Game lockup from battle screen

[alboy]

l have had the problem of a freeze during battle scenes, it happens at least 2 or 3 times a play session, l have not had a problem on my PC like this for well over a year.

My PC specs are.

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra Memory 768 MB Driver ver. 182.50
Sound Device Z-10 USB Speaker System
DirectX 9.0C fully updated
Windows XP SP3
I also have over 300 GB of disk space available
Game version updated to 1.7 before first play, bought in UK at retail shop.

Has anyone any ideas as to why this happens or if there is a fix for the problem.