SL suddenly crashes and PC restarts

Hi guys...I hope someone can help. My sister is having an issue with her desktop. A few weeks ago, just all of a sudden, she was unable to run SL on it. She started SL up and stayed logged in for less than a minute, then the whole computer restarted. We uninstalled and reinstalled, tried different viewers, disabled the anti virus, and updated drivers for her graphics card. Finally we gave up and she started using an older laptop (it's really laggy and bad graphics but she could stay logged in) Anyway, a few days ago she decided to try and log in on the desktop again and it let her log in and stay logged in. So the desktop that was once borked for SL was finally working again. Well today she tries logging in on that desktop and it is doing the crashing thing again. It's very odd. The computer runs games such as WoW with no problem at all. Spces are below. It's an older pc with updated parts...

emachines
system model T6212
windows xp
1534MB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 3400 series
Processor AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz

If I left anything out as far as specs just let me know, and thanks in advance for any help!

Sounds like the CPU might be overheating.

Most games do not make CPU/GPUs run as hot as SL does.

Look online for a system Burn In test program. It will run some heavy stuff on your CPU to see max it out and see if it can take the stress so if it is a heat problem the "stress test" program might cause the computer to crash/reboot.

wow, fast responses...thanks guys, we will try that.

There are two stress test programs that might help: Orthos and Furmark. Orthos has options to stress test the CPU and memory (or both at the same time) while Furmark runs an OpenGL stress test on the graphics system. Memtest is another good memory check that may find errors. And to add to the list of tools, I would also recommend that you download CPUID, which will monitor temperatures on the CPU and any other hardware including the graphics system and hard drives if they have temperature sensors.

I would first install CPUID, and let it run during all tests to look for problems.

Then run Orthos and select the option to stress CPU. If you have a dual-core, run the program twice, and you can select which core it is assigned to: select a different core for each instance that is running. Give it at least 20-30 minutes.

If everything is OK, close one copy, and change the other to the setting to stress memory. Let that run 20-30 minutes.

If that works, close Orthos and run Furmark for as long as your GPU can take it.

Orthos:
http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=200

Furmark:
http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

CPUID:
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Memtest:
http://www.memtest.org/

You can also try the quick version of memory testing: Open the computer and remove all but one memory card. See if it will run. If it does, replace it with a different card. Try each one to see if any are bad. While you are in there, blow out the fans and make sure the CPU fan is able to spin freely, and make sure everything is properly seated.

Overheating would be my first thought as well. There are a few other possibilities I'd look into, though, if I were you:

1. It could be a faulty memory module. Download and run memtest86 to check that all the modules are in good working order. I'd also suggest taking them out and putting them back, just to make sure they're seated properly.

2. The video card might no be receiving enough power. If the specs I'm looking at are right, the video card you've got in there was an add-on, correct? It's possible the pre-existing power supply doesn't have enough juice to power the newer card when the system is running at full load. I wasn't able to find a spec on what PSU eMachines might have put in there, so I can't say for sure.

3. It could be a timing problem. If you've done any overclocking, the CPU might be talking faster than the memory can listen. When this happens, the result is usually a memory dump, followed by an instant shutdown. This is a very common problem with overclocked systems. SL stresses the system more than most other programs, so it's not unusual for this type of problem to rear its head while SL is running.

4. It might be a voltage problem. Go into the motherboard settings, and make sure the voltages are right for every component you've got plugged in. If you upgraded the memory, it's entirely possible that the newer modules have different requirements than the older ones.

4. Something might be badly seated. Remove all components, and put them back in place. Sometimes a simple reseating can solve any number of problems, including the kind you've described.



If it is overheating that's the issue, here are a few things you can do:

1. Make sure all wiring inside the machine is neatly bundled and tucked out of the way. A sloppy case is a hot case. Unimpeded air flow is absolutely imperative.

2. Make sure all fans are clean, and in proper working order.

3. Add more fans, if you can, and make sure they're blowing the right directions. Typically, front and bottom fans are intakes, and rear and top fans are exhaust.

4. Invest in a good CPU cooling system. I'm a huge fan (no pun intended) of the Zalman 9500 series. The chip you have is socket AM2, right? This one should fit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223 I've got the exact same one in the machine I'm using to write this post, since it also fits Intel socket 775, and I absolutely love it. My CPU temp went down a full 10 degrees when I switched to it from the liquid system I'd had in place before.

5. It could be the GPU, not the CPU that's overheating, so make sure you've got a good cooling system on that too, and that it's got unobstructed air flow all around it.

6. Clean out all, and I do mean ALL, dust and debris from isnide the case. A can of compressed air, and a vacuum cleaner go along way. (Note: Don't touch any components with the vaccuum nozel, as that could cause a static discharge, and fry them. Hold the nozel a few inches away, and use it to snatch the dislodged dust out of the air, as the compressed air sends it flying off.


That's about all I can think of off hand. Good luck.

It's not necessarily overheating, although that could eplain it. I have had a similar problem myself. In my case, it's a strange problem that I seem to have worked around temporarily but am tryign to work on a better fix for.

My case? When my PC was under load (usually when playing SL) I'd get random BSODs. Sometimes I'd be playing for a while withouta prob, other times I'd get random runs of BSODs so 5-6 in an hour. In my case, it is related to my Gigabyte motherboard and 1066mh RAM. What Gigabyte tell you is that the board supports the faster RAM, what Gigabyte don't tell you is that the support isn't very good at all - dropping the RAM speed or using slower RAM reduces/eliminates the problem. When I get a chance, I'm gonna try a BIOS update. Just giving my 2c worth because in my case, I thought I had a heat problem, but it turned out to be something else.