Hi nhpilotdan,

The following applies to most games in general, and not just to the games that
may be listed in the KB Article refered to in this post.

SYMPTOMS:

When you start or play any one of the games that is listed in the "Applies to" section, you may experience one or more of the
following symptoms:

.The game stops responding.
.The game quits unexpectedly.
.The computer restarts unexpectedly.
.The game encounters an error and needs to close

Additionally, you may receive the following error message after you receive the Gathering Exception Data dialog box:
<Game Name>has encountered a problem and needs to close.

RESOLUTION:

Method 1: Restart your computer by using a clean boot procedure
Method 2: Remove and Reinstall the Game
Method 3: Adjust graphics hardware acceleration
Method 4: Disable AGP Texturing in the DirectX Diagnostic tool
Method 5: Temporarily disable the sound card in Windows
Method 6: Lower sound acceleration
Method 7 : Download and install the most recent version of DirectX
Method 8: Update your video driver
Method 9: Update your sound driver
Method 10: Scan your computer for viruses
Method 11: Remove spyware
Method 12: Install the latest VIA chipset drivers
Method 13: Create a new user account in Windows XP
Method 14: Change the compatibility setting

Detailed instructions and video clips are published at:
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;303032