Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Bryan Young on September 21, 2010, 06:38:30 pm
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Two questions.
1. After about 5 minutes on "Google Earth" I get the Blue Screen that sort of shuts down my computer. Why?
Ages ago, "Google" detected this and said they'd fixed it. But not for long.
2. How does one go about contacting "Google" to complain about this?
As it's such an informative and interesting site to visit I really feel like throwing a Donald Duck type rant when it happens. BY.
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Why hold back! throw your Donald Duck type strop,get it out of your system,..then phone them and give them what for, {-)
Wullie
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actually that blue screen is not googles fault entirely. its caused by the google earth program running but its actually your computer that's at fault for the blue screen. let me try to explain...
google earth requires a set of running requirements as a minimum, however the blue screen nicknamed ' the blue screen of death' that occurs on windows xp is caused by your computer not having enough 'RAM' or 'virtual' memory to keep the program running, when it can't run the program any longer to save your pc having a massive hard drive failure and caused expensive damage to replace hd, along with the loss of your date the computer does something known as a 'Memory dump' which is the blue screen of death. this dump literally dumps all the applications data and shuts down the hard drive with out writing any more data onto it causing more damage then needed. this is XP's version of saving your computer from 'melt down' and grey hair pulling.
remember google earth is constantly updated regularly and google are allowed alter the specification for running the program and send the new data to your copy to update it with out your notice or concent.
only suggestion i have for you is to try to get some more ram for your pc this will help, or the more expensive option is to look for a new pc sorry to say but google earth requires quite a lot of memory to run since it dose record a lot of downloaded data, roads, pictures, etc, you be surprised how quickly your RAM will fill up causing a 'crash'
hope this bit of info helps in explaining why but it wont help you get google earth running for long
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Thanks for that. It is the most cogent explanation I've ever had. Now all I need is to work out how to install the extra RAM! BY.
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im not sure what ram you have currently there are different types, however the good news is that due to your pc being quite old since its running XP, remove your current chip(s) and take them to the local pc shop im sure they can supply you with larger ram cards very cheap, im running a brand new laptop ( 2010 model) and have 4 gig, but my old pc is an XP and i have 2 , 2 gig cards in it i purchased those in early 2009 and it cost me £80, im going to assume you have about 512mb possible 1 gig of ram in your current unit, i would only suggest doubling up to a max of 2 gig any more and your just wasting money, the only reason i purchased 4 gig was at the time i was doing a lot of work using programs like auto cad 3D max which requires so much memory you wont believe. :-))
oh if your on a laptop .. take the whole unit to the pc shop.. i assumed you have a desktop... which is why i said remove the cards, i wouldn't suggest taking apart a laptop just in case anything goes wrong the whole unit is so compact you might damage other items.
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Bryan,
Actual installation is easy, it is just a question of removing existing RAM plug in memory modules and inserting new higher capacity ones. You do need to ensure that you buy the right ones though. Try Googling 'additional RAM' for some pointers on this.
However, the fact that your current PC cannot accommodate Google Earth does suggest that it is maybe outdated and that you should consider replacing it with a a an uprated model. It's the same old story, you can continue 'bodging' your existing setup indefinitely but there comes a point when it's maybe best to start afresh. I don't know what you have got at the moment but you can get a well specified setup for under £500 as long as you don't need to run the latest 'shoot 'em up' games.
My current PC works reasonably OK but to uprate it means making so many changes that it will probably be better value for me to simply replace it with a more modern model.
Colin
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"........... that due to your pc being quite old since its running XP"
ummm...not necessarily so...... XP is a better choice then Vista, so could only be a year old theoretically........
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I agree xp is a better OPERATING system then vista no doubts there, but xp is 'old' like it or not vista came next, now were on windows 7. its not the operating system that the issue its the ram memory that's causing the issue, all programs today say minimum requirements of xp, vista or windows 7, few years ago it was min or windows 98 millenium (2000) or xp!
xp operating systems were take out of production back in 2006 this means Brians pc is at least 4 years old..... if not older!
