If you mean the game that comes with Win XP, I've got no problems with it on my system. Malware's a remote possiblity, but I'd say unlikely if you're not running into the problem with other apps.
Another possibility is that you've got problems with Direct-X, which many if not most graphics-intensive games and similar apps rely on. Try checking it with the Win DX Diagnostic -- if you don't have a shortcut to it anywhere, it's C:\WINDOWS\system32\dxdiag.exe on my system.