My laptop suddenly shuts down!

I went to my computer and did what you told me.

A few minutes ago, while I was playing FIFA Soccer 2004 (it's PC Game in case you haven't heard of it) my computer suddenly shutted down again without any blue screen and error message though.

I have noticed that recently that while I'm playing this specific PC game the laptop it's much more likely to shut down than usually. I mean if now I play again FIFA it's most prabable that in 20-30 minutes the laptop will shut down again. But if I just leave it to download things from the net it will probably shut down again in 2-3 days. Might also be just coincidence. I don't know...

So any other way to see the "error code"?

To avoid a misunderstanding I should mention that I did what you told me in "my computer" before playing the pc game and that's why it's weird that the laptop still shutted down (completely switch off, not reboot) and no blue screen appeared, as usual.

The most recent errors in Windows XP Event Viewer in "System" section are:

The server {520CCA63-51A5-11D3-9144-00104BA11C5E} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

The most recent errors in Windows XP Event Viewer in "Application" section are:

TrueVector engine: File "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\MATRIX.ldb" was corrupt and has been copied to "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\xDB1D.tmp".  File "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\MATRIX.ldb" was corrupt and has been deleted.

TrueVector engine: File "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\IAMDB.RDB" was corrupt and has been copied to "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\xDB1C.tmp".  File "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\IAMDB.RDB" was corrupt and has been deleted.

TrueVector engine: File "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\IAMDB.RDB" was corrupt, restoring from backup "C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\BACKUP.RDB".

_______________________________________________

TrueVector engine is a program used by my "Zone Alarm Pro" firewall. So is there any chance that there is something wrong with the software firewall which causes the computer to shut down?
Do these error make any sense to you concerning the laptop's sudden shut down?

I will try to disable it for now just in case.. .

I use an external monitor instead of my laptop's TFT screen. Therefore i have the TFT all the way down (not of course in the side of the keyboard) There are two ventilation holes. One of them is in the side when the TFT screen covers. So it's most likely that huh? What do you suggest though if the problem is overheating and I still want to use the external monitor? Buying an external usb keyboard so that to have the laptop closed down?

I downloaded and installed AIDA32. Where do I see the fan speeds and processor temperatures? I'm still seeking for it :P

You should be able to find it at Computer => sensors
If you get only a gray field on the right side, your laptop doesn't have any sensors and you're out of luck on checking this.

As you said, you keep your laptop opened up, so the screen shouldn't give problems with covering cooling holes, but you should have some at the back of your laptop. Use a vacuum-cleaner to make sure no dust is in there blocking the fans.

>>TrueVector engine is a program used by my "Zone Alarm Pro" firewall. So is there any chance that there is something wrong with the software firewall which causes the computer to shut down?

Did disabling ZA help?

My laptop has no sensors :(

I uninstalled ZA completely. Haven't  played FIFA yet to test if it shuts down again :P

So let's just waits if it goes better now.

I have noticed that my IBM laptop kicks on a fan after it's been on for a while and the desk it is sitting on gets very warm.  You may be blocking the ventilation holes in the back, especially if it's not on a flat surface.  Heat shutdown matches the intermittent nature of the shutdowns and explains why it is more likely to shutdown while playing a game.

for your knowledge , overheating may also cause shut down , this also depend of motherboard , you may need to add in extra CPU fan to cool it.

A few minutes ago, I was playing Need For Speed Underground (a PC Game with cars) which I just downloaded. When I exited the game and wanted to return to Windows the screen completely froze (even the mouse wouldn't move) and I had to shut down the laptop by pressing its power button. Then I switched it back on and a blue screen appeared:

Stop c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The Windows Logon Process system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0x00000402 (0x00000000 0x00000000)

The System has been shut down.

I don't use the external monitor right now so the laptop ventilation should work just fine...
But still the system keeps shutting down... last time it did with the error i wrote in my previous comment. So are you sure the problem is overheating indeed?

http://www.aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm

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0xC000021A: STATUS_SYSTEM_PROCESS_TERMINATED
This occurs when Windows switches into kernel mode and a user-mode subsystem, such as Winlogon or the Client Server Runtime Subsystem (CSRSS), is compromised and security can no longer be guaranteed. Because Win XP can’t run without Winlogon or CSRSS, this is one of the few situations where the failure of a user-mode service can cause the system to stop responding. This Stop message also can occur when the computer is restarted after a system administrator has modified permissions so that the SYSTEM account no longer has adequate permissions to access system files and folders.

