Computer crashing on betfair

valor

crossposted in computer forum, I assume its ok to post here given some people here might have experience of it

I got a new Dell computer about 2 months ago. It has been running great and perfectly until I started playing on Bet fair poker. Sometimes when I'm playing at betfair my computer just freezes - no blue screen or error or anything it just freezes, and then 30 secs or so later it restarts it self.

I cant figure out what is causing this because it never ever crashes aside from when I'm playing there

Is there any diagnostic tool I can use to tell me why its crashing and what is causing it etc?

The_Chopper

using vista or xp?

mocata

U need to do a bit of detective work, check the event logs first , might give you a clue as to wot is happening

valor

Im on Vista home Chopper

I dont know what the event log means or how I would go about reading it, thats what I'm asking here

Friend of mine is suggesting it may be the video card, Nvidia Geforce 8400, it doesnt have a fan on it, but I would imagine that if the video card was overheating it would happen other times other than only when I'm playing bf?

phantom_lord

someone probably stiffed you with a dodgy video card imo.

mocata

click on "start" then "control panel" then "Administrative tools" then "event viewer" This will bring up a list of all meaningful events on your pc, could bea lot of reasons for it crashing. you looking for things with red x's beside em, those are -ev

dvdfan

Heres how you access event logs via previous versions of windows, i presume its pretty similar with Vista

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997769(EXCHG.65).aspx

Next time you freeze record the time and then check the event logs, hopefully it will point out the programs that are causing the problems.

Also try updating your drivers. If your not so knowledgeable on how to find them this site is pretty good at finding them for you, could be free ones but ive used this and its pretty good. Think its only $25 for 1 year or something

http://driveragent.com/?PHPSESSID=03itntmeik20of2rommnuf2a04

valor

ok, there are 5 sections, application, security, setup, system and forwarded events

where am I looking? Under Application it says SDWInsec.exe is giving tons of errors all the time, thats a Spybot and Destroy program, but if that was causing it surely it would crash at other times too?

dvdfan

Id say your best bet is to narrow it down to the time the freeze happened because theres going to be lots of other unrelated errors etc or at least to within that hour and then see if there are any error messages around that time in either Application or System sections.

mocata

Yeah, also look under system, the others prob not that relevant. DVD fan is right tho, check out www.nvidia.com for drivers. Their site actually can autodetect wot card you have and point u in the right direction. Also betfair uses directx, so worth updating that too

http://www.filehippo.com/download_directx/

sikes

I doubt this is something that the event logger will be able to capture.

valor

I have updated my Video card and I assume directx is updated thru Windows Updater?

dvdfan

Sent you an email valor on where to download the newer drivers

Edit/// Too late already sorted

valor

I agree with Sikes that it makes sense it wouldnt be in the Windows Error log because if the whole computer freezes up and dies it wouldnt have time to write it to the log, right?

HoLLLLLaments

it was that dodgy keylogger i sent u

dvdfan

valor wrote: »

I agree with Sikes that it makes sense it wouldnt be in the Windows Error log because if the whole computer freezes up and dies it wouldnt have time to write it to the log, right?

Probably wont find anything but its worth a try to help narrow it down, for example camtasia studio froze on me the other day, i couldnt do anything for about 30 seconds but it still recorded in the event logger that there was an application error. Also whenever Iexplorer freezes and i close it down its recorded in the application section as a Application Hang

I dont know a terrible amount the event viewer but it might help at least narrow down if its drivers, or HM or Betfair etc but since your not getting errors and just freezing probably not

valor

fwiw I updated my video card drivers earlier but that website just told me they were out of date s hopefully that has some effect

dvdfan

How quick is google these days:eek:

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=betfair+freezing&meta=

mocata

Thats a bit scary actually. "What we do and say here echoes in eternity" (to mangle a quote) lol

valor

Uh

I updated drivers for all mys tuff thru that site

now when I reboot every time it says nwiz.exe has stopped working and windows host process rundll32 has stopped working

what does this mean?

mocata

nwiz is an application that helps nvidia cards manage multiple monitors, not essential really. It's possible that you could have to run the installer as an administrator (right click on it and pick Run as administrator from the wee menu). Windows defender can block startup programs too, which may be interfering. If you right click on the thing that looks like a brick wall in the taskbar, you can allow those apps u mentioned to run at startup.

valor

I rollback drivers and those erros go away

I reupdate, this time direct from nvidia site and they come back. pretty annoying

valor

the errors im getting are

these are the errors

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: nwiz.exe
Application Version: 6.14.10.11169
Application Timestamp: 47fda88f
Fault Module Name: nview.dll_unloaded
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 47fda858
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 100a178b
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 0ef6
Additional Information 2: be588973f30b1cfab012a879c0d60e91
Additional Information 3: 3825
Additional Information 4: 40be27cfb67473923ccaa251658161a8



Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BEX
Application Name: rundll32.exe
Application Version: 6.0.6000.16386
Application Timestamp: 4549b0e1
Fault Module Name: NvCpl.dll_unloaded
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 47ffbfc6
Exception Offset: 016a178b
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Data: 00000008
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 5f59
Additional Information 2: 8056ed5b1bd365a61b7d2b22a81cd462
Additional Information 3: c71d
Additional Information 4: 894efd11890f2093443b7ddc6fcf4cf6

eoin-dubh

valor wrote: »

crossposted in computer forum, I assume its ok to post here given some people here might have experience of it

I got a new Dell computer about 2 months ago. It has been running great and perfectly until I started playing on Bet fair poker. Sometimes when I'm playing at betfair my computer just freezes - no blue screen or error or anything it just freezes, and then 30 secs or so later it restarts it self.

