Crashes :(

[Arakorn]

First off, this is my first post in this (excellent ;)) forum. I wasn't also sure where to post this, but since it makes gaming almost impossible, it's an emergency for me :D. There wasn't any other forum title that IMO suited my problem.

Anyhow, onto the problem:

In the past week, my computer has started crashing suddenly while playing games. Some days it's even been 4 crashes a day!

I want to state now, that when it crashes, it reboots automatically and immediately! Although today I've had a few CTD:s also...

It only happens when I play games, and a error comes up: (Finnish)

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/5334/crash15ly.th.jpg (http://img154.imageshack.us/my.php?image=crash15ly.jpg)

It doesn't seem to matter which game it is, but I've been playing 3 games lately, and all have crashed; Tony Hawk's Underground, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - The Sith Lords and Star Wars: Battlefront II.

The errors says (roughly translated):


The system has recovered from a serious error.

A "report" has been formed out of the error.

Notice Windos about the problem.
"things that isn't anything important"


And then I can view the error report (clicking on the blue text), which shows two files, but the pathway is faulty, it's:


C:\DOCUME~1\"my user name"~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER5620.dir00\Mini062106-04.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\"my user name"~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER5620.dir00\sysdata.xml

The pathway is often different BTW.

I can also send it, or don't send it, I've sent it once, but I really think that it won't help.

I don't think it's a virus, since I ran a full system scan with my anti virus software yesterday, and it only found one spyware thingy which it deleted (it's been a while since I got something, it often shows 0 on both (virus and spyware)).

Any ideas?

Is it just a new comp or?

BTW, can I delete all contents of the Temp folder? Because it's currently 800-900 MB and I'm kinda short of HDD space right now.

Also, Fatsheep suggested it might be a temperature issue.

So I used http://www.sisoftware.net/index.html?dir=&**********downandbuy&langx=en&a= (Sandra Lite) to check my CPU temperature, and while being idle (actually, I was browsing the web) it stayed quite stable at 62 degrees (C!). And when playing, it raised with one degree maximum.

My system:

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2400+
GPU: NVidia GeForce 4 TI 4200
Memory: 512MB
HDD Seagate 120GB (abouyt 15GB left)
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home Fin

Also, one guy suggest4ed that it might be drivers, and said that I should remove them with drivercleaner pro and reinstall them, but I highly doubt that, since I haven't installed any new drivers for quite some time now, and why would it start crashing just now???

[edcentric]

My favorite culprits for this are voltage and temperature. You should install Motherboard Monitor and watch temps and voltages.
Why now, well some part may be getting weak with age and running hotter. When was the last time you opened it up and cleaned everything? It could be dust buildup or a fan that isn't running correctly.

[profdlp]

Your temps are definitely on the high side. As a start, try cleaning out the case, paying particular attention to the Heat Sink Fan on the CPU.

It is safe to empty the Temp folder, though it is normal to have a few files which can't be deleted.

The fact that your Temp folder is so large is worrisome. I'd recommend that you run a HijackThis (http://www.short-media.com/download.php?dc=69&p=3) scan and post the log here. Don't remove anything yet - most of what it finds are normal items, some of which are necessary. We'll have a look and help you from there.

What Power Supply Unit do you have? What is the rating on it for the 12V+, 5V+, and 3.3V+ rails?

[Sledgehammer70]

You say this only happens when gaming? what games are you playing? I am betting it has to do with the Nvidia driver

[Arakorn]

Hmm, so many replies ;)


My favorite culprits for this are voltage and temperature. You should install Motherboard Monitor and watch temps and voltages.
Why now, well some part may be getting weak with age and running hotter. When was the last time you opened it up and cleaned everything? It could be dust buildup or a fan that isn't running correctly.

Well, fact is that it's a 3,5 year old prebuilt Fujitsu-Siemens computer, and I haven't cleaned it once! :(

Though the case has been opened maybe once or twice.

I think I should clean it up, but I have no idea how :(

A vacuum cleaner is of course out of the question...