Possible fix given there:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318666
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>> I was playing Need For Speed Underground (a PC Game with cars) which I just downloaded.
Point 1) get the real game.
Point 2) Did you download it to some P2P network? Then I suggest you start scanning your harddrive for virusses and ad/spyware:

Online virus scan:

TrendMicro
http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp

RAV
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan

BitDefender
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php

Panda
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan

Kaspersky
http://www.kaspersky.com/remoteviruschk.html

spyware/adware:

HijackThis
http://www.webattack.com/download/dlhijackthis.shtml

Keylogger Hunter
http://www.webattack.com/download/dlklhunter.shtml

KL-Detector
http://www.webattack.com/download/dlkldetector.shtml

X-Cleaner Free
http://www.webattack.com/download/dlxcleaner.shtml

SpywareBlaster
http://www.webattack.com/download/dlspywareblaster.shtml

SpywareGuard
http://www.webattack.com/download/dlspywareguard.shtml

SpyBot-S&D
http://www.webattack.com/download/dlspybot.shtml

Ad-aware
http://www.webattack.com/download/dladaware.shtml

SpySites
http://www.webattack.com/download/dlspysites.shtml

If anything is found, you learned the hard way not to use P2P networks.

I have norton antivirus 2004 pro and I have the latest updates of its libraries too. So I will do a full virus scan using it. The weird is that the game plays just fine... and only when I exit to Windows the system freezes!

Some virusses will render your virusscanner useless once they're in the system, I suggest you use housecall first. Also, try to download one of the four files listed at this page: http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm Your virusscanner shouldn't let you to, if it does, your virusscanner isn't working.
Also, scan for ad/spyware.

And really, if you like the game, BUY it!

I downloaded a file from http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm and my antivirus automatically deleted the "test virus".

Then at least your virusscanner is working. Still I suspect overheating, have you tried cleaning all ventilation holes with a vacuum cleaner?

Check for MS patch MS03-026, if you don't have that it may be msblast.

here's a link for the patch:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/
bulletin/MS03-026.asp

cheers

lol I don't have msblast... gee that bug was back in July!

Yes, I did clean the ventilation holes with a vacuum cleaner.

Anyway there is no virus that's for sure. I tried instead of "exit to windows" from the game "Need for Speed Underground" to try to "change tasks" by pressing "alt-tab". That way I was able to see that Windows prompted a message saying something about a device problem. So I checked the Event Viewer and I saw this error message:

-----------------------
The driver ati2dvag for the display device \Device\Video0 got stuck in an infinite loop. This usually indicates a problem with the device itself or with the device driver programming the hardware incorrectly. Please check with your hardware device vendor for any driver updates.
-----------------------

My ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics card crashes when I exit this specific game and that's why my system freezes. I checked google and I saw that other people who use radeon 9000 have the same problem with some games. I checked ATI's web site for drivers updates but they say that I have to check my laptop's website to see if they have issued any updates, and they haven't. So concerning this game I don't think there is something more I can do.

The problem with the sudden shut down hasn't appeared for a while but might be just luck. If I have any other sudden shut down I will let you know.

Keep checking for an updated driver for your videocard, if even that doesn't help, I think you're out of luck. :-(

Ya....I've seen this a few times on laptops.  Usually the laptop manufacturers do not make updates/patches as quickly as the vid card manufacturers.  
Since there is much more to a laptop than the vidcard.
what I would suggest is contacting the manufacturer...and send them a message with the problem you are having...maybe....just maybe they may be able to answer you....or maybe even push them over the top to do something about it....

Hey there!

I have a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo D8800 and am having the exact same problems. My laptop was at the same sate yours seems to be now, in last summer. Since, it's gotten much worse. It began with games, couldn't play anything, or the machine just shut it self down. Now, all I need to do is use a word prosessor, and it does the same. I think you have the same situation, and it wont get any better by itself, on the contrary.

What helps, is keeping the laptop next to a window, that I keep slighly open, so cool air (-10 Celsius outside) gets to the laptop and cools it down. This way I'm able to keep it stable while not doing anything resource expensive, but games are still a total no-no.

I've still got half a year of the 2-year warranty left, so I've been trying to get the time to take the laptop for service for quite some time now, but the problem is, the service takes from 1 week to 2 weeks, and this is my only computer which I need for school and expecially for work every day...

Someone suggested getting new drivers... Well, I would, but the problem is, my laptop is now almost two years old, and there hasn't been one single driver update from Fujitsu Siemens since...!