I cant figure out what is causing this because it never ever crashes aside from when I'm playing there

Is there any diagnostic tool I can use to tell me why its crashing and what is causing it etc?

Dell Inspiron 9400 vista ?? Oh dear more trouble than it's worth...especially with Betfair...Throw it away ...you'll lose more from the Betfair disco's...

Bandara

might be best to just get XP installed onto it, vista caused me all sorts of problems on new dell laptop, and its sooooo slow.

cardshark202

Hammertime wrote: »

might be best to just get XP installed onto it, vista caused me all sorts of problems on new dell laptop, and its sooooo slow.

I have a dell laptop, vista runs perfectly on it.

Hitman Actual

If you're worried about GFX card temperatures, download Rivatuner, which includes a temperature monitor. In saying that, even though the 8400 is a cheapo card, it really shouldn't have any problems with poker S/W.

How well do you keep your machine running, btw? Make sure you have Vista and directx fully updated; do a virus/adware/trojan scan at least once a week; keep it firewalled, update the bios, etc, etc, etc. It's important that you do that before you can really look at debugging the problem you're seeing. Get the basics right first.

strewelpeter

I run betfair on a couple of different dell laptops running vista no specific problems like this.
Betfair poker client is a real nut roaster - open a couple of windows and your cpu will be running at 80% you'll need oven gloves to pick up the laptop!

Sounds like a tricky problem but something with overheating / auto protect settings for video or main cpu is possible.

mocata

As the guys mentioned above, betfair would work a pc harder than any bog standard poker client, just cos it uses directx API, and as such, has more in common with a game like doom than other poker software. First instinct was that the GFX card was dodgy, but just wanted to throw out some quick ideas he could try at 1 AM

phantom_lord

so the problem is with the graphics card?

Goodluck2me

valor wrote: »

crossposted in computer forum, I assume its ok to post here given some people here might have experience of it

I got a new Dell computer about 2 months ago. It has been running great and perfectly until I started playing on Bet fair poker. Sometimes when I'm playing at betfair my computer just freezes - no blue screen or error or anything it just freezes, and then 30 secs or so later it restarts it self.

I cant figure out what is causing this because it never ever crashes aside from when I'm playing there

Is there any diagnostic tool I can use to tell me why its crashing and what is causing it etc?

that used to happen me on betfair too when i used it ages ago never knew why though.

mocata wrote: »

click on "start" then "control panel" then "Administrative tools" then "event viewer" This will bring up a list of all meaningful events on your pc, could bea lot of reasons for it crashing. you looking for things with red x's beside em, those are -ev

Whats the story with Kernal power critcial fault?

Also whats the inspirion 1525 like? iyo.

cardshark202 wrote: »

I have a dell laptop, vista runs perfectly on it.

QFT. hard to get used to though.

mocata

Kernel Faults are used for errors in the core system, as opposed to user errors, which can be related to someone's windows profile. Might be worth downloading something called memtest and run it, altho TBH, ur straying into an area where u would be better off leaving it into a techy shop.

valor

Yeah someone on the computer forum suggested running Memtest. You have to boot it from a USB Key or something and I'm not quite sure how to do it etc

*if* its a problem with RAM, surely it will be giving me errors or crashes at other times also?

Hitman Actual

valor wrote: »

Yeah someone on the computer forum suggested running Memtest. You have to boot it from a USB Key or something and I'm not quite sure how to do it etc

*if* its a problem with RAM, surely it will be giving me errors or crashes at other times also?

Not necessarily; I had a memory problem once and the PC would only crash when running really intensive games (Stalker, iirc). Running Memtest is something I forgot, definitely test your PC with that. Rather than a USB key, it's easier to use on a CDROM. On the Memtest webpage, find the ISO image download, and burn that to a CDROM using whatever burning application you have (Nero?). Then place it in your CD drive, go to the BIOS and set the boot options to CD drive, and save and restart. It will run automatically from there.

I already have a Memtest CD somewhere if you want it.

mocata

Like Len said, memtest aint that hard to use, so worth a try to eliminate RAM as a possibility. You will soon approach a point though where ur wasting more time than it is worth. I have ran betfair poker on some pretty low spec machines with onboard gfx with no probs i can remember.

valor

lenny_leonard wrote: »

Not necessarily; I had a memory problem once and the PC would only crash when running really intensive games (Stalker, iirc). Running Memtest is something I forgot, definitely test your PC with that. Rather than a USB key, it's easier to use on a CDROM. On the Memtest webpage, find the ISO image download, and burn that to a CDROM using whatever burning application you have (Nero?). Then place it in your CD drive, go to the BIOS and set the boot options to CD drive, and save and restart. It will run automatically from there.

