gp4 help

hi all. Sorry if i sound like a total noob and sorry if this has been addressed already. its a little long winded so...

I have 2 systems a win 7 home prem, 64 bit, 2 gig radeon card, 4 gig ram, a stock install of gp4.(no gpx patch or anything else) just the game and official patch. it plays fine apart from trying to calibrate the sound at each play (cruddy on board sound) and random crashes saying gp4.exe has stopped working (and i mean random) seems like its trying to access something or something is trying to access it, firewall maybe? and its becoming rather tideous to say the least as i forgot how good this game was. i have avast anti virus running in silent mode, no spyware or malware programs or anything like that.

Other system win xp(fresh install), sp3, 3 gig ram, 1 gig geforce card. a stock insatll of gp3 with just the official patch and exaclty the same problem. random gp3.exe has stopped working errors (even installed gp4 on this system and get the same problem...Doh) What gives? no anti virus software or anything at all.

i know this could be anything but any advice or tips would be great.. thanks

Use GPxPatch and set CPU=0. That helps prevent a lot of crashes.

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Intel NUC 8i3, 8GB RAM, MS Sidewinder Wheel

What you said about the firewall........When GP4 first runs on Windows & many times there is a firewall prompt but it is hidden
look at your task bar & if you see an icon ( I forget what it shows) just after starting click it as it is asking permission.

Also dont forget it is best to right click the GP4.exe & also GPxPatch (once you install it )
then click compatibility Tab & select/check "Run in Windows XP ( service pack 3 ) compatibility mode"
Also check "Run This Program as Administrator"

Thanks guys, i 'll try those out...