games turn off my computer

hi there
recently all games seem to jack up my cpu usage to a 100% causing my computer to simply shut down with out prior notice
this hasnt been happening before and it worries me cause even downloaded card games (which i think arent that demanding) turn the computer off,
ive also tried adding an external fan in case it is over heating ,and opening the tower up and cleaning the dust (there was alot of dust in there) even this didnt work
its a windows xp
amd anthlon 64 processor
1 gb of ram
ive had this machine for three years now, does that simply mean the hardware/processor is old or is it a software problem
thanks

 

Is it during when you play games or otherwise too ?

Have you tried updating your video card driver ?

A malware/virus could also be involved.

 

1. its only when i play games that the computer shuts down

2. i think ive updated my video card driver, can u please tell me how to do that just to double check

3. could it be a virus? the computer shuts off with all games those that i have downloaded and those that i have purchased on cds too

thanks

 

Did the problem started after that or it was there even before ?

 

before that...

 

ok.

Run chkdsk /f on all your drives. Remove junk - download ATFCleaner from http://majorgeeks.com/ATF_Cleaner_d4949.html & run it as Administrator. Check the last box [Select All] before running it.

Update your anti virus & scan in thorough mode.

Have you cleaned up the dust from the CPU fan ?

 

Experiencing Similar Gaming Problems

My pc screen has been freezing up or blacking out while I am playing a game that I downloaded to my pc via cd. I have been getting an error saying system terminated process and the game just stops working and most recently got an error message C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\irprops.cpl. What does all of this mean? I ran hijackthis, but I don't know what to delete and what to leave. Does it seem that I have a virus?

 

ladee, please start a new thread in Malware forum.

 

hey did all u said
scaned the system and found a virus called downloader
it was fully resolved
and yes the fan was cleaned
im gonna try playing some games ill get back to u if the problem is not resolved
thanks for ur help
ps: i dont know if u can answer that but is the website majorgeeks.com a good one, ie can i go crazy and download all the fixes and quirks without worry ?

 

I second that. Don't ever install anything you see blindly, even if its from a website/source that you trust.

 

hello again and thanks for the tips on downloading , i am cautious most of the time, and rarely have virus complications
however im here today because the problem has gotten more serious
it started with computer switching off when playing a game, and now its switching even even if im not, out of the blues the machine goes dead on me
now ive read some posts and threads and i know this is a very general problem
im not looking for it to be fixed as much as ide like to know if its a software or hardware problem
im worried ill go out buy a new processor for example and it turns out to be a software problem, or worse, reformat the whole thing and discover its a hardware problem
do u guys have any idea how i can figure this out
thanks again

 

Since we can't have a look at the machine, we can only give you some guidelines.

Start by switching out the power supply from one of your friends.

 

Both rsinfo and Arie have cautioned you relative to downloading and installing unknown software yet your response ( "i am cautious most of the time, and rarely have virus complications ") indicates you have somewhat of a bullet-proof mentality. Now your problems appear to have gone from bad to worse and for your longer-term well being, we can only hope that they are bad enough for you to understand you need to be cautious all of the time.

For starters, you should probably head over to the malware removal forum at read the instructions included in the very first thread at the top of the page. Once you've read that and followed the instructions you'll understand how to start your own thread and get some help from a trained Malware Specialist or Staff member.

I could be dead wrong but I'd be willing to bet that you are loaded with all kinds of nasty stuff, thanks to your own computing practices. This procedure is going to be required to find out what's wrong.



edit: rsinfo - You posted while I was writing and I would certainly agree that the PSU could be suspect especially with the initial problem on graphic intensive activity that has now manifestd itself during general use in a 3 year old machine. However, I also believe there is a strong case to made for malware. Lets go with your suggestion re: PSU first but then lets get occupiedtoe over to the infirmary ASAP.