I already have a Memtest CD somewhere if you want it.

thanks, where are you based?
I dont have any blank cd's but I do have a memory key, any reason not to use the memory key if I can figure out how to boot off it?

valor

In the faq on how to use it from a floppy disk it just says

Run from USB Flash drive

FIXME

Anybody have any idea how I do it? its a .exe file, do I just put that on the floppy disk and boot from it or what?

mocata

U need to make ur USB drive bootable, ie put the files on it to allow you to run the fixme.exe

This tells ye how

http://www.weethet.nl/english/hardware_bootfromusbstick.php

People were suggesting cd-images cos they have all the things needed to do this in the iso file u download.

On the upside, if ur poker career ever goes tits-up, u are already probably a better computer repair man than 40% of pc world staff!

Hitman Actual

PM sent.

I've no idea how to use the USB key for this, but mocata's link looks good, so best of luck. It might not be a memory problem anyway, but it's definitely worth testing to rule it out.

ocallagh

what screen resolution you running betfair under? Try setting it to a standard 1024X768 screen resolution and running betfair.

valor

1920 x whatever

Wow I just tried 1024, its SO BIG

Why do you think that would matter niall?

strewelpeter

Only don't try it right now...their poxy site has crashed again.

CourierCollie

strewelpeter wrote: »

Only don't try it right now...their poxy site has crashed again.

Same here, 'Attempting Connection to Server...

mewso

First of all if you have Service Pack 1 (click start, right-click on computer and select properties. At the top it should say what version of Vista and it should say Service Pack 1 if it is) installed then you have the latest Direct X. It's not updated that often so it's highly unlikely to be the issue. You could try giving the program a higher priority. Ctlr+Alt+Delete and select Task Manager. Go to applications and right-click on Bet Fair poker and select Go to Process. Right-Click on the process and set priority to High or something and see how it goes. Not the best solution if it works but it might help.

I'd also get on to Betfair if it's the only program thats causing this problem. If it uses Direct X it may be Direct X 9 which is not as good on Vista as XP.

Also it might be worth knowing what kind of graphic enhancements betfair uses in Direct X. For example Anti-Aliasing might cause your video card to struggle so you could possibly force the system not to use it. I don't have an nVidia card so I'm not sure how this can be set but with a ATI card it's normally in the advanced video settings where you can tell it override an application and not use Anti-Aliasing etc.

ocallagh

valor wrote: »

1920 x whatever

Wow I just tried 1024, its SO BIG

Why do you think that would matter niall?

I have an NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 and I've had various programs crash my OS in the way you describe. Running WIndows Media Player with Direct X 9 at 1600X1200 on an external monitor will crash, however at 1024 X 768 it's fine.

It's unlikely as this problem is normally specific to NVIDIA and external monitors, however it's easy to rule out by checking

NickyOD

You most likely didn't get your machine with Service pack 1 installed. Have you installed that as well as all your other windows updates?

After two months if your machine is ONLY crashing when running bet-fair then there is nothing physically wrong with your machine and probably not a video card problem but another application running that's causing the crash. antivirus Software and spyware scanners are often the culprit because people go overboard with them. I've seen Norton crash Vista a lot.

I would disable your anti-virus and all your other add-on software while running betfair and see if it makes a difference. If it does then one by one re-enable them until you find the culprit.

The Al Lad

Sorel Mittzi hacked into computer's imo

Hitman Actual

NickyOD wrote: »

You most likely didn't get your machine with Service pack 1 installed. Have you installed that as well as all your other windows updates?

After two months if your machine is ONLY crashing when running bet-fair then there is nothing physically wrong with your machine and probably not a video card problem but another application running that's causing the crash. antivirus Software and spyware scanners are often the culprit because people go overboard with them. I've seen Norton crash Vista a lot.

I would disable your anti-virus and all your other add-on software while running betfair and see if it makes a difference. If it does then one by one re-enable them until you find the culprit.

You don't need anti-virus or spyware S/W running in the background anyway. Just do a scan once a week and you'll be fine. In fact, you should have loads of background tasks/services turned off. People tend to have far too much crap running in the background.

NickyOD

lenny_leonard wrote: »

You don't need anti-virus or spyware S/W running in the background anyway. Just do a scan once a week and you'll be fine. In fact, you should have loads of background tasks/services turned off. People tend to have far too much crap running in the background.

yeah totally. I have always just used AVG free and done the security at the router level. Never any problems. So many people with Symantec, Adaware, Spybot etc. etc etc all running at once giving their PCs a ****ing stroke!

Hitman Actual

NickyOD wrote: »

yeah totally. I have always just used AVG free and done the security at the router level. Never any problems.

Same as. I do keep the Windows Firewall on as well though. Surprisingly effective for a Microsoft app!

mewso

Yep AVG and Windows Firewall FTW.