Hello all,
My friend told me about WoW and how it was a fun game so I signed up for the 10-day trial. I downloaded the full client, and then opened the game up to play. I typed in my name and password, and when I clicked the button to log in, the computer restarted itself out of nowhere. No error message or anything. So I tried again and the same thing happened. I tried a few more times and each time I got a little further, like I was able to get passed logging in, but once I started making my character, my computer restarted again.
My biggest problem is, I've searched all over for a solution to this problem and everyone says "Go to 'My Computer', 'Properties', 'System', and all that, and then uncheck the box that says, 'Automatically Restart', and hit 'Ok'". Well, I've done that, and then played again to see if I could get an error message, but the same thing happened! My computer restarted itself automatically. I double checked to see if the box was still unchecked and it was.
When I updated my graphics driver to the latest version, the game wouldnt even open, it said it couldn't start 3D acceleration, and when I ran the Direct3D Acceleration test with dxdiag, it failed on the 7th, 8th, and 9th steps or whatever they were. So I tried some older versions and found out that this 3D Acceleration problem occurs with every version of the driver newer than 7.8. So I have that version installed, but I have no idea how to fix this problem. Some computer specs:
OS: Windows XP Home Edition
System Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
System Model: A7N8X-E
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 3200+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz
RAM: 1536MB
DirectX 9.0c
Video Card: Radeon 9600 Series
256 MB
Display Mode: 1280 x 1024 (16 bit) (60 Hz)
I have never had a problem with the Direct3D before I updated the new drivers, and when I searched around many other people had the same issue with the ATI cards. When I downgraded back to 7.8 everything worked fine. The 9600 isn't that bad and I had installed it just about a year ago and it has been working fine ever since. Once again, failing the 3D tests only occurs with a driver version passed 7.8. When I use 7.8, it works fine. And I am still able to play games like Battlefield 2142 with the graphics set high. The video card works fine with everything, so I don't even know if that's the issue with World of Warcraft.
Also, it's unlikely to be an overheating issue because I ran the Asus Probe, which monitors the temperature of the comp, and I checked it like every 30 seconds when I had WoW open and there was nothing abnormal, and the temp read fine.
Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated, I can't find a solution anywhere!
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Sounds like a piece of hardware kicked the bucket. Random restarts are rarely ever the result of software, and most of the time some hardware conflict or failure. I know when I had my computer randomly restart and not be able to start back up, I found out that it was my RAM.
I'd go to http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ and make a boot cd and use it to check out your hardware. That's where I would personally start.
I'd go to http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ and make a boot cd and use it to check out your hardware. That's where I would personally start.
6 posts
Could it still be a hardware problem if it is only WoW that I am having problem with? Any other game or anything will work fine...
Edited, Feb 1st 2008 6:37pm by TownPsycho
Edited, Feb 1st 2008 6:37pm by TownPsycho
I think I had the same symptom a couple of years back, and it turned out that I had a bad stick of memory in there.
I ran some kind of standard memory test, (I forget the name of the specific program) confirmed that I had some bad RAM, and once it was replaced everything ran fine.
I ran some kind of standard memory test, (I forget the name of the specific program) confirmed that I had some bad RAM, and once it was replaced everything ran fine.
As stated above, use ultimatebootCD, its the best tool out there since it already includes memtest, the most often used tool for hardware checking.
Almost every single time its bad RAM, wich is bad but not as bad as a faulty Vid card or something else, since RAM is dirt cheap.
Just run the test, remove the bad RAM stick, and get a new one.
P.S: This would be better off in the Technical support forum.
Almost every single time its bad RAM, wich is bad but not as bad as a faulty Vid card or something else, since RAM is dirt cheap.
Just run the test, remove the bad RAM stick, and get a new one.
P.S: This would be better off in the Technical support forum.
TownPsycho wrote:
Could it still be a hardware problem if it is only WoW that I am having problem with? Any other game or anything will work fine...
Edited, Feb 1st 2008 6:37pm by TownPsycho
Edited, Feb 1st 2008 6:37pm by TownPsycho
yes answer this question. if it happens in other games too i would put my money on one of two things.
