windows 7 black screen

hey i recently installed windows 7 and started playing gw
all was well i had been playing for about 30 minutes and then suddenly my screen went black as if the back light had been turned off. this happened in the middle of a HOH match and i was blue. (team wasn't too happy)

although when the screen went black my ventrilo, and gw sounds still worked and apparently according to people on vent i was still able to control gw. i just couldn't see it.

any ideas on whats gone wrong??? is this a common error for windows 7.

(note: don't comment about graphic cards or drivers, they are all up to date and my gma x3100 has worked a charm on xp for many years now. also i run with the -noshaders on my short cut)
any help would be appreciated

have you tried compatibility mode?

I know that windows 7 will often give a black screen for a second or two while loading a new area - haven't heard of it doing it while playing though.

But they recommend compatibility for the one issue so maybe it would work for yours.

My first guess would be overheating. Clean any dust out of the machine and make sure all fans are working.

start with the simplest solution first. Is your video cable loose?

Just start with the basics and narrow down the possibilities.
When it goes black is it everything or is it only guild wars (alt tab or win m will get you to your desktop or another running program)?

You don't want us to suggest anything graphics wise for a problem that is most likely 100% graphics card related? Haha, ok.

Sounds like the card or card memory is getting too hot. When my old radeon x1600 started to "go" and heated up at a certian point, the screen would do the same thing. Sometimes cards just go out of the blue, but sometimes you can clean dust out and restore proper airflow. When the airflow is restored you'd be surprised how a little dust can drastically affect the temperature.

agreed with everyone here, you might not wanna hear it but it does sound like a graphics card issue

ok ok, its not my video cable (i checked it) also my graphic card plays gw on xp, vista, mac os10, mac leopard linux. but not windows 7 lol. its not over heating and the screen doesn't go Black per say, its as if the back light turns off. i will try running gw in comparability mode and see if that helps, but from my own research i think windows 7 has a problem with some games so i might end up going to back to xp.

thanx for all the help so far, if anyone has had this problem also post and we can try and find a solution

Well, since you are the first person to ever try GW with Windows 7, we'll have to take your word for it - Win7 must have a problem with GW. It can't be a driver issue.
/sarcasm

Actually. it sounds like your monitor's going into screen blanking in spite of there being activity.

It's not Windows 7, it's most likely a graphics driver or a problem with the monitor itself.