"hl2.exe has stopped working" - Help with Steam Software

I've just recently installed Steam on my Vista system and downloaded Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. However, every time I try to launch it, I get a message that says "hl2.exe has stopped working." I have no idea what that means, since I'm new to computer gaming.

I have searched through the Steam support page and can't find an answer. I've also registered for the Steam forums, but it won't let me post until I've activated my account (I haven't received an email for an hour now). I thought I could try to get help here, since I've gotten some great answers here in the past.

Any thoughts? I would really appreciate it!

 

HL2 crashing can be caused by ALOT of issues! What's your system spec your running this on?

 

Dell Inspiron 1420
Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.2GHz,4MB L2 Cache,800MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium Edition
14.1" WXGA+ UltraSharpTM TFT Display with TrueLifeTM (1440x900)
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
120G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 8400M GS
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
IntelJ3945 802.11a/g Mini-card
McAfee Internet Security™ 2007, 30 Day Trial, English
2 Year Return to Depot Service, Complete Care and Technical Support
DataSafe Online Backup 3GB (included with price)
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
X-Fi XtremeMusic with Dolby 5.1

Computer just arrived 3 days ago.. so everything is pretty new for me.

I downloaded Steam yesterday, finished downloading Deathmatch today, and it just won't run..

 

You may want to try a few things to get it to work, firstly check for updated drivers from dell.com, next make shure user account control is turned off as it conflicts with EVERYTHING your pc does.

Other than that, your pc is definately up to the task of playing this game nicely, I can't see why your having any problems at all.

 

Thanks for your reply!

Where can I found user account control??

 

control panel, family settings/user settings/ then on the bottom it will say turn user account control on/off

Im not entirely sure since I just switched back to XP today after hassling with vista drivers for 5 months..

 

had the same problem on my dv6000t. disabled uac and still had the problem. =\

 

Sounds stupid, but have you tried to restart the computer after installing Steam and HL2 DM?

I usually get the error after playing CSS for over two hours and rigt after I exit the game under Vista Ultimate.

 

Are you running modded drivers? I get this nearly everytime I exist a game of CS:S with Vista Home Premium. The manufacturer display drivers do not cause this message to appear.

 

Sounds pretty self-explanatory to me. Let me take a guess here, um, perhaps Half Life 2 has stopped working?

 

Try turning down the graphics settings. I had the same problem....except I am using a gma 950. Once I used the lowest settings possible I was able to go into the game but it was unplayable.

 

can you try to be more specific on the problem?

ie: exactly what the error says? a screenshot maybe?

 

I have the exact same problem, with stock drivers. Everytime I exit HL2: CTF it says it crashed, even though I only exited it.

 

After some research, it seems like most people who had this problem were people who had purchased Dells. I noticed that the sidebar that came with the computer was not a Microsoft sidebar, but was in fact a Google sidebar.

I ended up reinstalling Windows with a copy of Vista Ultimate my school was giving out and it solved the problem.

 

Funny, using modded drivers and getting that error message after I quit a steam game...