1. overheating
2. something has died, start with ram, then CPU, then MB testing in that order.
allthought it might be overheating or some hardware problem, if you have a radeon 9500 video card:) you might try to deactivate the usb in bios(IRQ problem) and/or give a format to C: If Windows recognizes the card dont install the drivers from your cd, just leave the once windows found:)
Edited, Feb 2nd 2008 8:00am by Chosenorc
Edited, Feb 2nd 2008 8:00am by Chosenorc
Random restarts can be caused by power supply issues too. If youve upgraded your pc but not your PSU you might be a prime candidate for power issues.
Test your ram and other internal hardware, if theres no viable problem there then take a look at your power supply.
You might also install another graphics intensive game and see if you can replicate the problem in a different program.....that pretty much seals it as hardware.
Lastly, Id been having CTDs in wow for a little while now and only just recently realized that WOW+AVG antivirus = constant crashes.
If you have AVG, you might try a different antivirus and see if that helps. (there are lots of free ones out there, just check up on it a bit before you install)
Test your ram and other internal hardware, if theres no viable problem there then take a look at your power supply.
You might also install another graphics intensive game and see if you can replicate the problem in a different program.....that pretty much seals it as hardware.
Lastly, Id been having CTDs in wow for a little while now and only just recently realized that WOW+AVG antivirus = constant crashes.
If you have AVG, you might try a different antivirus and see if that helps. (there are lots of free ones out there, just check up on it a bit before you install)
Scholar
35 posts
If you'd like to know what is causing the restart the place to check would be the system event log. This is how to get there:
1.Start menu ---> Control Panel
2.Open Administrative Tools
3.Open Event viewer
4.Click on System in the left pane
5.Look for an "Error" in the type column in the right pane.
Once you double-click the error a window will open up giving some details about the problem. A link will be provided taking you to the microsoft website with their description of the crash and possibly a solution.
At the very least this will narrow your search down to help find what is causing the problem whether it be software or hardware.
1.Start menu ---> Control Panel
2.Open Administrative Tools
3.Open Event viewer
4.Click on System in the left pane
5.Look for an "Error" in the type column in the right pane.
Once you double-click the error a window will open up giving some details about the problem. A link will be provided taking you to the microsoft website with their description of the crash and possibly a solution.
At the very least this will narrow your search down to help find what is causing the problem whether it be software or hardware.
By default a major crash causes auto-restart and that can make diagnosing harder. If you have XP, to turn off the auto restart and get the old fashioned BSoD with often helpful error code, go to control panel, open System. Click on Advanced tab, look for startup and recovery section and click on the setting button. In the system failure section, make sure auto restart is turned off.
Dunno how it is under Vista but I would think it's more or less the same.
Once you get the BSoD with the code, get the first set like 0x0000003D, the driver name (if any) and the name of the error like IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS
Then search on google the error name, error code, and XP or whatever OS you use and you should get a few very helpful hits.
Dunno how it is under Vista but I would think it's more or less the same.
Once you get the BSoD with the code, get the first set like 0x0000003D, the driver name (if any) and the name of the error like IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS
Then search on google the error name, error code, and XP or whatever OS you use and you should get a few very helpful hits.
One thing OP hasn't mentioned - are you using wireless or wired net connection?
I had the same issue when running WoW wireless: start game up, try to login, game would either freeze, BSOD or just restart the laptop.
Worked perfectly when hard wired, so I assumed that my particular combo of wireless kit didn't like WoW's data packets. It was fine for everything else though.
(It was a matched Netgear router/usb dongle btw)
The VGA issue is a different kettle of fish, but you found the right answer to that already :)
I had the same issue when running WoW wireless: start game up, try to login, game would either freeze, BSOD or just restart the laptop.
Worked perfectly when hard wired, so I assumed that my particular combo of wireless kit didn't like WoW's data packets. It was fine for everything else though.
(It was a matched Netgear router/usb dongle btw)
The VGA issue is a different kettle of fish, but you found the right answer to that already :)
6 posts
It is wired. However, I just tried to run Civilization IV and after a couple minutes the computer shut down, so I guess it is a hardware problem... I'll have to test it. Do I need anything like a certain CD to put the Boot CDs onto it or can I just use regular blank CDs? Because that's all I have...
TownPsycho wrote:
It is wired. However, I just tried to run Civilization IV and after a couple minutes the computer shut down, so I guess it is a hardware problem... I'll have to test it. Do I need anything like a certain CD to put the Boot CDs onto it or can I just use regular blank CDs? Because that's all I have...
overheating is first thing that comes to mind.
