Thanks for the assistance guys.
Trigger: Sorry, I should have specified all my temperatures are in Celsius. When you say HDD error checking, do you mean (In Windows XP) right click on hard drive > properties > tools > error checking > 'Check now' ? I will need to wait until I finish work (where I am currently situated) before attempting that test. I will keep you posted.
Sobeit: The laptop is capable of running the specified games at a higher resolution with very good performance. At present, I am using the lowest possible graphic/resolution settings in the games which are possible and the games still crash just as frequently.
Here are my specs...
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7500 @ 2.20GHz
RAM: 2.98GB (presumed as SD, not DDR)
GPU: NVIDIA Quadro NVS 320M graphics, with 256 MB dedicated video memory (512 MB TurboCache) Microsoft DirectX 10 support
OS: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3
If you need any more specifics, typing the model number of the laptop (Compaq 8710p) into Google will give a full list of specifics. If you need any more information I will be happy to provide.
Thank you again, computer gods
~Luke