Tell me if you get it any better! I'll also post here, if I get any improvements...

-Tuukka
Ps. Never again Fujitsu Siemens...

I had a long uptime of 15 days but problems started again a few days ago. I have noticed that the laptop automatically shuts down after a long time of 100% CPU usage. The problem though is that even when I try a simple virus scan with Norton Antivirus... the CPU usage is 100% and it keeps on shutting down without letting me finish the virus scan :(

Obviously it shuts down in order to avoid overheating which is caused by the extended 100% usage of the CPU. What can I do now?

I think you should take it to a repair shop, to get the fans cleaned/replaced so your CPU won't overheat anymore.

but i don't it's that... something else is weird.... it's not normal to run a virus scan and hit 100% CPU usage!!!

No, I agree with that, but you should first try to get it to stop overheating.

the computer is running at 10-20% CPU usage and when I try to use Norton Antivirus scan it hits 100% for a couple of minutes till it suddenly shuts down because of the overheating :(

Same thing happens when i try to use the scan of Spybot - Search & Destroy. On the other hand,  Adware scan doesn't demand that much CPU and therefore I'm able to finish scanning and make sure the computer is clean.

Watching divx movies also demand lots of CPU and laptop sometimes shuts down while I'm watching a movie.

I will take it to a repair shop to make sure the fans are working fine, clean the area there from dust so as to take care of the overheating...but is there any suggestion why a virus scan would hit 100% cpu usage?

Please, this is just meant as good advice:

Bring it to a repair shop so at least your computer doesn't crash anymore because of overheating, afterwards, you can start troubleshooting the virusscan CPU usage. The crashing can only give more problems, get it solved as soon as possible.

I don't thik you should be that much alarmed by the 100% CPU usage during virus scan. Virus scan is quite tough a task for the processor. I have F-Secure and it varies between 40% and 100%, depending on what is being scanned. Some specific types of files and large files need even more processing power and time, so it is not uncommon for the CPU usage to stay in 100% for quite some time. All this depends of course on what you have on your disk and which software are you scanning with but basically it is a heavy operation, and 100% is just normal.

My laptop is getting a rest now, waiting to get into repair maybe next week. I'll let you know what they find out and if it gets any better.

Having the same display problem...here's my laptop info:

OS: Windows XP Pro version 2002 Service Pack 1
Make: Toshiba Satellite 1115-S123
Chip: Mobile Intel Celeron 1.50Ghz
Display Adapter: Mobility Radeon by ATI Tech
Display Driver Version: 6.13.1.6071

Hey!

I got mu laptop back from the service, and it works like a charm! All they did was change the heatsink into a better one.

The fan used to be up on full speed before the service, now it is, under normal use, half the time completely off and the other half on with quite slow a speed. I even tried pressing the system on it's limits for quite some time, and even then the fan didn't pick up those speeds it used to have before continiously!

I also have a Fujitsu Amilo D and I have a similar problem to what you described however I think mine is something to do with the casing.

I was thinking it was the cpu overheating and/or windows however i get the same problem a lot of the time in Linux SUSE 9.0 as my system is dual booting. I've had the Amilo D open and the entire back panel cannot be removed I think its superglued in one place to stop people opening them. I just wanted to check for loose connections, try disconnecting the cd rom etc...any I have recently discovered that the computer restarts whenever pressure or a knock is applied to the front of the laptop when it is open. Below the touchpad and around the two holes for the lid to clip in, if I tap the laptop at the holes with the pressure directed towards the keyboard then the laptop restarts, i think its shorting some component out inside, if i leave the laptop on and dont touch it it stays on no problem, if i type without resting my palms below the keyboard its fine also, so i do believe its a casing problem.

Anyone had this problem or know how to fix it? also if the table the laptop is on is knocked in a certain direction it also restarts without warning, i wonder if there is a way to pad out the inside of the laptop where the problem occurs, or to put a sheet of anti static material between the bottom case and the motherboard.

Any ideas are welcome,

thanks

John

I got my laptop back from service and all they did was to clean the dust near the fan. Now it works just fine. I also baught a Laptop Cooler and I think I have solved my problem. Thanks for all your help. Please ericpete  close this question :)

shrewd would you mind closing the question then and awarding points?  Seems like several people suggested laptop coolers like myself...and a heat issue

Yes, you are right... my bad! I splitted the points to the two people who helped me the most with their suggestions :)

thanks shrewd!

ditto :)

LucF