Windows 7 crash / shut down

Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Outpost » August 19th, 2011, 6:40 pm

Hey all,
I can't find anything in the forums about this (though the search function brings up all kinds of interesting things related to the word "crash"!), but for the second time I got the blue screen of ... well, not death, but something dire! ... saying Windows had shut down. The first time it happened -- and this is the first time it's ever happened on this computer - it's about four or five months old -- I don't remember what I was doing; it was maybe two days ago. I'd guess MTC was open and the Cougar turned on, though. The second time, last night, I had just turned on the Cougar to cut something. Am I supposed to disconnect the usb before turning on the Cougar or something?
Let's see . . . it's Windows 7 (64 bit). Before and after the crash and re-booting everything seems to be running smoothly, but I don't know if I'm doing something wrong with regards to switching the Cougar on and off.
Thanks for all advice!
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Gigi » August 19th, 2011, 6:55 pm

Not sure this will be helpful, but I have Windows 7,64 bit on a laptop, don't use MTC to cut but use Inkscape and Signcut and have had no issues. I use a Keyspan adapter for stronger connection (need a longer connection) and have it connected to a USB hub and have no problems at all. I do nothing different when cutting - just turn the machine on and cut!

If I know I have a lot of intensive cutting to do, I will often reboot just to be sure my resources are as strong as possible, but that is just my personal choice.

Hopefully Dawn will have some clearer answers/solutions/ideas for you when she is around a little bit later.
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Suzan » August 19th, 2011, 11:10 pm

I also have Windows 7 64 bit, and have used both sign cut and MTC. I have never had that happen. But I also have the keyspan adapter. But that shouldn't have anything to do with it. It was needed for those of us that have older machines. I think. But according to Dawn USB is the worst connection type there is. I know she willhave the answer for you. It could be something with your anti-virus, I know certain ones really play with the cougar bad.
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Thyme » August 20th, 2011, 3:38 am

You do not need to do anything with the Cougar when you switch it on and off and it certainly should not be causing a crash.
Keep an eye on it, and please make a note of exactly what you were doing if it happens again.

Usb is the least reliable connection between computer and periphery, if you have a serial connection on your computer try that instead
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Outpost » August 20th, 2011, 11:41 pm

Thanks everyone, and I will be more aware of what I'm doing if it happens again.
No serial port on my computer, so the usb will have to do.

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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Gigi » August 20th, 2011, 11:50 pm

Remember you can use the keyspan - it greatly improved the connectivity for me. Just a thought...
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby sisson101 » August 21st, 2011, 2:38 pm

What exactly is the keyspan and where do you get it?
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Gigi » August 21st, 2011, 3:36 pm

Keyspan is a serial port adapter. You connect the serial port to one end of the keyspan and the other end if the usb port- - so mine is connected, serial port cord to Keyspan to usb cord to hub (or straight to your computer. Dawn can explain why it works so well,but I was having some erratic cuts when I first got the machine and I haven't had any since connecting via the Keyspan. I got mine at Amazon - I think. They are at Best Buy or electronics/computer place.
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Thyme » August 21st, 2011, 4:32 pm

Usb is an unreliable method of communication, serial connection is the best.
Most computers don't have a serial port now, but the keyspan is a combination of serial and usb. The serial cable goes into your cat and then connects to the keyspan which in turn connects to a usb cable. Its a compromise between the two methods and is what we suggest trying when there are problems with the comunnication
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Update Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Outpost » August 22nd, 2011, 5:04 pm

Thanks, I'll try the keyspan.
I'm not sure why I started this thread in a software discussion; I guess I did not and still don't know what the cause of the troubles might be. It might have nothing to do with either MTC or the Cougar, but those are the last things I added to the computer. MTC was back in late July, but I didn't do anything more than a little studying of it before the BC arrived - have basically used them simultaneously since then.
To date Windows has crashed four times now since the 16th. Two times yesterday. The first time on Sunday I was not even at the computer (the BC was plugged in via USB but nothing running). The second time was a few hours later and I managed to write a few things down before the bluescreen disappeared and the computer rebooted.
The error code was "PFN_LIST_CORRUPT", and internet searching says something on the order of:
"Memory management Page File Number list is corrupted. This can be caused by corrupt physical RAM or by drivers passing bad memory descriptor lists".
I also managed to find the "minidump" files for the four crashes, but cannot figure out how to open them (and if I could I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be able to interpret what was in them!)
So . . . I uninstalled and reinstalled the BC drivers yesterday. So far nothing untoward has happened, but the crashes do seem to be rather random in that either a few hours or a few days may go by before it crashes again. If that doesn't work I could take the computer back to an earlier time (I think) and reinstall both MTC and the BC drivers.
Am I on the right track? Any other information or suggestions?