Im not saying that you couldn't install an xp operating system if you wanted to you can still buy the software, but if something is better then the old would you want to down grade your system?
google earth minimum requirements are xp/vista or win 7, 128mb gfx card, 1 gig of ram. :-))
Xp has been the best operating system for windows for many years, thats why it took so long for a new one to be developed and even vista was a test that's because it was open to public input to develop it further to give us ... yup you guessed it windows 7! but xp is now outdated i have found i can do so much more with windows 7 and probably will never reutn to using an xp system again..
in 5 years time i bet windows 7 will be the outdated system and we will be on somthing like windows 'galaxy' %% %% or some new fangle system that used 3d imaging so maybe even 'windows touch'! O0 {-) {-) {-) %%
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If you go to
http://www.crucial.com/uk/
it will look at you computer and tell you what memory you have and if you can add more..
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in 5 years time i bet windows 7 will be the outdated system and we will be on somthing like windows 'galaxy' %% %% or some new fangle system that used 3d imaging so maybe even 'windows touch'! O0 {-) {-) {-) %%
You mean you dont know ? %)
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in 5 years time i will be running a PC on a Linux system or the new Japaneses system thats taking over the USA!. its not that i don't know its that i don't care as long as i can get onto a computer do the job i need it for thats all that matters to me :}
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If you are running Linus does that mean it will cost you Peanuts? :}
Charlie Brown.
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Lunux is penguin power :-)) open source operating system meaning its FREE ok2
information here
http://www.linux.org/ (http://www.linux.org/)
http://linux.co.uk/ (http://linux.co.uk/)
(http://www.technobuzz.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/windows-to-linux.jpg)
(http://www.linuxwallpapers.org/linux/linux-technology.jpg)
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Lunux is penguin power
Are you moonstruck then......?
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If you go to
http://www.crucial.com/uk/
it will look at you computer and tell you what memory you have and if you can add more..
You need to know the motherboard brand and other related data >>:-( >>:-( <*< <*<
Not everyone knows this info or how to find it <:( <:( <:(
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Thanks for that. It is the most cogent explanation I've ever had. Now all I need is to work out how to install the extra RAM! BY.
Before you go and buy any extra Ram put the details of the Ram you have on here , I have a few spare which are not worth selling on fleebay so might be able to help.
Larry
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You need to know the motherboard brand and other related data >>:-( >>:-( <*< <*<
Not everyone knows this info or how to find it <:( <:( <:(
I have mixed brands and not noticed any problems, however I do try to pair when rebuilding / upgrading.
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colin your humors wasted on me.. either that or your joke don't make sence {:-{
clearly open source systems are not for everyone, if they were you wouldn't pay the extra £99 for the operating system in your computers price! you find that its programmers, designers, anyone in tv/film will use a system like this for its shear power and its ability to program the system to your needs. windows systems can do that but its very basic 'changes' that are normally to your desktop with the added widgets and side bars. Linux has the ability to change everything and i mean everything , if you know how.
i wouldn't turn round and recommend this to anyone who doesn't know how to locate information that's needed but this is the way we will all go at some point.
think back to the time of amstrad.. that was the first basic Linux system, as well as the first real home computer!! Microsoft only redeveloped it and marketed it and its progressed to what we see today, its purely that windows made the first desktop system that was easy to use with out the use of typing code to the do the job that made it successful. since then you have had apple show up shortly after with there systems, and now we are seeing others popping up all over the place, it come down to a matter of choice,( i spotted recently in pc world when picking up a new mouse that some of the dell laptops they were selling had a dell sponsored Linux operating system built in them rather then windows.)
its all down to choice and needs if your happy with a system that does the job, great , but if your needs are more focused in areas not supported by basic systems then you need to look at others, you only have to take a look at the apple systems to notice the subtle differences between apple and Linux, and that is apple have a Linux based system, that is one click user friendly. only issue is that not much in programs/software is compatible (at least in the uk) with apple systems, where as windows is world wide the same as Linux.
who would you trust in your pc, a company with years of 'marketing' and money 'pushing' a working system into your home or a free system that is publicly financed, with no real advertisement.
its an easy choice most have the first in there computers simply because it dose what you need it to and that's enough for most of us but for the few that its not, the options are there to change.
