Random unexpected shutdowns. Now continuous!

[Elem]

Hi all you Tech heads.

For sometime now my PC has been suffering occasional random surprise shutdowns/restarts when running IL-2, and other PC games. They had been so infrequent that I was putting up with them. It has suddenly become much worse and it happens continuously now after about 1 minute of just opening IL-2, making it completely unplayable. I have been looking into the Win 10 Event Viewer and can see that these "events" are being logged but I am unable to interpret the details to be able to do anything about them. Is there anyone who is able to interpret these "Error, Warnings, Critical" events and can suggest what the problem is, and how to fix it. Cheers all.

[RedKestrel]

I'm not an expert here, but I am going to try and give you some things to  think about.

Could you re-do the screenshot on the Event Viewer and expand the Source column a little bit so that we can see what each of the events say? Right now some of them are cut off.

I think to really assess these logs though we would need to see the details for each event. It looks like there are several warnings and events happening nearly simultaneously.

I did a little googling and it seems that lots of the event and error codes that are happening occur from corrupted or missing files in Windows.

There are a lot of threads on things like this and some of them involve registry edits and other stuff that I, personally, don't like to get into. However most of the solutions also suggest using the Windows System File checker to check for and fix corrupted or missing files. I would do this first before attempting any manual fixes, personally.. Here's a link to the Windows Support area that details how to run the file checker.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/4026529/windows-10-using-system-file-checker

I was able to find some forum threads elsewhere that reference some of the specific situations and error codes you have. For example,The event you have highlighted with event code 455 in the lower screenshot seems to show Windows trying to open a logfile in the system32 folder and failing, which indicates a problem with operating system itself. When I google that error with ESENT I find the following link explaining the issue.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/event-viewer-erro-esent-455-since-update-1903/624a2548-06e5-47f4-bb99-76d6412895a0

It sounds like a windows update and cleaning up old files can cause a problem, where windows tries to look in a place for a folder that doesn't exist. The posted solution is to re-create these folders, and then Windows will automatically make the required files. Kinda like with the Il-2 updates where deleting some files from the folder makes Il-2 automatically populate it on startup. This might help with your issue.

Here's a link to someone encountering a similar issue with a different game - same thing happens, system reboots after launching a game. It seems to be an issue with the registry file or a missing DLL for the game. But considering this is happening in multiple games it seems more likely to be windows.

https://www.windowsphoneinfo.com/threads/pc-crash-event-ids-1023-2004.291535/
 

 

[Elem]

Thanks RK,

 

The first option you suggested did not work, as it said something like it was not supported on this machine.

 

The second link was interesting and led me to the Widows support page which suggested a Win 10 update. I started the updater and I was feeling confident that this would be the answer. When it finally installed and restarted, the start up screen said it was Preparing to Repair PC. This led to a blue screen with several option. I went through all the options and none worked, not even the option to undo the update. Now it does not go beyond this blue screen, as just goes into a loop and does not do a repair. Fortunately I am working from home and access my work PC via Remote Desktop which is how I'm able to respond to you. Any thoughts? I think Ill have to get a professional to look at it otherwise.

[RedKestrel]

6 hours ago, Elem said:

Thanks RK,

 

The first option you suggested did not work, as it said something like it was not supported on this machine.

 

The second link was interesting and led me to the Widows support page which suggested a Win 10 update. I started the updater and I was feeling confident that this would be the answer. When it finally installed and restarted, the start up screen said it was Preparing to Repair PC. This led to a blue screen with several option. I went through all the options and none worked, not even the option to undo the update. Now it does not go beyond this blue screen, as just goes into a loop and does not do a repair. Fortunately I am working from home and access my work PC via Remote Desktop which is how I'm able to respond to you. Any thoughts? I think Ill have to get a professional to look at it otherwise.

IMO this confirms there is something wrong with your windows install. I'm sorry that my help seems to have made it worse.  I suppose you could try reinstalling windows but that might be a bit extreme if you have to reinstall everything. I would have a professional look at it if at all possible.. 

[Elem]

I don't blame you at all RK. Your tips were very helpful and I really thought it was fixed for a while. I was planning to give it to a professional anyway but thought I'd give the forum a shot first. I know someone who could probably look at it but whether he's available is another matter.

[AtomicP]

Aside from verifying your Windows install, this sounds more like a hardware issue.

 

Have you looked into the possibility of overheating components? You mention crashes with Il-2 and other games and not so much at other times. 

 

Something like Core Temp will give you the CPU temperature and HWInfo will provide lots more information. A CPU that hits its threshold can crash the system to protect it from damage. Improperly seated or failing RAM can also cause problems. Remove and reinsert RAM modules if possible and do a clean out of dust build up inside (easier in a desktop, a laptop is trickier) and if your CPU has been in the machine a number of years the thermal compound may need renewing. 

 

All speculation but I'm happy to help via PM if need be. Alternatively ignore if this is all obvious stuff. Good luck!

 

 

[56RAF_Stickz]

I would agree with Atomic and look at temperatures. All fans working and even open it up and clean out all the crap gets inside.  CPU or GPU overheat will just close you out and the fact that games do it rather than just using the PC would point to that - could even be the PSU overheat when stressed

[Elem]

It is certainly not overheating in any way. It's a water cooled CPU and I constantly keep an eye on all temps and it's never so much as got warm! Everything is pointing to a Win 10 installation problem. It's in the hands of a PC repair shop now and I'm waiting their report.

 

They have just reported back to say the Win 10 update screwed up the installation.

Edited April 16, 2020 by Elem

[Elem]

OK guys. So I have my PC back with a fresh Install of Win 10. As expected, IL-2 will not start. It's saying a few files are missing and a reinstall should fix the issue. I have backed up the important folders but what should I do next. I cannot do an Uninstall as it does not show up in Programs and Features. Would it be ok to just delete everything that's on the drive that it's installed on?