Computer instablility; blinking monitor, freezing computer [nvlddmkm problem!]

[LeonStrider]

I need to follow the tutorial it gives about the Modded .inf thing, right?  http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=9243

[Broni]

Yeah, it's explained pretty well there.

[LeonStrider]

Ok, I installed the drivers, I'll go try and see if the computer still freezes.

[Broni]

Bring some good news.

[Broni]

Good, good

[LeonStrider]

Good news: TANKBALL IS NOT FREEZING!  Time to try MapleStory...

Ok, MapleStory worked... for about 7 minutes.  The few seconds before it froze, I started spamming a few sentences (hard to explain), and then it froze.  I'll try doing it again to see if that's what the cause is now.  But other than that, all systems are go.

Thank you very much Broni,  I'd be screwed if you didn't help.  I'll post in this thread if the problems come back today or tomorrow.

[Broni]

Some progress, at least

[patio]

Good your'e having progress...try re-installing Maple Story and freeing up some space on that hard drive in the meantime...
Also get in the habit of doing the regular maintenence such as DiskClean and Defrag on a regular basis...
Laptops tend to need more babying in order to run games...

[LeonStrider]

So after I installed the new drivers,  I tried playing TankBall.  It froze for about 20 seconds at the start, then it unfroze and I was able to play from there on.  Then I tried MapleStory.  I was able to play for about 7 minutes, then it froze.  I reset my PC,  and play again.  This time it freezes when I get in-game, but about 30 seconds later it unfreezes and I'm able to play for an indefinite amount of time. By "indefinite" I mean that I don't know how long it'll freeze on me again.  It can be from as little as 2 minutes to an hour.  The wierd thing is, when I alt-tab out of the game then go back into the game, within 1 minute the game will definitely freeze, then in 10sec-1min the game will unfreeze.  On a few occasions it doesn't unfreeze, and on one occasion it caused a system reset.  A few hours later, after it took 2 minutes for the game to unfreeze, my monitor started blinking again, and it wouldn't stop so I had to shut down the PC.

Now this morning, when I turn on my PC,  explorer.exe didn't load, and all my programs that were supposed to start up when my PC turns on didn't.

[Broni]

I'm assuming, you're playing those games in full screen, right?
If so, try to play them in reduced screen. See, if same thing happens.
If that doesn't help, your video card may be going south.
It may be good idea to borrow one from a friend, and see, if same thing happens.

[LeonStrider]

Yeah, I tried both in full-screen.  I'll test TankBall and MapleStory in a smaller window then.

[patio]

What brand; age and wattage is your Power Supply ? ?

[LeonStrider]

I use a laptop. 

[patio]

What brand; age and wattage is your Power Supply ? ?

OOoooops.

[LeonStrider]

I have an important update for this thread:

My brother decided that Windows Vista is better for this laptop (By the way, I never told him about the monitor problem) so he installed it.  He's already installed all the drivers (sound, video, etc.) and now the problem I've been having isn't happening anymore... Not that I'm complaning about it, hehe.

I don't know how it could've been fixed from installing Vista.  Anyone have any ideas?