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You need to know the motherboard brand and other related data >>:-( >>:-( <*< <*<
Not everyone knows this info or how to find it <:( <:( <:(
If you use the "scan my system" it tells you all about your machine, well, it did with mine....... :-)) ;) ok2 :-) :police:
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i thought 3 gig of ram was the maximum that xp could use
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If you use the "scan my system" it tells you all about your machine, well, it did with mine....... :-)) ;) ok2 :-) :police:
Thank you :-))
Got it to work OK O0 O0
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actually the max ram xp can support is 16 gig using 4, 4gig cards or 2 8 gig! you have to manually edit your 'virtual' memory settings to get that much ram to work though. not an easy job, if you don't know how. realistic though 2 gig is more then enough for that operating system to do most of your daily needs, in my case i needed that amount for 1 program or it would crash or freeze up, this had something to do with a mixture or ram and the graphics card, which was upgraded to a duel nvidia powered 512mb card since that upgrade and setting my virtual memory to 3072mb it worked perfectly and still dose today, well my dads got no complaints!
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actually that blue screen is not googles fault entirely. its caused by the google earth program running but its actually your computer that's at fault for the blue screen. let me try to explain...
google earth requires a set of running requirements as a minimum, however the blue screen nicknamed ' the blue screen of death' that occurs on windows xp is caused by your computer not having enough 'RAM' or 'virtual' memory to keep the program running, when it can't run the program any longer to save your pc having a massive hard drive failure and caused expensive damage to replace hd, along with the loss of your date the computer does something known as a 'Memory dump' which is the blue screen of death. this dump literally dumps all the applications data and shuts down the hard drive with out writing any more data onto it causing more damage then needed. this is XP's version of saving your computer from 'melt down' and grey hair pulling.
remember google earth is constantly updated regularly and google are allowed alter the specification for running the program and send the new data to your copy to update it with out your notice or concent.
only suggestion i have for you is to try to get some more ram for your pc this will help, or the more expensive option is to look for a new pc sorry to say but google earth requires quite a lot of memory to run since it dose record a lot of downloaded data, roads, pictures, etc, you be surprised how quickly your RAM will fill up causing a 'crash'
hope this bit of info helps in explaining why but it wont help you get google earth running for long
Prophet,
Thanks for the info excellent timing and commentary :-)) :-)) O0 O0
Have just finished googling the blue screen of death >>:-( >>:-( as to why all of a sudden it happened on my Son's Dual core PC. <:( <:(
Muggins me is trying to get it sorted, feel bit more confident now.
A general comment to all, not everyone is in a position, physically and or finacially to race out and buy a new PC and or software and therefore we have to make do with what we have for as long as possible. >>:-( >>:-( <*< <*< <:( <:(
Same principle also applies to boat modelling, <:( <:( <:( but they get there O0 O0 O0
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i agree entirely i found that at one stage i was looking at getting a new pc to do what i needed but i felt that at the time more RAM was the cheaper answer, i purchased my original computer back in 2004! so its 6 years old, it really is a matter of choice and cost as you said one day we will eventually get there but until then we have to make do or bodge it.
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im not sure what ram you have currently there are different types, however the good news is that due to your pc being quite old since its running XP, remove your current chip(s) and take them to the local pc shop im sure they can supply you with larger ram cards very cheap, im running a brand new laptop ( 2010 model) and have 4 gig, but my old pc is an XP and i have 2 , 2 gig cards in it i purchased those in early 2009 and it cost me £80, im going to assume you have about 512mb possible 1 gig of ram in your current unit, i would only suggest doubling up to a max of 2 gig any more and your just wasting money, the only reason i purchased 4 gig was at the time i was doing a lot of work using programs like auto cad 3D max which requires so much memory you wont believe. :-))
oh if your on a laptop .. take the whole unit to the pc shop.. i assumed you have a desktop... which is why i said remove the cards, i wouldn't suggest taking apart a laptop just in case anything goes wrong the whole unit is so compact you might damage other items.
