I am quite enjoying the game, or I am at least trying to.

The game keeps crashing at random, usually within 20 minutes of gameplay.

I did run the game as Admin and in compatibility mode, it was pretty useless.

-Yes, my rig is power enough to run this game, so it's not a performance issue.


So, what should I do?

Try running the game via witcher.exe, rather than through the launcher. (still as Administrator)

try what he did, also are you running steam behind it? cause I had the same problem but once i stopped using steam i never got a single bug.

In another thread someone suggested running the game in Windowed mode to avoid crashes. Apparently there is a way to set this so that it looks exactly the same as fullscreen, using the tool found here:

http://gwr.orekaria.com/

I have not tried this myself but it might be worth a shot.

Check the original thread here, look for taltamir's post:

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/the_witcher/frequent_ctd_in_chapter_1

I have also heard that windowed mode solves some problems. I've not tried it.

I'm running the game on lowest possible settings on a vastly underpowered computer and get maybe one crash per hour.

My solution is just to save frequently. Anyone remember Morrowind? That was the crashiest game ever. I spent enough time playing Morrowind that I've kind of gotten used to playing crashy games. Still sucks, though.

@T2xx
I give you a summary why a PC would crash from my technical experience:

1. Graphics Driver issue. Be sure to use the older drivers if required if proven the game stability.
2. Did you Overclock your PC? Most crashes are due to RAM. Ensure your RAM are not faulty. It may run normal if you don't stress your RAM. But a game does use up most of your RAM. So if a memory segment of your RAM are having problems you will have crashes. Check it with memcheck.
3. Your CPU overheat. You may not noticed this. Open up your PC casing and check if the CPU fan, Graphics Card Fan, and any other FAN for ventilation are properly cleaned and no dust. Most of the time CPU overheat are due to thick collection of dusts.
4. Ensure you meet the recommended system requirement. If your card is just mediocre i advised using LOW settings.

Adios

Just reporting back that in the other thread where this came up, it looks like windowed mode actually fixed the problem. Could be that the Witcher just doesn't work well with fullscreen for some people. Worth trying... it's an easy test, and if it works, then you can grab that tool that will remove the annoying bar from the top so it will look just like fullscreen.