I think trainz is causing my computer to shut down.

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I maintain 25+ PC's at work and this sounds like a hardware failure or CMOS that got jacked, and when this happens to one of them I do this;

Turn it off, unplug everything from it, open the cover, blow out the insides with compressed air (especially the heat sink and fan for the CPU). Then remove the memory chips and the round CMOS battery. Press and hold the power button for several seconds several times. Then let it sit over night with all the pieces out of it. this will reset the CMOS. If you have an add on video card you should pull that out also.

Next day... Re-insert the memory chips and wiggle them in the slot while pressing down to make sure they are seated properly, re-insert the CMOS battery. Plug the keyboard, mouse, video cable (and video card if it had one) and then the power cord ONLY. Start the PC and play the game and see if the problem went away. If the problem is still there you have narrowed it down to a bad CPU, a bad memory chip, bad power supply or mother board. If it runs ok then turn it of and plug one more thing back in and start it back up and play the game. Repeat this for each thing plugged into the PC to see if it is something plugged in causing the problem. If at any time you crash at this point it is something plugged into it causing the problem.

If it dies at the first start up reply back and I can help you figure out where to look. If it dies when plugging things in, it's the thing you plugged in that's bad.
 
I maintain 25+ PC's at work and this sounds like a hardware failure or CMOS that got jacked, and when this happens to one of them I do this;

Turn it off, unplug everything from it, open the cover, blow out the insides with compressed air (especially the heat sink and fan for the CPU). Then remove the memory chips and the round CMOS battery. Press and hold the power button for several seconds several times. Then let it sit over night with all the pieces out of it. this will reset the CMOS. If you have an add on video card you should pull that out also.

Next day... Re-insert the memory chips and wiggle them in the slot while pressing down to make sure they are seated properly, re-insert the CMOS battery. Plug the keyboard, mouse, video cable (and video card if it had one) and then the power cord ONLY. Start the PC and play the game and see if the problem went away. If the problem is still there you have narrowed it down to a bad CPU, a bad memory chip, bad power supply or mother board. If it runs ok then turn it of and plug one more thing back in and start it back up and play the game. Repeat this for each thing plugged into the PC to see if it is something plugged in causing the problem. If at any time you crash at this point it is something plugged into it causing the problem.

If it dies at the first start up reply back and I can help you figure out where to look. If it dies when plugging things in, it's the thing you plugged in that's bad.

Interesting... I never thought of the CMOS getting hosed, but it is possible. This definitely smells of something hardware, however, the stressed system to me indicates a hardware failure more than a CMOS issue.

25-plus PCs... that's not a lot even though it seems like it. While at Oracle, I was the lone technician supporting close to 550 end-users. When I left due to medical reasons, one other technician and I were supporting close to 680 people between 3 buildings. In the end I was pretty exhausted and could barely make it up my stairs when I got home.

John
 
Interesting... I never thought of the CMOS getting hosed, but it is possible. This definitely smells of something hardware, however, the stressed system to me indicates a hardware failure more than a CMOS issue.

25-plus PCs... that's not a lot even though it seems like it. While at Oracle, I was the lone technician supporting close to 550 end-users. When I left due to medical reasons, one other technician and I were supporting close to 680 people between 3 buildings. In the end I was pretty exhausted and could barely make it up my stairs when I got home.

John

I know it's not a lot of PC's, but it's not my primary function at the place, I'm just the guy that knows all that stuff. The battery thing for the CMOS has resurrected a couple PC's for me. I can imagine supporting the PC's you had to maintain must have been a real drain. The ones that call and say it's broke are great... My first question is always 'What's broke?' and you get the dead air and then 'The Computer, why would I be calling?' like I just insulted them. Thenyou go over and turn the monitor back on for them and walk away...
 
I know it's not a lot of PC's, but it's not my primary function at the place, I'm just the guy that knows all that stuff. The battery thing for the CMOS has resurrected a couple PC's for me. I can imagine supporting the PC's you had to maintain must have been a real drain. The ones that call and say it's broke are great... My first question is always 'What's broke?' and you get the dead air and then 'The Computer, why would I be calling?' like I just insulted them. Thenyou go over and turn the monitor back on for them and walk away...

I've been in that position too when an IT department was downsized. I was also shipping, receiving, and customer service all in the same day! :)

You've brought back a few flashbacks from my tech days which I miss but don't at the same time.

John
 
I would love to re install Trainz but I'm worried if I do, my computer would shut down even more.

What does reinstalling your TS12 have to do with this? If it's a hardware problem, such as RAM or a power supply, simply replacing those components would fix the problem. There would be no need to reinstall TS12 unless the data has been corrupted somehow.

John
 
Do your computers match the technical requirements to run TS12?
I'm leaning towards your computer(s) being at the bare minimum specifications to run TS12.
Could you post your system details please.

Bob (CRO)
 
RAM, CPU speed, graphics card, Operating System, etc. The specifications of your computer, so that we can check if they're good enough for TS12.

Kieran.
 
If you are unsure of anything, no sweat, start with what you do know, for example, do you have Windows XP, Windows 7 or Windows 8. That would help us to give you instructions on how to find out what hardware you have.
 
On your Start screen there should be a Tile called desktop. Click that if you are not already on the Desktop. This will bring up a Windows 7 type screen.

See if you have a 'This PC' Icon. If not right click on the Desktop and click Personalize. When the popup window comes up on the LH side click Change Desktop Icons and make sure the Computer check box is checked. Save and close the popup.

Now find the 'This PC' Icon and right click it and choose 'Properties'. The window that opens will give you most of the information that we are looking for. Post the information back here.

Chris
 
Just thought of something else. You should have a Launch Trainz Icon on your Desktop as well. Right click it and choose Properties. When it opens click the Compatibility tab and make sure the Compatibility mode check box is checked that says 'Run this program in compatibility mode for' and the drop down says 'Windows 8'

I would also recommend making sure your Windows Updates has run and you have gotten the Windows 8.1 Update.

Chris
 
I can tell you now that some laptops cannot handle games that require a lot of CPU power (Trainz is one of them), especially if it's not a desktop replacement system . You need to test it with something similar if you can to see whether it's your system at fault (possibly requiring some form of update) or an unknown bug in Trainz (I'm inclined to think it's the first of the two).

Shane
 
I use a laptop .

I can tell you now that some laptops cannot handle games that require a lot of CPU power (Trainz is one of them), especially if it's not a desktop replacement system . You need to test it with something similar if you can to see whether it's your system at fault (possibly requiring some form of update) or an unknown bug in Trainz (I'm inclined to think it's the first of the two).

Shane

Well now this makes sense. Trainz TS12, as well as your video editing program, are very CPU and graphics intensive programs. These will cause the system to overheat and shutdown. If your laptop is capable of running TS12, but shuts down due to heat, you can try a laptop cooler. These are small tablet-like devices that the laptop sits on. They have fans inside and are powered by a USB port. These $30.00 devices can be purchased at your favorite electronics store such as Frye's or even BestBuy.

John
 
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