System shut down problem.

[Skullie]

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I am havin ga problem where DVD Movie Factory 5 shuts my computer down every time I get to the final step, burning the disc. It gets to the stage where it is converting the video, runs a few moments, then my system totally shuts off. Upon restarting, I have to set all my menu's again too. It doesnt save my changes. Did anyone else have this problem?

I'll try to give as much system info as I can. I have a P4 3.2ghz with 2gb of ram. 2 Hard drives, 300gb each, with plenty of empty space on them. My Motherboard is an Asus P4C800-E Deluxe, my video card is a GeForce FX5700 with 256mb memory on it. I have no sound card, I just use the motherboard sound. OS is Windows XP Pro w/ SP2.

I've tried shutting down as many services and processes as I can, and the problem still happens every time. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[htchien]

First, welcome to the forum.

If you try to burn a disk with Nero, will it crash and shut down, too?

To have the shut down issue in WinXP is usually caused by hardware problems. Maybe you can ask some PC experts near by you to do a system check for hardware issues?

H.T.

[sjj1805]

....... Upon restarting, I have to set all my menu's again too. It doesnt save my changes. Did anyone else have this problem?.....

To prevent this, after setting up your DVD menus save the project before starting the burning process.
It may be that you have a corrupted source file, have you tried a test project using some other source material?
If you think it might be a conflict with some other process, then try creating a Video Editing Profile
Failing all of that you need to go through the standard windows trouble shooting procedures.

Check the Windows Event Log for error messages:

START | RUN dialog box
%SystemRoot%\system32\eventvwr.msc /s
and press enter.
Now check the following two folders
Application
System

You will find a red circle with a white cross inside. Double click to open it and there you will find a link
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
This link also contains some hidden code appertaining to your error.
Double click and you will then be given more detailed information and possible cures.

[Skullie]

Thank you for the replies.

H.T.: Nero works just fine. My system never crashes unless I try using my Ulead program

Sjj1805: I did save the project, which is why I didnt understand how they erased. I tried reinstalling the application and it does the same thing. I did not, however, try the Event Viewer. I'll see if that gives me any clues. Thanks for the tip.

[Skullie]

Well I looked at my Event Viewer and went to Microsofts site to see what I could find on the error, and basicalyl it told me nothing Not sure what to do from here.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/suppor ... &LCID=1033

[Ron P.]

Yes that did tell you something, it's just you first need to know what a Page file is.
The Page File, used be know as the Swap File, and still is mistakenly referred to as the swap file. They are different, and is beyond the scope here.

However the error is telling you that there is a problem with your Page File. This is the space on your HDD, allocated by your OS, to use when your RAM is full. It is slower then RAM, but the CPU should be able access it slightly faster then it just being stored on your HDD. It is also known as "virtual memory".

To check the size of your Page File go to Control Panel>System. Then click on the Advanced tab, then Performance, then Settings. Then click on the Advanced tab. At the bottom is the Virutal Memory section. There is a Change button. Click on it. Now at the top you should see all of your HDD displayed. Highlighting each one will tell you if it has a paging file and how large.

Now something that I learned just the other day, it is a myth to have a page file 2-1/2 times the size of your RAM. It is a myth that you need to have a permanent paging file. With XP you can use a permanent paging file, because XP will create a dynamic page file in the event there is insufficient RAM, and the page file is too small.

What can help alleviate this sort of problem is to maintain a defragmented system. Then not assigning the Page file to another partition or Harddrive is recommended. Once your system is defragmented, assign the page file to the Root drive normally C:, (with a third party defrag program like DiscKeeper, the Page File can be moved to the outter sectors of the HDD platter). This increases the seek-read time to it.

One way to determine how large/small the page file needs to be is to start Task Manger (right-click on the task bar) or Ctl+Alt+delete, then click on the Performance tab. The meter you need to be concerned with is the PF Usage. With this up and visible, start running your video, imaging, any apps that you normally run. Run several together and watch the PF usage. The peak amount + 60-80(just for a cushion) megs is what your page file should be. I have mine set to about 684 megs, and my system is running smoother and slightly faster then when I had it set to 1.5Gig.

[sjj1805]

I once had that exact same error and the cause was a faulty hard drive.
Please view this post which was as a result of this exact same error.

I've done everything you suggested but I still can't get this to work!

Here is a Google search relating to the error message you posted.

