gfx card dead? *UPDATE*

what the fuck is this s**t???


I was photoshopping and suddenly everything froze, nothing worked so had to reboot my pc via the power button. when it booted up again i checked the device manager to see if anything(aka my gfxcard) had malfunctioned, and indeed in the device manager it said my video card had been stopped for an error[Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)] Tried the rollback option which didn't lead me to anywhere. Next i went for system recovery to start with the last working settings, but now it wont go any further than trying to boot up windows and then restarting again...in an infinite loop...

Since i've never encountered anything like this before, does anyone have a clue if it's actually my gfxcard that has malfunctioned(or died?) or could this be somesort of a virus?

Should i try a format or do i need to look into getting a new gfxcard?

ps. my gfxcard is nvidia geforce 8600gt, it's umm...least 2 years old :/

reward

ps2. typing on laptop after not used it for ages is ridiculous.

******UPDATE******

took my gfxcard out and cleaned the excessive dust.

meanwhile i also discovered another gfxcard in my closet, that i had bargainedmate bought a new card himself so he asked if i'd want his old one...and i took it! from a mate. but i realised it's too big to fit inside my pc :/

i then looked into fixing my 8600gt with the solution Burneddi brought up, but before really putting it in the oven and cocking it up i thought i'd just give it a final try.
and for my surprise my pc booted up, it did give me a error message saying:
System Fan Has Failed!
Service PC to prevent damage to the system.

and now it's working, for how long...we'll have to wait and see.

cheers for all the help!