BSOD once, vsync and LOD issues now

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

I opened a video stream a couple of weeks ago and recieved the BSOD. My computer promptly restarted itself. Ever since this happened, most of my video games have drastically decreased in their draw distance for in-world objects and nonplayer characters in campaign mode. I also am having problems with my videos not vsyncing properly as they used to. These things were never an issue before the BSOD occured. My games and videos played perfectly before (i'm a stickler for smooth gaming, so i don't possess any titles which have low draw distance).

I'm running Windows 7 64-bit on an HP dual-core, 1.6ghz notebook with ATI Radeon HD 3200 gp

 

[Tmagic650]

What model and make notebook?

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes in the first post, this got me pretty frustrated.

It's a Pavillion dm3. Specifically, my processor is an AMD Athlon Neo X2 Dual Core L335 with 4 gigs of installed RAM, if that helps any.

 

[Tmagic650]

Are ALL the Windows 7 updates applied to date including the .NET Famework ones?

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

They sure are. Is there a bad one?

 

[Tmagic650]

Some Windows Updates are listed as optional and are not installed automatically. These optional updates are needed by some computers. I always recommend running Windows Updates manually and even if you get "No New Updates Found" run "check for updates" once more

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

I always update manually, but i checked again. I'm, indeed, up to date.

 

[Tmagic650]

Okay good, now lets check the hard drive for errors. Go to computer right-click on the C drive, properties, tools, check for errors and set a check for next startup

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

Did that, rebooted and it says I'm clean.

 

[Tmagic650]

What antivirus and antimalware programs are you running?

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

MSE and i run Spybot through it regularly

 

[Tmagic650]

Why Spybot??? Can you delete it for a while?

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

It's a free and, so far, helpful option. Actually, it flagged a couple of things just the other day I would have otherwise missed. I don't let tea timer run.

And I forgot to mention Windows Defender, but you might have guessed from your probe regarding updates.

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

I suppose I could delete Spybot if I were so inclined, but it sits inactive until I execute it. Is there any particular reason simply having it installed would be a hinderance?

 

[Tmagic650]

It's a rather old program, and with Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Defender works with it. It is all I use and this temp file cleaner is good too:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

I've got my temp files covered, thanks. I don't like clutter sitting around for too long. It sure is helpful to know that I can use MSE for that as well.

What is it that you think I should be looking into next to resolve my video and graphical problems?

 

[Tmagic650]

What about running Memtest86 for at least 7 passes?
http://www.memtest86.com/download.html

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

If you could, detail in a simple fashion what I'd need to do using this program from a USB drive. I noticed something about a floppy disk appearing unformatted. I don't want to lose any information on my only USB drive and I don't want to transfer its data to my hard disk.

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

It turns out that I missed someting. The only available version for USB is for Linux only. I don't possess a disk drive. It seems that Memtest isn't currently an option for me unless I want to dual boot my PC (which I don't).

 

[Tmagic650]

Burn the memtest86.iso file to a CD or DVD then boot from CD or DVD. Windows 7 has a burn program built-in, although I use DVD Decrypter... Simple thing to do

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

Again, I don't possess a disk drive.

 

[Tmagic650]

Can you boot from a USB flash drive, or borrow an external CD/DVD drive?

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

I'd like to refer you to my pervious post that states I would require a Linux OS dual-booted with Windows. This is the only USB option available, as indicated in the page you linked to providing Memtest downloads for all available versions.

I do not have access to an external disk drive, nor do I wish to install a second operating system.

 

[Tmagic650]

I don't understand what you are saying here. You mention Windows 7, Linux... Is this a Netbook computer?

 

[ThatGuyYouDunno]

I have a laptop computer with Windows 7 and no disk drive. I can't borrow an external drive from someone.

The Memtest page you sent me to says the only USB bootable Memtest version available requires Linux to use.

Memtest doesn't seem to be an option. Where do we go from here?