Gathering system information
The more information you can provide about your system, the better we can identify possible issues with the hardware or configuration. At a minimum, you should provide the basic system spec (processor, RAM, graphics card make and model, graphics driver version). It can also be helpful to check the logs on the system to see if any errors are reported.
dxdiag
The Direct X Diagnostic utility is the best place to find out what hardware is in your system. The reason this is preferred over say the information given in Device Manager is that it tells you what DirectX has recognised. Since most games run via Direct X, this is generally more important than what is actually there.
To run :
Windows XP Click on the start menu, "run" and type dxdiag
Vista/Win7 Click the orb, in the search box type dxdiag
When ran, you will be presented with a new window. It may take a few minutes for Dxdiag to poll the drivers and report the hardware. There's a loading bar in the bottom left which will show you it's progress. Note also the "check for WHQL digital signatures" checkbox. If this is ticked, it will check on the internet to see if the drivers have been signed by the Windows quality lab. Generally speaking, you're better off unchecking this.
The initial page presents you with some basic information, including the Windows version ("build"), system RAM, processor and page file. On the display tab, you can see the make, model and manufacturer of the graphics card, as well as the current driver version and release date. The box at the bottom will display any issues detected with the card, if this says anything except "no problems found" then please mention this when posting.
The sound tab gives you the same information for your sound hardware. Usually this won't be needed, unless you are having a problem with the sound. If asked for though this is where you can get it from.
Windows Log
There are several logs Windows reports various events and issues in. To view these, you need to launch event viewer, or you can access them in the Control Panel under Administration. There's two logs in particular that may be useful
System - Reports general system messages
Application - Reports issues regarding applications
If the game or Windows is crashing, check these logs for the time around the crash. Anything marked as an error could be a potential cause.
Warband log
Within the Warband directory is the rgl_log.txt. This logs the initialisation of the game. If you're having problems getting the game started check in here for any errors.
Blue Screen Crash / PC reset
If the PC resets of it's own accord it could be encountering a kernel exception, particularly if you then get the message "Windows has recovered from a serious error". You can turn off this behaviour by going into the system properties (from control panel, or right clicking "My Computer" and selecting properties), Advanced, Startup and Recovery and unchecking automatic restart on error.
If this is unchecked then you will receive an infamous blue screen of death error code. This consists of three parts, the error type (which is in English, i.e. STOP detected ..), the name of the faulting driver if any (i.e. ntlm.sys) and some memory registers(usually in hex; 000x0). The registers are irrelevant to most problems, however the error message and faulting driver can help diagnose problems, so you should make a note of it before restarting the machine.