Oh and is there a link and N00B-step-to-step instructions for Motherboard Monitor? :P

You say this only happens when gaming? what games are you playing? I am betting it has to do with the Nvidia driver

Lately I've been playing these games:


Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords
Tony Hawk's Underground
Star Wars: Battlefront II


The computer crashed with all of them, and with BF2 (star wars one ;)) it also CTD'ed.


It is safe to empty the Temp folder, though it is normal to have a few files which can't be deleted.

The fact that your Temp folder is so large is worrisome. I'd recommend that you run a HijackThis scan and post the log here. Don't remove anything yet - most of what it finds are normal items, some of which are necessary. We'll have a look and help you from there.

OK, I'll check to see if I still have HiJackThis installed.

Umm, apparently not...
Well, thanks for the link, I'll run a scan ;)


What Power Supply Unit do you have? What is the rating on it for the 12V+, 5V+, and 3.3V+ rails?
Well, I have no idea! Can I find this out with dxdiag or must I open the case?

EDIT:
Here's my log list:

[Enverex]

Well, fact is that it's a 3,5 year old prebuilt Fujitsu-Siemens computer, and I haven't cleaned it once! :(

I'd almost put money on either dying PSU or overheating due to everything being clogged up with dust, dirt, soot, dead animals, etc. Clean your PC!

[profdlp]

Open the case and look on the side of the PSU for a label with the ratings. While you're in there you can clean out the "dust, dirt, soot, dead animals, etc." as well. ;)

There are a couple of questionable items in your HijackThis log, but I'd do the other stuff first and see if it makes a difference. At that point we can send you over to the experts in our Spyware/Virus/Trojan Discussion Forum (http://www.short-media.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57). :)

[Leonardo]

Well, fact is that it's a 3,5 year old prebuilt Fujitsu-Siemens computer, and I haven't cleaned it once! Ouch! I'd be afraid to open the case's side panel.

Clean out the computer first, paying particular attention to all the fans you can find. You need to use forced air -- canned air, or a compressor hose/nozzle (be careful of oil in the air), or air from a reversible vacuum cleaner. If you use a reversed vacuum, please touch the frame of the inside of your computer first to discharge any static electricity that may have built up while handling the vacuum cleaner.

[Arakorn]

Anyways I'll be onn a weeks vacation, back next Thursday, and this happens probably the most of the summer, so I don't have that much time with my computer :(

EDIT: How can I find out what motherboard I have, I'm pretty sure it's a Fujitsu-Siemens one, I just don't know which. I need this for the Motherboard Monitor program...

[Arakorn]

Well, CPU-Z said I had a Gigabyte MoBo, so I configured MBM with it, and here's the result: 62-63 degrees! (C)

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/7386/temp5zm.jpg

I will not test with the other one, Prime95, and see when it crashes ;)

EDIT:

Uhh, I ran a options>torture test, with the second option (In place large FFT's), because it said that it tests maximum heat. After a while the temperature raised up to 71 degrees, at which point i got a warning, and ended something...

(I think it was MBM that warned me, because when I shut down MBM, a same looking window came up. So the error in Prime might have been something else...)

[Arakorn]

I just cleaned up my PC with a vacuum cleaner from the inside (lowest effect), and then ran a test game, no crash. I still have to do some more testing, But I'm going to check the temperature first, see if it changed or not.

Thanks for the help, and BTW, my PC HAS indeed been cleaned before, when the WLAN card was installed ;)

EDIT: Yes the CPU is now "only" 50 degrees and the case 43.

[Leonardo]

now "only" 50 degrees and the case 43 You have slain the evil dust bunnies that were wreaking havoc. That's a huge temperature difference.

[Arakorn]

It is, it is, but is it normal?

[Leonardo]

50CPU/43Case is a bit high if those are temperatures when the computer is at "idle" (resting). It may be that your computer case does not ventilate well. With that said though, if you can do everything you want to with your computer, I wouldn't worry about it. If your machine is stable under all operations, you are in good shape.