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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Thyme » August 23rd, 2011, 3:43 am

When did you last reformat the computer?
Yes you could do a system restore, but it seems as though the blue screen is pretty random if you weren't even at the computer and doing anything.
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Outpost » August 23rd, 2011, 10:12 am

Sorry Dawn ... I didn't phrase that well at all. I got up from the computer to drive my daughter somewhere and when I came back a few hours later Windows had crashed and restarted. I presume it was right after I left, but enough time had gone by that I don't remember exactly what I was doing (or what it was doing ... maybe a Viao update?) when I left.
I have never reformatted the computer, but this morning it occurred to me that in addition to setting up and playing around with the Cougar, I did have to reinstall the HP wireless printer drivers/software (it stopped working for unknown reason and I reinstalled it on the 10th of August, about a week before Windows crashes started). Other than that, everything I've been doing on the computer besides Cougar-related tasks involve the usual ho-hum things ... browsing the internet, Word/Adobe documents, Picasa, iTunes. The only other hardware connected is the external hard drive and the wireless mouse.
If Windows crashes again, maybe I should try uninstalling and reinstalling the printer.

Thanks,
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Thyme » August 23rd, 2011, 10:53 am

Ok, one thing to bear in mind is that Windows operating systems do deteriorate over time. Many people buy a new PC when all they really needed to do was to reformat
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Outpost » August 23rd, 2011, 12:23 pm

I got this computer in January of this year, so I hope that's not the case yet!
Good to know, though. I do have an old Windows XP notebook that I am intending to reformat (the computer before the computer before this one ... that had a newer hard drive but was running really slowly when we replaced it (with the computer that is no more -- something drastic happened to the motherboard). I'm thinking that this XP one with no files or programs left on it would be a good candidate for experimenting with a reformat since I've never done that before.

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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Gigi » August 23rd, 2011, 1:06 pm

Reformatting isn't bad, Deborah - it just takes time because you are basically starting all over again. I have reformatted many times and it's not bad - but it does take a chunk of time depending on how much stuff you have on your computer. Every time I reformat or get a new computer I swear I am not going to load as many programs - and I stick to that - for awhile!! :hide:

Good luck - hope you get it all figured out!
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Thyme » August 23rd, 2011, 1:24 pm

Hmmm, it should be too bad yet.
Its only scary the first time you do it. I used to reformat my PCs every 3 months, that kept them in top running condition
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Tyler » August 23rd, 2011, 3:43 pm

It could very easily be an update thing or an HP printer thing. I have an HP laptop and printer, and it amazes me the garbage they throw along with the driver.

I reformat my computer every 6 months, just to clean up all the freeware I had downloaded and installed. It is amazing how much faster it runs after that! Just make sure you have all the disks needed before you start the installation.
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Outpost » August 23rd, 2011, 7:36 pm

Thanks all,
Guess I'll just have to take a deep breath and do it. Not this one first, though, please!
(So far 24 hours with no problems and counting. And crossing fingers.)

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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Gigi » August 23rd, 2011, 10:51 pm

Fingers are crossed right with you!
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Re: Windows 7 crash / shut down

Postby Outpost » August 25th, 2011, 2:36 am

Thanks for the extra crossed fingers, but alas, it was to no avail!
Another crash this afternoon ... this time I was cutting two small words (the last of my label "beginner" project") and the cutter just stopped -- mid-letter, with just a little bit left to go. I clicked "pause" and "pause" again, and then it finished cutting the remainder of the word. Then the bluescreen crash again! Back to the drawing board, but again, I'd prefer not to reformat this computer just yet. I'm letting the cat nap for a few days, to see if it happens again while the cutter is not connected to the computer. I ordered a usb/serial port converter thingie, and I'll try that next week.

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