Crashing to desktop?

[ThanatosXXX]

Hey guys, I don't see anyone mentioning my specific problem however it could be the same thing as the poor people who're rebooting periodically.

When I'm playing from time to time I just get ditched to the desktop. No error message and really no pause, just bang and I'm back at the desktop.

I can then restart and load the latest autosave and go on about my business, but it's becoming a serious pain.

I see in the Event Viewer under Application an error with this message which means nothing to me whenever I crash:

The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: 7.

From what I can figure out this sort of message should only come when I'm trying to check the event viewer on a remote machine. Anyone have any ideas there?

I also turned on logging in the ini file to see if any errors showed up. All I'm seeing that looks out of place there is in network-timestamp.txt (there are many, timestamp is in the form of XXX_MM-DD-YYYY_HH_MM-XX.txt where I don't know what the XX are):
[312575.281] DBG: Resetting the portal! (m_bConnectComplete=false)
[312591.563] DBG: Resetting the portal! (m_bConnectComplete=false)
[312591.813] WRN: Disconnecting from entire Peer Network!

Again, this looks like something trying to work remotely. I haven't even hit the Multiplayer button in the game yet so I don't know what it would be trying to do.

My specs are:
Athlon64 3500+
1gig RAM
Geforce 6800GT
Nforce 4 based MB using onboard sound.
Hardware Firewall
AVG Virus scanner.
WinXP Pro, SP1

Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks.

edit: I forgot to mention that it happens pretty randomly. Once during world creation, the rest of the times during the game any time from turn 1 to turn 45 (I gave up after 45).

[BBallref]

I have the same thing happen. It usually occures for me when I look at an area of the map controlled by an opponent that borders undiscovered area for me. I am stumped as to what to do and it is very annoying having to reload and revert to the autosave.

Intel P4 2.4Ghz
XP Pro SP 2
1 gig ram
Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 128 mb driver 8.1.8.5
SB Live wdm

[Traxis]

Same thing happens to me periodically. I have a system similar to yours:

Athlon 64 3200+
1024 MB RAM
GeForce 6800GT
Onboard sound (AC97)
WinXP Home, SP2

Edit: I should also mention that sometimes while playing my computer reboots itself, (this has only happened once or twice, though). Also, sometimes when the game autosaves, (usually the initial 4000BC autosave) the game freezes and I have to reboot.

[Bal Ur]

Same thing happens to me. Perhaps its a Nvidia problem? Is this happening to anyone with ATI cards?

Intel P4 2.2Ghz
1 GB RAM
GeFroce 5500

[oxonian2001]

I've got the identical issue: periodic CTDs and reboots that I cannot reliably reproduce.

AMD Althon XP 3000+
1 GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce FX 5700LE 256 MB (81.85 driver)
Abit NF7-S mobo w/ AC97 sound
Windows XP Home SP2

[nindustrial]

Yes, I'm getting the same problem, and I have a Radeon 9600 Pro, and I've read others having this problem with ATI cards as well.

[Asterix909]

Same problem.
It seems we all share nvidia graphic cards...


winxp home
p4 2.8 HT
1gig RAM
GeForce FX 5900 Ultra

[Stevenpfo]

I've gotten the CTD twice and I have an ATI card.

[CrossTheRiver]

Yeah i have the crash to desktop problem too.


Damn i was hoping my new geforce card wouldnt have this problem. Maybe it is a software issue and not a video card issue?

[TheNino85]

I've yet to have the computer actually reboot on me, but I have had the game just crash to desktop on me. No fanfare, no pause, no popup, nothing, it's really creepy. One microsecond I'm watching my Worker move, the next microsecond I'm staring at my desktop. And there isn't even a Civ 4 tab in the Start bar. Like I wasn't even playing. Maybe it's a quantum mechanical phenomena that Sid managed to throw us into, I dunno.

[D. Minky]

I'm getting quite a few CTDs as well. I'm using a 128 meg ATI Radeon x300.

[sgtcasey]

Is everyone using the most up-to-date graphics drivers for their particular brand of cards?

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...ge&folderID=27

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_81.85.html

Make sure to use DriverCleaner anytime you update your graphics drivers.

Dave

[oxonian2001]

I've yet to have the computer actually reboot on me, but I have had the game just crash to desktop on me. No fanfare, no pause, no popup, nothing, it's really creepy. One microsecond I'm watching my Worker move, the next microsecond I'm staring at my desktop. And there isn't even a Civ 4 tab in the Start bar. Like I wasn't even playing. Maybe it's a quantum mechanical phenomena that Sid managed to throw us into, I dunno.

This is an excellent description of the problem I had before I updated my video driver.

After updating to 81.85, the problem was solved: instead of always crashing to the desktop, about half the time the computer would simply reboot. I prefer variety in my technical problems.

And yes, I carefully uninstalled my old video driver before installing the new version.

[sgtcasey]

Originally Posted by oxonian2001

This is an excellent description of the problem I had before I updated my video driver.

After updating to 81.85, the problem was solved: instead of always crashing to the desktop, about half the time the computer would simply reboot. I prefer variety in my technical problems.

And yes, I carefully uninstalled my old video driver before installing the new version.

Your PC rebooting could be an indication of other issues. Heat would be the first thing I would check for. When is the last time you opened up your PC and cleaned out the dust and made sure all the fans were working?

Try turning off the automatic reboot and see if you get any blue screen stop code errors.

Right click My Computer (or whatever you renamed it to)
Click Properties
Click the Advanced tab
Under Startup and Recovery click the Settings button
Under System failure you will see an option called Automatically restart, uncheck it and click OK until you're back at the desktop

Dave

[oxonian2001]

@sgtcasey: You're obviously familiar with my housekeeping skills. I'll be sure to check that when I get home. Thanks in advance.

[Penitent]

I experience this problem too, it seems to happen randomly. My computer is a few months old and uses radeon x300, it plays the game fine until the CTD.

[sgtcasey]

Originally Posted by Penitent

I experience this problem too, it seems to happen randomly. My computer is a few months old and uses radeon x300, it plays the game fine until the CTD.

Check all of your drivers and make sure they are updated. This includes audio, chipset, graphics, etc. Something else to check is your BIOS version. Make sure you have the latest, but make sure to read any instructions on flashing your BIOS since doing it wrong can render your motherboard unusable.

Also, make sure you have all the critical updates from Windows Update.

Dave

[CSS]

Happens here too. Every 2-4 hour the program just quits and you sit there like a fool and wonder what happened. Often you don't have to do anything to make it happen but sometimes pressing the globe button gets this result. I always save the game before looking at the globe.

[Palance]

I have the same CTD problem but I *may* have found a solution (for my machine). I disabled FAST WRITE in my video card settings. I will post again if the problem reappears. Like a poster above mentioned, it's hard to duplicate the bug although I found it happened most while panning around the map and zooming in & out.

I also have the hard reboot bug. For me it seems to always happen during diplomacy with other leaders.

Direct X, Video Drivers and BIOS are all up to date.

WinXP SP2
Pentium 4 2.6 GHz (not overclocked)
1 gig RAM
Radeon 9600
SoundMAX Integrated Sound
Logitech MX 3100 Cordless Keyboard/Mouse
No dustbunnies & no problems with other games.

[Willem de III]

At least you guys crash to your desktops I crash to none or better said computers starts up again in the game