Actually I have 1Gb of Ram. I thought that would be sufficient! Bryan.
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you problem sound more like a ram and processor issues, if you have a low processor in today's standards then its processing capability is being put on the ram modules to aid it in its function. hence new ram needed... i would suggest that you take your pc to a shop and have the trained advisor's look at it just to be sure that might solve the problem
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actually the max ram xp can support is 16 gig using 4, 4gig cards or 2 8 gig!
Only if you're using a 64 bit version. If you've got a 32 bit version, then the maximum XP can use is indeed 3mb, as madrob said. This applies to Vista and Windows 7 as well.
Lance
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win 7 is 64 bit... but yes xp 32 bit system can only run 3 gig. but you can make it run 4 by manually altering the drivers perception of the ram cards ok2 but i aint sharing all my tricks. {-)
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A couple or four years ago, I went through the needing more memory phase. I got my numbers from Crucial, having let it peer into my PC, then, shopping around, I got a new MB and processor and memory for very little more than the new memory would have cost, mostly because memory for elderly boards has not been made in any quantity for AGES, and the price reflects its scarcity, whereas the new is relatively cheap. It was the chance to include the move up to XP as well. Saverstore were also offering hardware that would let me use my old peripherals, and have the option of being able to use this new-fangled SATA as well, rather than the present standard of SATA or nowt. Then again, theres that link that Martin found the other day, http://www.lambda-tek.com/computing/index.htm Trying a few trial pretend builds of basic systems got some interesting prices, but the specs do need careful scrutiny.
The old Amstrads - if prophet meant the PCW series, they were CPM. The very early Amstrad PC that I had used GEM as its user interface over DOS3. Both about as user friendly as a well kicked alligator.
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win 7 is 64 bit... but yes xp 32 bit system can only run 3 gig. but you can make it run 4 by manually altering the drivers perception of the ram cards ok2 but i aint sharing all my tricks. {-)
Win 7 can be both 64 or 32 :-))
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Yes Win 7 is defaulted to 64 bit but can be changed in its settings to 32 bit.
Bob
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Surely Mr Prophet cant be wrong ? :o
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As mentioned earlier I have a few Ram cards spare All were working when I upgraded, 1 of them is definetaly a Samsung 1GB 2*R8 PC2 - 4200u-444-12-E3 , if its of any use BY Its yours..
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Surely Mr Prophet cant be wrong ? :o
Not saying he is wrong, but I am running W7 and its running on 32.
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64 bit on my laptop
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there are 2 directory's in windows 7 so you can run old programs, by default programs are installed in a folder called Program Files(x86) but if you are running an old game or program that has issues running on a 64 bit system you can install the program to a folder above (x86) simply called Program Files.
The other option is if your having issues with the program you can right click on its short cut go to property's and change it to run with an xp operating system!
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Yes as your system setup shows it is 64 , As mine shows it is W7 Ultimate Running on 32 , the point I think being made is that it can be either but your earlier posting implies it was only a 64.
However I'm really not sure how any of this in-depth anaylisis of computer operating systems help B.Y. as far as i can see all that is needed is a bit of extra memory and the pc should be fine. :-))
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As mentioned earlier I have a few Ram cards spare All were working when I upgraded, 1 of them is definetaly a Samsung 1GB 2*R8 PC2 - 4200u-444-12-E3 , if its of any use BY Its yours..
To be quite frank and honest, whilst appreciating your most generous offer......I haven't a clue what your'e talking about!
I know (roughly) how to operate my "machine", and know the difference between a "hard drive" and a CD/DVD read only or read/write unit.
In fact,I surprise myself as to how much I do know! I even know what RAM is, and how much I've got. But as soon as you start talking in those numerics I feel as if I'm back in a primary school again.
And all this just because I asked why I got a Blue Death Screen! Honestly, I'm more confused now than I was when I first asked!
