Yes it is a stock issue. Your time compression has to be 1 or you have a risk of CTD happing.
For vista users here are some tips to make it compatible.
Proper installation,
Alway right click on setup and click on "Run as Administrator"
Patch 1.4b right click and "Run as Administrator"
Right click on desktop Icon and under Properties then Advanced click on Run as Administrator. Apply the changes.
Optional changes to desktop Icon if it works for you. under Properties then Compatibility, Run this program .... Windows XP SP2 and If your UAC is on click on Privilege Level again Run this program as an administrator.
Next,
Under System Properties then Performance Options then Data Execution Prevention you want to click on "Turn on DEP for all program and Services except those I select:" and add Silent Hunter III and any other multiple installations. This program monitors the memory for viruses and some times GAMES can set this off.
Next
How many have seen this error,
VISTA 32bit users
Display driver nvlddmkm stopped restponding and has successfully recovered.
I had to battle with Microsoft and NVidia tech departments for them to give me a straight answer. MS's answer was if your FPS drops below 10 there is a chance that the Vista's will start a mini memory dump for the Video driver and will attempt to recover it. That why you get the black screen for a few seconds then the displayed error message. Anyhow MS blames NVidia and NVidia blames MS. I believe there both equally responsible. By the way ATI has this issue with MS so don't assume your immune.
Best way to avoid this is keep your FPS high.
Also,
click on Start then run and type this line in and run it.
BCDEDIT /set IncreaseUserVa 2800
For further technical details I suggest you check out MS's technet site;
http://technet.microsoft.com