# Flash player causes my computer to to a hard shut down [moved from MS Support]



## Elzzie (Feb 10, 2011)

Hi guys, I am new to this forum and I am hoping I can get some answers. I am pretty Tech savvy and I've tried everything I can think of to fix this problem.

First I will give my system specs.

Mobo: Asus m4n68t-m V2
CPU: Athlon II X4 640 @ 3.0ghz
RAM: OCZ 1333mhz 6gb
Video: Galaxy - Geforce 8400GS
PSU: 500watt Diablotec
OS: Windows 7 Professional

My problem occurs when I try to run any Adobe Flash based games or videos. I can get anywhere from 2 seconds to 20 minutes but it will ultimately shut my computer off, as if I had unplugged it. I get no error or warning before it happens and the only thing I can get from the "event viewer" in the administrative tools is a Critical error - Source: Kernel-Power, ID 41.

I have noticed that other people have had this problem but I have found no results as far as a remedy to the problem.

I have been monitoring my cpu temperatures and at idle I am running at about 40 degrees Celsius. The temperature does not go above 45 Degrees when I run a flash program, so I have ruled out the possibility of overheating. I have also done troubleshooting with my power supply to rule out the possibility of too much power consumption.

It seems to be a compatibility issue, but I don't know what with.

Thank you for taking time to read this post and I hope someone can give me an answer.


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## lfcgeorge (Jun 6, 2010)

*Re: Flash player causes my computer to to a hard shut down*

Hello,

Try uninstalling Flash using Adobes' Uninstaller
Uninstall Flash Player | Windows

Then install Flash again from Adobe

Let me know!

Regards,
George


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## Elzzie (Feb 10, 2011)

*Re: Flash player causes my computer to to a hard shut down*

Ifcgeorge, 

I have done that several times and I still have the problem. 

I also didn't let you guys know that I spent over 2 hours with Microsoft support over the phone and they did a battery of tests and could not figure the problem out. They sent the problem to their "Research and development" team and I am awaiting a reply from that.

Any other thoughts?

My next step is to do a fresh install of the operating system without using my external backup drive.


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## lfcgeorge (Jun 6, 2010)

*Re: Flash player causes my computer to to a hard shut down*

Sorry to hear that!

If I was you I would probably just re-install Windows as a lot of time has been consumed trying to fix the problem with Microsoft Support etc..

Regards,
George


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## Elzzie (Feb 10, 2011)

*Re: Flash player causes my computer to to a hard shut down*

Sadly.. I have already reinstalled windows. I even took all my parts back and exchanged them for new ones to rule out any possible hardware malfunction. It has to be a driver conflict with flash player and windows.. I don't know what to do.


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## lfcgeorge (Jun 6, 2010)

*Re: Flash player causes my computer to to a hard shut down*

That is bad news! 

I would make sure you have all the latest drivers installed, also try upgrading your HDDs Firmware, or even take different parts of hardware out of your PC and test if it crashes then. Is it 64bit?

Regards,
George


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## Elzzie (Feb 10, 2011)

*Re: Flash player causes my computer to to a hard shut down*

Latest update.

I have a 1tb seagate external storage drive which I keep a backup of all my files on. I was told by Microsoft that this drive could have gotten corrupted or got a virus. So I unhooked the drive, did a clean install of windows 7, 64 bit btw, and did not install any drivers. I immediately tried to play a flash game and it still did the same exact thing.

I am at a complete loss here... The only solution I have is to take a hammer to it and send all the parts back to micro-center.


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## lfcgeorge (Jun 6, 2010)

*Re: Flash player causes my computer to to a hard shut down*

As I am nearly sure this is a Hardware fault I will get this thread moved to the Hardware section. I really hope someone over there can help you and I will keep checking this thread to see the progress.

Regards,
George


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## Elzzie (Feb 10, 2011)

Ok thanks.

I have recently downloaded the Microsoft debugging program to try and look at the kernel dump file.. I noticed my computer does not generate one when this happens... I don't understand. There is obviously a problem and it should be generating a memory.dmp file. I have made sure that I told it to create one under my recovery options.

I am at a loss here.. I also noticed that I can open a flash game or movie in my browser and minimize the browser before it is done loading and my computer still runs fine. As soon as I maximize the browser to look at the content the computer shuts off. It seems to be only doing this when it is drawing the flash content in the browser.

