Are you on another computer now, or how are you online?
I think all ways of installing patches is online, whether you use Origin or FordGT's
patch installer.
If you are able to get online, try using his
crash log analyzer, and it will give you a rough guesstimate of what's going on, because it could be graphics issues.
The patching thing is more likely, though, because mine had tons of problems before I patched it.
Also, you can go to (start menu) Computer > System Properties and that will tell you all of the specs.