Freezing and crashing.

I keep freezing and then crashing with this message from Windows: "display driver stopped responding and has recovered." I have all updated drivers and this is my computer info from the "About SL" selection from the "Help" tab in SL:
CPU: AMD (Unknown model) (3013 MHz)
Memory: 3070 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (Build 6001)
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: GeForce 8400 GS/PCI/SSE2/3DNOW!
OpenGL Version: 2.1.2
LLMozLib Version: [LLMediaImplLLMozLib] - 2.01.18799 (Mozilla GRE version 1.8.1.13_0000000000)
Packets Lost: 1/13721 (0.0%)

I very rarely had this problem before the forced update. I tried the release candidate viewer and that did not help. Help? Anyone? Thanks!

<3 Rhi

So I am the only one?

That is an unusual error. The only mention I can find of it in the forums was from a person who also had an 8400, though. I have two things to suggest:

1. If you have work inworld that you really MUST get done, then go back to using the 1.19 viewer. You can avoid the "forced update" message by putting " -channel old" (actually, 'old' can be any word at all) in the command line you use to call SL. [If you're using a desktop shortcut, put it at the end of the Target line).

Of course, if you do that you will still be exposed to the rather nasty security hole that SL just plugged in the 1.20 viewers. The only way I know around that, and still use the 1.19 codebase, is to use a Nicholaz viewer - he just went back and created secure versions of his viewers. You would want the EC-h version. http://nicholaz-beresford.blogspot.com/

2. You could try downgrading your video driver (I know, unintuitive). I don't know the versions for the 8400, but I have seen messages from 8800 users who have downgraded all the way to 169.35 to get rid of errors. If you begin messing with your driver, remember to always uninstall before you install a different version. Otherwise SL will probably gag with the dreaded "Incompatible or old driver" message.

Good luck!
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was anyone able to find a solution? i've tried everything. i've reinstalled many times. safe mode not safe mod beta version different viewers... install with antivirus uninstalled .... etc. with all drivers i get brown rays or lines coming out of my head pfff only way to fix it is turn off my shaders but then i lose all graphics quality. if i let vista just install the driver it wants then sure it works and i get good graphics but like tonight i froze up and had to pull the pc power plug 5 times in 40 minutes i really don't know what else to try.

This is a 15 month old thread......which really doesn't make a big difference if you are experiencing what the OP was experiencing. The OP's issue from the discription appeared to be a driver issue. Simply a corrupted driver or an old, outdated driver. Since it's been over a year since his/her last respnse, I guess it's been resolved.

But you appear to be having another, more serious, issue going on. The error message the OP discribed is a Windows error message that the driver had stopped and that Windows recovered........his system did not crash (I'm sure SL did but the operating system did not). You seem to be discribing something else........your operating system is crashing in a big way. You lose all control and can only recover from the crash by removing the power to the computer. Now if you were getting the same error as the OP before this more serious issue came up I would definitely say it's a graphics card that has died on you. What is it that leads you to it's a graphic problem? Graphics, by far, are the most common cause of most problems in SL but they are not the sole cause.

I'll outline what I think might help (assuming it's a problem that began witht he same symptoms as the OP). Update your driver. But before you install any new driver (not just graphics) you need to, at least, uninstall them first (the use of a third party driver cleaner is recommended by a few here in these forums.......but under normal circumstances an uninstall is good enough). Letting Windows install your driver is bad mostly due to the lack of the uninstalling first issue..........I would say 50% of the time that method works fine. But when you are having issues with a driver you want to rule out that other 50% of the time. Now if that solves your problem that's the end of it........but I doubt your problem is going to be that easy.

I think you know when you disrupt the power to your computer in order to force a shut down you run the very high risk of damaging system files. System files are part of your operating system..........they cause major problems when damaged. You stating that you recently had to shut your computer down using that method says your chances are very good that you do have damaged system files (at least 5 times more of a chance than if you had done that only one time). But, there's little that can be done now about that except an reinstallation of your Windows operating system (and you could have gotten lucky and not damaged anything too ).

If your new driver does not solve your problem it could also be your graphics card itself that is damaged or dying. If you have an onboard graphics adapter (which most computers do) you can use that to trouble shoot to a certain degree. It seems you are using a desktop and not a laptop.......that's the assumption I'm going on. Remove the side from your computer case (of course unplug everything and discharge any static electricity by touching the the metal case with your finger or hand.............before you unplug the computer from the source. Be careful.....just touch the case nothing else). Once you've done that clean out the dust inside.....if you haven't done that is a while there will be a lot. A can of compressed air is ideal for that. Then locate your graphics card and physically remove if from you computer being careful not to damage it or the slot it's plugged into. Put the computer back to together, plug all your periferrals back in and plug your monitor into the connector for the onboard intergrated graphics. Launch SL and before you log in set all your graphics to the minimum in your preferrences. You'll probably get a bunch of messages about your graphics card not meeting the requirements, bad drivers, etc. But you should be able to log in anyway. The quality is going to be rotten. Then one by one increase your graphics until you get the best you can and still be able to do anything. Try going about whatever it is normally do in SL. See if you crash..........SL crashing (or your viewer) you are not overly concerned with since you are probably on the edge anyway with your graphics. Just log back in again. But, if you continue to crash your operating system that is not what you want to see........you need to reinstall your Windows again to troubleshoot more. But if that does not happen then it's probably safe to assume you need a new graphics card and you'll be back in business.

If you still have that problem........well, you might want to consider a new computer. I would recommend reinstalling your Windows............then if it still happens you need a new computer.

And, after all that, if you would post your computer specs and give a more detailed discription of your problem you would probably get a much simpler suggestion that I just gave.