Source engine problems
 

Ok so here's the problem, I bought the CS source bundle (comes with DoD:S and HLD:S) about a year ago and I've had nothing but trouble with it. When I try to run any of these games, it's not uncommon for them to freeze up thus usually forcing me to restart my computer so that I can actually use it again. The freezes usually occur when I'm loading a map or during gameplay (always at the worst times). As you all know, these games run using the steam program, however I've ruled this out as a suspect because all other games that run on it work fine, leaving only the source engine to be at fault. I've tried reducing graphics settings, lowering resolution, as well as reinstalling the games several times, but nothing seems to help. I have the theory that my processor just can't handle the engine and that's whats causing the games to crash. If anyone has a different theory, or ways to help, it would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Minner

EDIT: Sorry about posting under LoJ's account. He was over the other day and decided to leave himself logged in on my comp, I didn't realize until just now that I posted under his account. This is actually Minner.

Depends on your OS. 95 and 98 have an issue with not releasing RAM they use. 95 in over 50,000 places. XP fixed that. If you have Vista, consider downgrading. It's a RAM hog. If you have XP, make sure you have enough hardware RAM. 512MB is what many current-gen games use, so if that's all you've got, try closing out stuff you don't need running or consider upgrading. It's easy to install in most desktops.

As for your chip, not much you can do but upgrade if that's the problem. However, if you have a good video card, it can compensate a bit. But unless you have an older computer, that's not the first place I'd look.

In all honesty, it sounds more like a memory issue. Rebooting wouldn't fix a processing issue like that, and since it always happens during loading, it indicates that there's no place to store the info.

Yeah, I'm running it on windows XP, I've tried freeing up some memory, and I'll see if it works. If the processor IS infact the problem though, I cannot fix it, as you can't upgrade most components in a laptop.

What are you running? Athlon? Xeon? 486?

Edit: Also, there's often a panel on the bottom of laptops that give you access to your RAM. As for your chip, you'd probably have to send it in.
Edit Edit: I meant the 486 as a joke. If you have one of those, you're screwed.

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what those are:p

Chips, man, chips! Processors! [insert RM with his arms in the air]

Ah, well after checking my diagnostics I found this as my processor:
Intel Pentium M processor 1.73GHz

Hmmm... All things depending, it should be enough. Though I'm not familiar with what you're trying to play. :/

I'm trying to run Counter Strike: Source, Day Of Defeat: Source and Half Life 2: Deathmatch. Although I really only care about the first two.

I'm only dating Steam so I can get with her hot sister Source...

Go to your control panel and tell us what your processor speed and RAM are, and then find out what video card you have. Oh, and update the video card drivers, that helps out alot. I remember when I first got HL2, game would freeze up anytime a flashbang went off. I updated the drivers and the game was a dream, and I mean on a GeForce 2 kind of card.