"Dreadstar"......I tried to answer your PM but you didn't get it. I'll try again in a few minutes, I hope.
Thanks again "Long Build", I do hope this reply has been taken without umbrage. Confusedly yours, Bryan.
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bryan take your pc to a compter shop and ask for more ram, or look into a new pc you can pick up a dell for £299 at the moment in pc world! as i said before its the lack of memory thats cased the blue screen of death. ignor the banter after it just look for ram or a new pc :-))
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bryan take your pc to a compter shop and ask for more ram, or look into a new pc you can pick up a dell for £299 at the moment in pc world! as i said before its the lack of memory thats cased the blue screen of death. ignor the banter after it just look for ram or a new pc :-))
Prophet....much as I appreciate your concern, I don't think you know what a "high-end" machine I use. This is not an "off the shelf" gizmo, and has been upgraded so it's speed and so on compares more than favourably with just about anything, perhaps more, than outfits like PC World can offer. It certainly beats the hell out of my wifes newish and expensive Dell thing. Bryan.
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can't be that 'high end' if it fails to run google earth without crashing , my laptop was a freebie and can run it all day with no ill effects
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OK absolutely no problem about the ram .
Now and again I get an odd problem , a few things I do before using the lump hammer is .
I clear down my internet saved files using tools clear the cache etc, I then delete the program in question and reload a new version. You may have already done this but its a thought.
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Surely Mr Prophet cant be wrong ? :o
Dicky,
Surely you know he's a Mine of information?
Barry M
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OK absolutely no problem about the ram .
Now and again I get an odd problem , a few things I do before using the lump hammer is .
I clear down my internet saved files using tools clear the cache etc, I then delete the program in question and reload a new version. You may have already done this but its a thought.
Actually I have done that and it does tend to clear things up. What I'm really wondering now is if some other programme I have is doing some sort of interference job. Now, the last thing I wish to do is delete all the programmes I have and start all over again! Life at my age is just too short for all that malarkey. But. Again, BUT, if it is one programme interfering, how I can I tell, and then isolate it? BY.
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can't be that 'high end' if it fails to run google earth without crashing , my laptop was a freebie and can run it all day with no ill effects
Therefore your prognosis was wrong. BY
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Therefore your prognosis was wrong. BY
Bryan, some people are 'NEVER' wrong.......... :-)) ;)
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...but guilty as (depth) charged? %)
Barry M
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Dicky,
Surely you know he's a Mine of information?
Barry M
Excellent Barry O0
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...but guilty as (depth) charged? %)
Barry M
You're on fire tonight Barrie. :-))
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Bryan, some people are 'NEVER' wrong.......... :-)) ;)
How right you are. :-))
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Ouch ouch ouch <*< <*< <*< <*<
Some boys are looking a shade green. O0 O0 O0
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Actually I have done that and it does tend to clear things up. What I'm really wondering now is if some other programme I have is doing some sort of interference job. Now, the last thing I wish to do is delete all the programmes I have and start all over again! Life at my age is just too short for all that malarkey. But. Again, BUT, if it is one programme interfering, how I can I tell, and then isolate it? BY.
Bryan, Press ctrl/alt/del at the same time and when promted open up the task manager. There are a few usefull things here. First have a look at the performance tab, if you have something hogging the memory you should see your processor being used more than you would expect. Then have a look through the applications tab and ther processes tab. I have had similar in the past and shut off most of the processes that were running. There are a lot there that you won't have a clue what they are and you may well stop something critical and have to reboot. Hopefully you will stop something and see the performance graph improve and you will have identified it.
Once I stopped everything apart from a few that I knew were required and the performance instantly improved so i knew I had to find something. Favourites are Internet security stuff such as Norton, McAfee etc, and quite often you will see stuff running for programs that aren't even open.
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To follow on Google to find and download the freeware program "Revo Installer".
Not only will it uninstall programs that windows won't touch but it shows all programs running each of which can be disabled such as auto updating which you are not ware of and use and hog resources.
