Problem with GW and Ventrilo

This is a timeline of what happened. I downloaded and installed Ventrilo from the proper website. I then started playing Guild Wars with Ventrilo running in the background, I didn't actually use it it was just running there. I did a few AB matches and after a while the coloring of GW started getting odd. The terrain and other characters on screen, as well as the animations of the various skills became a pulsating orange color. I then exited Guild Wars to see what was happening with the system and suddenly the screen just started shutting off and turning on. The period of time between blinks was anywhere from half a second to around five seconds. Eventually the computer just shut itself off. I tried turning it on again and the same thing happened with the blinking. Eventually I activated it in safe mode and everything was just fine. I did a few System Restores but no matter what I did the blinking wouldn't stop and eventually I hit some sort of blue screen. Eventually I checked out the BIOS to see if anything was off there and everything was fine.

The computer runs fine in Safe Mode and Safe Mode with Networking and I already attempted the option "Last Known Good Configuration."

Do any of you have any idea on what could possibly be wrong?

If it's any help my system is a Pentium 4 3 GHz with Hyperthreading, 512 MB RAM and an old GeForce MX 440 (128 MB) Video Card.

your problem sounds to be the video card, which to my knowledge is completely unrelated to ventrillo. Did you try reinstalling the video card drivers?

Hmmm... that never occurred to me lol. I simply thought that it was Ventrilo's fault because it started happening after I installed it.

Alright thanks, I'll give reinstalling my video card drivers a try.

Question though, if the problem is with the video card, doesn't that mean that the computer wouldn't work even if it's in safe mode?

Usually, safe mode runs on the most basic video functions your card, or even motherboard, has.

So, you may be able to run in 800x600 resolution in safemode, but you wont be able to tweak or improve anything that would actually require complicated use of the card, which is where drivers come in. You should be able to see the screen in safemode even with 0 drivers for the card installed

One more question since I can't actually try reinstalling the drivers until tomorrow. Would it even be possible to install the drivers while in safe mode? I attempted to uninstall programs while in Safe Mode but it didn't work so my thinking is: if you can't uninstall why would you be able to install?

you should be able to uninstall programs just fine in safe mode, as well as install things. I could be terribly wrong here, but i know i always uninstall/install antivirus in safemode to avoid any running things

Odd, maybe I was just pressing the wrong button.

Thanks a lot for the help, I'll post how reinstalling the drivers went and if it worked some time tomorrow.

Alright so reinstalling the video card drivers didn't work. Anyone have any other ideas?

I haven't played GW in about a week now lol.

It sounds like a hardware failure in your video card. Do you have another card that you could try?

Also, you could try changing your resolution or refresh rate (that might be why it's working in safe mode).

Your cards old and probably dead now. You need a new one

I don't have another video card to test. Emachines is sending me a Restore CD so I can attempt to wipe the computer. If that doesn't work then I'll just buy a new system. It's about time for it to be replaced anyway since it's been almost two and a half years since I bought it and I've been looking for an excuse to grab myself a Quad Core PC.

Thanks for all the help.

yeah, that video card should be resigned to the great repository in the sky...

you need a new graphics card completely (and more RAM would definately help too)