Windows 7: Computer Hangs while gaming

That's likely to be Cat 10.11, downloading from AMD's site directly will give you 11.6.

you are correct, getting the latest from AMD now

You say it's still hanging. Does this happen with every game you try to run?

Is DirectX and Visual C++ up to date? What about Windows? It could be anything...I, rather, we need you to be just a bit more specific. How long does the game run before crashing? Is it a CTD problem (crash to desktop) or does the entire system halt and/or blue screen. If it's the latter read the BSOD and see if it identifies a culprit; if it's, and I forget the exact name of the file, atikmdag.sys (I actually think that's it) then it's a driver issue.

So far its been every game. It does not crash to desktop, rather it hangs for few seconds then carries on like normal. Its completely random, first 10 minutes or after about 30 minutes etc etc.

So the game never crashes its more it pauses then goes on normally. When im playing it plays fine.

Im leaning toward Avast anti virus running now. I am going to turn that off and try it to see if that helps

However, updating the video driver has made my games actually utilize the entire 17 in wide screen instead of having a small black margin on the left and right side. So thanks for that!

Windows is up to date, going to check DirectX and C++ now

DirectX is up to date, how do i go about checking for the C++?

Sorry for the newb questions but im more of a linux guy, just have this laptop for gaming

Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update. From there check for updates.

Another way is to go here: C++ 2010 Redistributable

AV could be a problem, as can a firewall so definitely eliminate either (if not both) as a possibility.

so far i have dropped Avast antivirus for AVG, so far no issues, I will continue to test to make sure all is well

Second day of playing and it seems that Avast was causing my issues. Going to play again tonight to confirm so if anyone else is having similar issues they can trouble shoot by changing their antivirus.

I am having similar issues playing the Witcher EE. I have played the game before but then I was in Windows XP x64 IIRC. WIth Windows 7 and latest Nvidia SLI drivers, I keep having random freezes and crashes. I can play the game for only a few minutes at a stretch. I am gonna see if my Directx 9 is all the way updated as well thanks for the tip! But I think its mainly because the game is ancient now and the OS and the hardware and the drivers have just moved on so far ahead, that is what is causing the problem.

yea mine never crashes, its like something hogs all my resources and it lags.

I know the hardware i have is fine, which is why i posted up here for suggestions. However updating everything certainly did help

Tha'ts really great! I am hoping if I go and update my DX 9 which I really have not done in a long time will circumvent the issues I am experiencing. I am surprised DX 9 updates don't show up in the Windows Update service actually.