It works for this layman.
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The Windows Task Manager can show useful stuff-
The applications tab gives a list of windows open, the performance tab lets you know the amount of work the critical areas are attempting. If the CPU is very busy, it could well be that either there are too many jobs being demanded at the same time, or that one job is just too big. If there is a lot of PF Usage in the history, thats a good sign that there isn't enough memory, and, again, it might be just one program hogging it.
Then there is the Processes tab. This is a long list of techno-gibberish, BUT, there is a column of changing numbers under the CPU heading. These always add up to 100. Down at the bottom of the list is "System Idle", which is normally the biggest number. A persistently large number elsewhere is worth investigating. There is another column under the Mem Usage heading, telling how much memory is being grabbed by each process. Image Name will show lots of SVCHOST.EXE - this is an internal windows program a copy of which is grabbed by just about everything that is running, and is best ignored. The rest will give the clues as to what is actually using the resources for further checking.
Personally, I use a program called "Startup Inspector For Windows" (SIFW), which lets me sort out just what is allowed to run at startup. There is a built in utility in Windows, but I find this much easier to use. I also have a system monitor running called (dont laugh) "Rubber Ducky" by Mimarsinan. Its a postage stamp sized window that displays pretty much everything thats going on in a pictorial manner (the ducky, water level, bubbles, fish, waving weeds and clarity of water). And if you move it, it squeaks like a bath rubber ducky. Both these programs are freebies.
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Malcolm,
Thank you :-)) :-))
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The Windows Task Manager can show useful stuff-
The applications tab gives a list of windows open, the performance tab lets you know the amount of work the critical areas are attempting. If the CPU is very busy, it could well be that either there are too many jobs being demanded at the same time, or that one job is just too big. If there is a lot of PF Usage in the history, thats a good sign that there isn't enough memory, and, again, it might be just one program hogging it.
Then there is the Processes tab. This is a long list of techno-gibberish, BUT, there is a column of changing numbers under the CPU heading. These always add up to 100. Down at the bottom of the list is "System Idle", which is normally the biggest number. A persistently large number elsewhere is worth investigating. There is another column under the Mem Usage heading, telling how much memory is being grabbed by each process. Image Name will show lots of SVCHOST.EXE - this is an internal windows program a copy of which is grabbed by just about everything that is running, and is best ignored. The rest will give the clues as to what is actually using the resources for further checking.
Personally, I use a program called "Startup Inspector For Windows" (SIFW), which lets me sort out just what is allowed to run at startup. There is a built in utility in Windows, but I find this much easier to use. I also have a system monitor running called (dont laugh) "Rubber Ducky" by Mimarsinan. Its a postage stamp sized window that displays pretty much everything thats going on in a pictorial manner (the ducky, water level, bubbles, fish, waving weeds and clarity of water). And if you move it, it squeaks like a bath rubber ducky. Both these programs are freebies.
I thought I'd said rather a lot of that.
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Indeed you did bunker, but I just thought back to when I was further down the learning tree, and it struck me that pitching it a bit lower and adding a bit more detail might be helpful, like a brief explanation of how to read the details for anybody who doesn't habitually look in there.
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Now now chaps, no bickering! Honestly, I'm more than grateful for the wealth of suggestions, possible solutions, and the sheer breadth of knowledge displayed. If one isn't actually employed in a job that demands all this computer knowledge, how does a mere home tinkerer gather it? From this forum seems to be one place. But now I have to sort out the actual practise of it all!
Yesterday I ran a comparison check against my wifes computer (she has much less RAM than I have....but so have most women I suppose), and her computer ran Google Earth happily for a few hours. So I now think that I've been correct in thinking that "something" in the little green wigglies has been running interference. So I think I'll attempt Bunkers ideas first. Always assuming I can understand it.
I'm also sure that all (or at least, most) of the replies have been of interest to more than just me. I'll send PMs to those whose advice I've decided to follow (and maybe a few of those who have tried to be helpful but to no avail). Thanks again to all of you. Bryan Y.