re-installing all drivers with disks provided from Alienware as well as going to manufacture's website for drivers such as the video cards. I have also tried memtest86 to insure my RAM is functioning properly, which it is. The only problem i know is the battery does not work so it must be plugged in at all times, but again the computer does not shut off it only goes back to desktop. Also, there were error messages a while back that i used to get when the games crashed but i believe i have fixed that problem. Please help me get this old girl back up and running, i do enjoy my Counter Strike, especially since CS:GO is out.

 

[iyzik]

Wow thats an old alienware...
Uhhh lets see where to start..

First thing that pops in my head as possible issue is ram despite your memtest. 1.5gb is like really small for almost any game. Especially newer ones.

With a problem like this it is almost positively a problem with either drivers, RAM, or CPU. Ive never had an alienware laptop, can you change cpu clock speeds?
Might try underclocking it a little, or overclocking if temp isnt an issue, just to troubleshoot. Also I might try going down to a local best buy or something and getting a new ram stick, what is it DDR2? Grab like a 2 gig or larger, theyre usually 10-20$.

 

[HEXiT]

i would think if its a lappy and the games work then crash after 10 or so mins then its a thermal problem. likely your gfx cooler is clogged with dust.
if you know how then dismantle the lappy and clean out the fins with compressed air. if its chocker then you may need a needle or tweezers to pull out the hairballs that have likely built up over the years.

 

[The Stealthinator]

If it's a thermal or overheating problem, the entire laptop would conk out. Like mentioned earlier the RAM you have is rather less. Since you have a 64-bit CPU, upgrade to Win7 64-bit and upgrade your RAM to at least 4GB to run games better. The reason your games would be crashing is because there isn't enough RAM to run the games while handling the OS as well. I think upgrading your RAM would definitely help for starters.

 

[HEXiT]

i guess you havent heard of theremal throttling. some older nvidia cards would stop the gfx driver from working if the vrm's got to warm causing any game running to crash while allowing the o.s to keep running.

 

[mi1ez]

I would go with heat too. Give it a blast of compressed air or a hoover!

 

[Scott_D_Bowen]

Just make sure the dust isn't being blown 'into' the machine more, as they'll charge you to clean the inside if you do something really odd.

 

[zwarlordz]

Well thanks for all the answers guys! It looks like the ram was the issue, I really thought it had more then 1.5 lol. But I forget sometimes the thing isn't a desktop. Sadly it looks like though I'm just going to have to retire this one and find a younger and more suitable replacement, preferably a desktop. Tis a sad day when we must replace one of our own ;(.

 

[iyzik]

Well thanks for all the answers guys! It looks like the ram was the issue, I really thought it had more then 1.5 lol. But I forget sometimes the thing isn't a desktop. Sadly it looks like though I'm just going to have to retire this one and find a younger and more suitable replacement, preferably a desktop. Tis a sad day when we must replace one of our own ;(.

Not gonna try a $20 ram upgrade?