In news:42e78565$1@usenet01.boi.hp.com,
Jimmy S. <nosp@m.pls> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

> Hi Corinthianblue,
>
> Hardware issues can cause freezing, black screens and other
> errors. Also, your drivers should always be kept up to date.
>
> Try the following steps one at a time to try and resolve the issue.
> I hope this helps. Please post back if you have any questions! :-)
>
> 1. Update DirectX and your Chipset, Sound, &Video Drivers:
> For all Video / DirectX / Game and Hardware Issues, I have a
> Checklist of Solutions at: http://NibblesNbitsVideo.tk
>
> 2. Dust your fans, vents and components using a 1/4" paintbrush
> and a hose vacuum. Use compressed air for hard to reach places.
> Set a housefan to blow cold air into your case to expose an over-
> heating issue.. If it works add more fans or replace defective ones.
> Use this Motherboard Monitor Utility: http://mbm.livewiredev.com
>
> 3. A faulty power supply can cause STOP errors, random reboots,
> and black screen lockups. One way to test for that is to check the
> wattage sticker on your power supply and then calculate your need
> http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/ (Min. 350 for gaming)
>
> 4. Test your RAM using: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
>
> 5. Test another video card in your system if it's at all possible.
>
>
> "Corinthianblue" <Corinthianblue@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> message news:F51A8383-C7F9-46E9-9E0C-85A04AFAEDDA@microsoft.com...
>> I am having a problem with games on my computer. I wanted first to
>> check out to see if it was Windows first before I bugged other ppl.
>> I've gone through the windows troubleshoot on my compaq, and through
>> the compaq troubleshoot too. Now I'm looking for alternatives. I
>> need every idea possible. Here is my problem:
>>
>> When I start playing a game, it goes fine. Then, a few minutes into
>> it, the game will lag down so bad that the game itself would
>> literally turn into pictures, but the sound will continue to play.
>> Then it'll return to normal. This repeats itself over and over until
>> I stop playing the game. And it isn't on one game, it's on them all.
>> I played a first person shooter called Tribes (internet based) and
>> Need for Speed 2 (no internet needed) and both had the same problem
>> about the same timeframe every time I played each separately. I
>> don't have anything running in the background and I have DSL off of
>> a wireless network. Any ideas are welcome, excluding downloads.

I would like to add that your description could also be a matter of system
resources. What happens if you press CTRL + ALT + DEL and take a peek under
the running processes? Do you have a great deal of your RAM and CPU in use?
Is it possible to make the system run a bit easier and have more CPU cycles
by disabling some of them? Realizing that this is potentially many possible
problems are you certain to a 99.9% (there's no such thing as 100%) that
your system is free of malware? You can check here for that I suppose:


Malware Cleaning :
http://kgiii.info/windows/all/general/malwarefix.html

Beyond that can you give us some more information to go on? What game is it?
What does the game require as bare minimum to run and what is the optimal
amount stats? Does your PC meet these? How long has this problem been going
on, is it something that's just showing up now? Is it one game? Sorry for so
many questions but the more information given the more likely we can help
you narrow it down.

Galen
--
"But there are always some lunatics about. It would be a dull world
without them."

Sherlock Holmes