Google Search Result

[Skullie]

Thanks again for the reply, guys. I appreciate all of your help so far.

vidoman : This might have something to do with it. I do know what a page file is and I have 2 of them. One on my C drive and one on my D drive. Perhaps I should try deleting the one on the D drive and see what happens. Both are set to the maximum the size can be. I defrag my drives daily with DiskKeeper.

sjj1805: I was worried about the drive too when I read into the error message. my drives are Western Digitals, and the utilities I have that came with them do not report any errors. They both come up ok even when I run a check disk, including a check for bad sectors. I think my drive is ok. At least I hope so. Thanks again for the help.

[Skullie]

Well I found my page file to be too large, so I cut the size down and it still failed on me. I'll run another checkdisk on my drives, but wouldnt the error say hard drive like all the other posts I've seen? Mine says its cdrom.

[sjj1805]

Perhaps your CDROM drive is faulty?

[Skullie]

No, the cdrom drive is fine. I just learned about 5 minutes ago that this problem is something larger than I thought. I was just playing a game online with my daughter and the system shut down, the exact same way it did when I was running Ulead before. So its definitely not Ulead causing the problem. Upon restart, my BIOS displayed a message stating that over clocking failed, but I never set up my processor to over clock, so I dont understand it. It took me 3 times hitting the power button to get the system to come back up. I fear I have a defective piece of hardware, be it processor or hard drive. Its just strange, my drives arent showing any type of errors at all.

[htchien]

So it's a hardware over-clocking issue?

Did you purchase the PC from some branded manufacturer or you build the system by yourself? If it's a PC built by yourself, then it's possible you have set the CPU clock or the CPU multiply factor to a wrong value to cause this problem.

I think you need to do a system check.

H.T.

[etech6355]

No, the cdrom drive is fine. I just learned about 5 minutes ago that this problem is something larger than I thought. I was just playing a game online with my daughter and the system shut down, the exact same way it did when I was running Ulead before. So its definitely not Ulead causing the problem. Upon restart, my BIOS displayed a message stating that over clocking failed, but I never set up my processor to over clock, so I dont understand it. It took me 3 times hitting the power button to get the system to come back up. I fear I have a defective piece of hardware, be it processor or hard drive. Its just strange, my drives arent showing any type of errors at all.

Sometimes this is the processor or Motherboard signaling the powersupply to shutdown the system. This is frequent on the ASUS line of Motherboards when there is a memory error or other hardware related issue. If you had to push the power button a few times to get the computer to boot then usually a hardware issue.
Depending on your machine it may be helpful to go into the bios and load the default setup. This usually corrects any bad settings in the bios that may be corrupted or incorrect. But, if your machine was custom built by someone this can also change important settings.

If you don't feel comfortable trying to repair yourself then take the machine to a good certified computer tech.
Before you do anything I suggest to boot the machine and backup your important data.

[Skullie]

Once again, I thank you guys for all of your help and patience.

It is a system I built myself, and not too long ago I had replaced the motherboard. A friend of mine told me before I read the last reply here, that he thought it might be the processor.

When I first saw the overclocking message, I went into my BIOS and set defaults. Today when my system shut down, I went into my BIOS, and found it to be running hot. Temperature was 87.5c / 189.5f.

I'm guessing this is causing the shutdowns. However, I'm not sure what the problem is. The fan and heat sink are relatively new, and rated for this processor. I'm wondering if maybe I didnt put enough thermal paste between the processor and the heat sink.

Either way, I'm considering a new fan (again), but I hope the processor isnt damaged.

[htchien]

Hi,

A friend of mine told me before I read the last reply here, that he thought it might be the processor.

That's what I thought, too.

When I first saw the overclocking message, I went into my BIOS and set defaults. Today when my system shut down, I went into my BIOS, and found it to be running hot. Temperature was 87.5c / 189.5f.

I'm guessing this is causing the shutdowns.

Yes, it is.

When the CPU temperature in the BIOS shows 87.5c, you should consider the real CPU temperature to be around 95c to 99c because the CPU thermal sensor on main-board is not really as close as to the CPU so there will be some errors. And when the actual CPU temperature is over 100c, your CPU will get burned to death.

If this situation continues, your CPU will be dead soon.

However, I'm not sure what the problem is. The fan and heat sink are relatively new, and rated for this processor. I'm wondering if maybe I didnt put enough thermal paste between the processor and the heat sink.

Either way, I'm considering a new fan (again), but I hope the processor isnt damaged.

With such a high temperature, CPU will be damaged inside. You might still see it working but it would be very easy to get hot and system shutdowns. In the end you might still need to replace the CPU. Replacing the fan might not help.

You better bring some experts to check your system so the situation won't go bad.

Regards,
H.T.