The first thing I'd notice is the BC code ("bug check code") for the initial problem, 117. We can look that up on Microsoft's website:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa469203.aspx

That page explains, "The VIDEO_TDR_TIMEOUT_DETECTED bug check has a value of 0x00000117. This indicates that the display driver failed to respond in a timely fashion." In other words, the driver froze. In a case like this, the operating system tries to re-initialize the driver. Which brings us to the second BC code, 116:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa469184.aspx

That page explains, "The VIDEO_TDR_ ERROR bug check has a value of 0x00000116. This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed."

So the sequence of events seems to be, the driver froze and the OS tried to restart it. The OS couldn't restart it, so it shut down the machine.

Unfortunately we don't know why the video driver froze. (The dump files contain information that could help explain this, but it may be meaningful only to the people who wrote the driver.) One possibility is a bug in the driver, so you could try an earlier driver.

Another possibility, like other folks are saying, is that the video card malfunctioned due to heat or some other reason. In a case like that the driver should handle the problem gracefully and not lock up, but maybe the driver's error handling is incomplete for this particular case.

Another thing you can do is check to see whether Microsoft has any advice for this problem. You probably did that already -- I think you have to push a button on the WER panel. I'm on an XP machine atm so I can't look.

Anothing thing would be to send the WER info to ATI customer support.

If you want to send me the set of files for 117 I'll look at them but probably I won't be able to say anything useful. My email is freddie at hotkeynet.com.