HL2 - Episode 1 = BSOD, Help Please

[Catfisher]

I have Half Life 2 Ultimate Edition. I have played through Half Life, Half Life 2 and The Lost Coast Episode. My frame rate in the Lost Coast Test was about 170 fps. Whenever I try to play Episode One it will play fine for a few minutes, then become unstable and crash all the way to a BSOD. I can jump ahead to Episode Two and it plays fine, but I don't want to skip Episode One. Since they all use the same game engine I can't figure out why Episode One does this every time.

Any help or suggestions are welcome.

All of my drivers are current, no overclocking, no temperature issues. I can boot into Vista or Windows 7, it crashes to BSOD in both.

Thanks

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Seems strange that Episode 2 is fine but Episode 1 crashes. I'd advise before you try any complex fixes to validate your Episode 1 files first with Steam. Right click Ep1, Properties, Files tab > Validate Integrity of cache.

 

[unozero]

does the BSOD say what causes the error?

something like" random.dll caused a clock interrupt" or anything along those lines?

 

[Catfisher]

Thanks guys,

I was totally wrong when I thought I had no temperature issues. I downloaded SpeedFan - a great free utility. Turns out that since I put the side back on my case and the weather is getting hotter, I was getting my cpu and my gpu too hot. I now have a small floor fan aimed at the open case and my temps are way down. Everything running great - no crashes. I think the more intense graphics in Episode One was heating things up.

Thanks again.