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=knoppix
download and burn the CD, then run the memtest on it.
free only takes time.
6 posts
Before I did anything, I took SirBloodthirsty's advice, and when I looked at the log, there was a bunch of the same error. Just to make sure it was the right one, I booted WoW again, and waited for it to restart, which it did (but it took awhile this time, which was odd), and this is the error that must be causing it to restart:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: ati2mtag
Event Category: CRT
Event ID: 45062
Description:
CRT invalid display type
EDIT: I searched that error and found it could be fixed by downgrading to 7.6. I did that, then started WoW and it ran fine for like 10 minutes, much longer than it normally did. Eventually, however, it restarted itself, and once again I looked at the event viewer. This time there were no errors within the time frame it restarted, but I skimmed through the the logs and one was labeled 'Save Dump'. It had the following:
Event Type: Information
Event Source: Save Dump
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Description:
The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x0000007a (0xe1b95e50, 0xc000009a, 0xbf96400b, 0x5fe52860). A full dump was not saved.
Could this be the problem? Anyone know anything else about this? It occured at the exact time the computer restarted when WoW was on and it is followed by a bunch of other info logs (which just the Service Control Manager and they all just said that something was starting up and running).
Edited, Feb 2nd 2008 12:14pm by TownPsycho
Event Type: Error
Event Source: ati2mtag
Event Category: CRT
Event ID: 45062
Description:
CRT invalid display type
EDIT: I searched that error and found it could be fixed by downgrading to 7.6. I did that, then started WoW and it ran fine for like 10 minutes, much longer than it normally did. Eventually, however, it restarted itself, and once again I looked at the event viewer. This time there were no errors within the time frame it restarted, but I skimmed through the the logs and one was labeled 'Save Dump'. It had the following:
Event Type: Information
Event Source: Save Dump
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Description:
The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x0000007a (0xe1b95e50, 0xc000009a, 0xbf96400b, 0x5fe52860). A full dump was not saved.
Could this be the problem? Anyone know anything else about this? It occured at the exact time the computer restarted when WoW was on and it is followed by a bunch of other info logs (which just the Service Control Manager and they all just said that something was starting up and running).
Edited, Feb 2nd 2008 12:14pm by TownPsycho
what was starting up and running?
6 posts
Just generic stuff like iTunes, etc..
well go into msconfig and disable EVERYTHING that is not a driver. restart the computer, check the box telling you it is a custom startup, and see what happens.
also before starting wow right click on the tool/task bar, click on task manager, processes, and right click anything that is running that does not need to be running.
no anti-virus
no anti-spy/ad/mal-ware
no firewall software like blackice or windows firewall
no media tools (realplayer, QT, etc...)
the ONLY thing that should be running is the OS, drivers, and WoW.... when you get to that point, then continue checking the error logs on a crash and post them here.
also before starting wow right click on the tool/task bar, click on task manager, processes, and right click anything that is running that does not need to be running.
no anti-virus
no anti-spy/ad/mal-ware
no firewall software like blackice or windows firewall
no media tools (realplayer, QT, etc...)
the ONLY thing that should be running is the OS, drivers, and WoW.... when you get to that point, then continue checking the error logs on a crash and post them here.
TownPsycho wrote:
Do I need anything like a certain CD to put the Boot CDs onto it or can I just use regular blank CDs? Because that's all I have...
Any burnable CD will work. Your CD burning software should include an option to make the CD bootable (search the program's help file for "bootable CD" to get the specifics for your program).
Since your main problem started after downgrading your video driver, a possibility is that fragments of the newer drivers are being used even though you are trying to use older drivers. Driver uninstall programs do not always get every file, and Windows will default to the latest version if it sees multiple versions of a file (even if the main driver is an older version).
There are a number of ways to fix it. The best resource I know of is DriverHeaven - here is a step-by-step thread: http://www.driverheaven.net/windows-xp-2k-radeon-display-drivers/107447-uninstalling-installing-ati-drivers-properly.html. The process isn't short, but old driver fragments have been known to cause all sorts of random issues such as those you are experiencing.
One other (long-shot) possibility: Have you moved your computer recently, or perhaps installed or uninstalled an internal component? Hard bumps to the computer can cause memory sticks or add-on cards to shift slightly in their slots and cause random issues. To fix this, you would re-seat each card(pull it out and stick it right back in).
