Windows 7: Crashes to blank (black) screen while gaming

Hello.



My computer frequently crashes to a blank (black) screen when I play games like TES V or Fable III, and leaves me no alternative but to do a hard reset with the power button. I've cleaned out the air vents several times to no avail, and I'm pretty sure my video drivers are up to date. As far as I can tell the CPU isn't being overused either.

I think the problem may be overheating but I don't know for sure. It doesn't seem to get that hot.

I've had a very similar problem before, and last time cleaning the vents out with a compressed air can did the trick. The only difference last time is that it wasn't always a blank screen, sometimes it hard weird vertical lines all over it.

I don't know what to do

Hello Koshka,

See if these links can provide you with the information you seek.

Why is my screen black when I start Windows 7?

Windows 7 Black Screens of Death for Some AMD/ATI GPUs - Softpedia

windows 7 black screen after login, no desktop show up

[SOLVED] Windows 7 Loads to a black screen. Whats the - Microsoft Answers

Thanks, but the crashes happen after I've been playing a game for 5-15 minutes (a little longer if I'm lucky). There aren't any problems with starting the computer, and my laptop came with Windows 7 pre-installed.