How can I find out why games are dying on my pc?

Yep, seconding that. This sounds like a typical bad memory problem. There's a program out there called http://www.memtest86.com/. Download it and run it and see what it says.

Well I found the event viewer under control panel - admin tools. It is far less helpful than I'd hoped. Kid Pix error gives me Faulting application kpd3.exe, version 0.1.0.0, faulting module kpd3.exe, version 0.1.0.0, fault address 0x0010cf6e. SB error gives Faulting application sb_lcp.exe, version 0.0.0.0, faulting module granny2.dll, version 2.4.0.10, fault address 0x0000fedf.

Well, as a rule:Application won't run --> driver/software problem Crash after running for minutes --> hardware problem (heat, bad caps, other iminant failure)You are saying both, which is problematic :P Download the http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/, and use it to run memtest for a couple of complete passes, and then use it to run a CPU burn in application overnight. If those tests pass fine, and the computer works fine in every way except for playing games, you are looking at a video card problem. Try uninstalling and reinstalling the driver. Try swapping out the video card (or adding a video card, and disabling the onboard one).

kpd3.exe sounds like something specific to the game. http://www.google.ca/search?q=module+granny2.dll&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a sounds like a dynamic link library (something programs query when they need to do something specific, it looks like it has something to do with rendering graphics) that's bad. Is the computer only crashing with this game or does it do it with other games/programs? If it's only this game, you can try downloading granny2.dll from one of the links on the google page I linked. Go to explorer (start->programs (or all-programs)->accessories->windows explorer). Search for granny2.dll and note where it is (the directory). Rename this to granny2.dll-orig or something. Copy the granny2.dll that you downloaded into the directory that the original granny2.dll was. Try the game again. ---- Is there a PC version of Kid Pix? A cursory google only showed OSX. Perhaps go to the publisher's website (broderbund?) and see if there is an update or upgrade and install that, if available.

Quick troubleshooting hint- if something worked before and quit for no reason and you didn't change anything, don't install more software. Find out what broke and fix it.

Effigy2000 - downloaded and running now. It took me a bit to get a boot cd burned. The problem PC does not have a floppy drive. Chuckles - I will also try Ultimate Boot CD. I'll check the video card it was added on by prev owner. porpoise - This is a PC version of Kid Pix. It ran fine on a 3 year laptop and a 10 year old gateway. Thank you for the steps on replacing dll if needed.

porpoise - forgot, just 2 games crash, out of 8 we loaded. This a pretty stripped down setup.

I've found that some PC versions of KidPix are a bit flakey on some equipment (I moonlight as a school computer technician). For example the latest version (can't for the life of me remember name and number) leaves a block as a cursor on my 18month old Toshiba but runs nicely on far lowlier laptops. Nthing Porpise and have a look for an update. Also check your video drivers and cooling on the video card.

I ran Memtest v3.4 last night and it flagged 41 errors with a confidence of 63. After work today I opened the case to get the video card info and to look at the memory info too. The memory is Kingston ValueRam KVR400AK2/1GR, which is 1GB in 2 sticks (512MB). The MOBO is a Abit VT7 which says to put in the sticks into either slots 1&3 or 2&4. Last night they were in 1&3. I tried putting them back in in 2&4 and ran memtest again. This time I got 100 errors with 63 confidence. I swapped back to 1&3 and now I have 102 with 63 confidence. These errors were only on test #7 - Random Number Sequence. Errors are flagged on both sticks. I have looked through the memtest readme to understand its diagnosis, but I do not fully follow. Should I be seeing errors in more than one test if mem is bad? Or does failing one test with mid level confidence point to the mem being the real problem?