Edited, Feb 2nd 2008 9:39pm by garfunkel
I would check the fan or cooling system, I have my pc fan set manually, when I game I turn the fan up. If I forget to turn the fan up the pc gets hot and restarts...usually in the middle of an instance.
I used to have the same exact MoBo and VPU. The only difference was that I was running a 1.2 overclocked to almost 2 and I had 2Gb of RAM. I had absolutly no problem playing WoW or EQ. I was even three boxing in EQ for awhile.
Turn on your voice prompts at startup.
"Computer failed memory test. Computer now booting from operating system" will probably become a very familiar phrase for you once you turn on your voice prompts.
It's not a memory problem, it's a board problem. The A7N8X was a very good board for it's time but it's old, very old by computer standards.
Lets just make sure before you go spending a bunch of money.
Leave the computer off for awhile then boot up and try it. Does it crash in a few minutes or run for awhile before crashing? If it takes awhile to crash after a cold start, it's probably an overheating problem, open the case and try it then.
Check the error logs, are the errors random or are they usually the same error? If they are usually the same it's probably a hardware problem with either the CPU, VPU or memory. If they are random, it's probably the board.
Turn on your voice prompts at startup.
"Computer failed memory test. Computer now booting from operating system" will probably become a very familiar phrase for you once you turn on your voice prompts.
It's not a memory problem, it's a board problem. The A7N8X was a very good board for it's time but it's old, very old by computer standards.
Lets just make sure before you go spending a bunch of money.
Leave the computer off for awhile then boot up and try it. Does it crash in a few minutes or run for awhile before crashing? If it takes awhile to crash after a cold start, it's probably an overheating problem, open the case and try it then.
Check the error logs, are the errors random or are they usually the same error? If they are usually the same it's probably a hardware problem with either the CPU, VPU or memory. If they are random, it's probably the board.
I'm inclined to blame power supply. Some cheap no name power supply tended to be unreliable and can get flaky after a few years. Power supplies (and some motherboards) made around year 2000 were especially bad because of inferior capacitors from China.
Get a decent $50 power supply, clean out any dust and make sure all fans are working, then try running WoW again for a while.
Get a decent $50 power supply, clean out any dust and make sure all fans are working, then try running WoW again for a while.
Have you done a clean wipe of the system? I would reinstall the OS. Patch fully. Reinstall drivers. Create a restore point. Put WOW on there and see if it works.
You must've had to rush to type all that out.
Have you checked your event log to see if there were any errors reported?
I recently had some bad ram in my PC. It would shut down unexpectedly, but I would also have all kinds of weird errors.
My GF's pc has a bad power supply and shuts down like you are saying. We rigged up a fan to help keep it cool and now the PC is usable.
All the advice given so far is good. I'd test RAM, then Virus Scan (outside of OS, Avast can do this for you and its free. Testing outside of the OS eliminates any driver or OS problems from the equation). If those check out, then run a DISK check using ScanDisk (included in windows). Computer Management -> Partition (Right Click) -> Properties -> Tools -> Check disk for errors.
I'd also try running a registry repair tool. Some new viruses write to the registry.
If those all check out fine, then you could either try swapping the power supply or have a PC technician check it out.
I recently had some bad ram in my PC. It would shut down unexpectedly, but I would also have all kinds of weird errors.
My GF's pc has a bad power supply and shuts down like you are saying. We rigged up a fan to help keep it cool and now the PC is usable.
All the advice given so far is good. I'd test RAM, then Virus Scan (outside of OS, Avast can do this for you and its free. Testing outside of the OS eliminates any driver or OS problems from the equation). If those check out, then run a DISK check using ScanDisk (included in windows). Computer Management -> Partition (Right Click) -> Properties -> Tools -> Check disk for errors.
I'd also try running a registry repair tool. Some new viruses write to the registry.
If those all check out fine, then you could either try swapping the power supply or have a PC technician check it out.
6 posts
Would a faulty power supply simply cause the computer to overheat? Because I had a temperature monitor running while opening all this and the temp was fine as I was running it, and right before it would restart.
It might not cause the PC componets to overheat, but the power supply itself can overheat and will shut itself off.
Does your power supply have a fan built in? Check to see if its running.
Does your power supply have a fan built in? Check to see if its running.
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