Video Problem? I don't know.. I have changed video cards I have tried using the onboard video, still get the same result.

If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it.


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## Ninjaboi (Dec 27, 2010)

Try checking to see if you have the latest drivers. This problem is usually solved by installing or updating the latest sound and video drivers for you hardware.

I would also take a look at your PSU ( Power Supply Unit ). Check to see if it can support the power required for your system. Also check to see if it overheats as well. It may be going out, and therefore a new one will need to be in order. They are usually cheap, 20-60 USD for a decent one.

I'd point it more toward the PSU, but don't rule out drivers. The reason why I think it's a heating or power issue is because when running applications that require your hardware to work harder, it could cause a heating or insufficent power demand needs problem. You might also consider getting an uninterruptible power supply ( UPS ) in case the power was interrupted for that reason.

Please tell us if you have installed new hardware recently, as that could be the case.

More info can be found:

Here.
Here.
Here.
Here.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Check your Temps & Voltages in the Bios.
Diablotek PSU's are very poor quality.


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## Elzzie (Feb 10, 2011)

Well, actually, I took the Asus Motherboard back and traded up for a Biostar board with a better chipset and just an all around better board. I took the OCZ memory back and exchanged it with PNY DDR3 1333mhz.

I have double checked and then tripple checked to make sure all of my drivers are up to date and I also tested the power supply. I can play World of Warcraft with the setting cranked up for hours on this pc and have no issues.. its only when I try to load Cafe' World on stupid facebook that I get this problem. I wouldn't be making a big deal about it but I have built this computer for a friend of mine who is disabled and he sits on this computer for 12+ hours a day and loves to play his games on facebook. It seems that the flash objects are what is causing the problem.

So to sum up: I have plenty of power, newest drivers and firmware (also flashed the BIOS to an updated version) and double checked that there was nothing grounding out inside the case.. just to be extra cautious. 

The only thing in the computer that isn't new is the hard drive.. I have ran a battery of tests on it and updated the firmware to 1000-13, as it is a Samsung drive, to make sure it wasn't a SATA issue.

I am out of ideas..


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Hard shut downs without warning are either power or heat related, if it's not heat then it's going to be a power problem. Try swapping in a better quality PSU and see what happens.


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## Ninjaboi (Dec 27, 2010)

Try using CoreTemp while playing your flash game as see if your system is overheating. Believe it or not, but just because the game isn't WoW, 3D, or even a large file size, it can still take more resources.

Download and install CoreTemp, and then start it up right before you play the flash game. Afterwords, start the game and begin to play for about a minute, followed by looking at the core temperature. If you could give us a screen-shot of what it says, or just tell us, then that will help to assure it's not a heating issue.


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## CindyMJ52 (Feb 21, 2011)

Hello,
I just joined this forum tonight. This was because I also,have been having trouble with my laptop,an Acer Aspire 4520, with Windows Vista, every time I play any games on facebook requiring flash player. I also have that problem while in my virtual world of kaneva. That client only requires under 500 mb. to even run. I have no lag usually,but about a month ago,I installed an update to Mozilla Firefox and updated my Adobe Flash Player.But when I did that,those 2 updates, my laptop started shutting off every 5 minutes. My son counted how long it would take before my laptop would shut off.
Well, I have,after all the factory installs, 51.1gb of hdd total free space,but only barely under 10 gb free space to move around in. 
I have tried shutting down all of the open and running programs and leaving only flash player running,but that has not fixed the problem.
I have taken all of my music and photos off of my laptop and sent them to 2 of my email accounts to free up some space,and I still have the shut off problem.It actually does a hard shut down every 5 minutes while I am either playing farmville,petville,frontierville,yoville,or cityville.
When I am in-world,as we say on kaneva, it shuts down while I am in the virtual world. And after about 5 or 6 times of this happening while I am in the world,I have to uninstall the kep client for kaneva and reinstall it.
I have had to do this, 34 times because it completely stops the software from even loading for me.
I have read the threads and it seems that my only solution,is to purchase a new battery.We are using the same battery that came with this Acer Aspire,and that was in 2008. 
Are there any other solutions you or anyone can possibly offer me?
It was under warranty from Walmart,but the receipt has been lost in moving from one county to another 20 months ago.
Thanks,CindyMJ52:wave:


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## CindyMJ52 (Feb 21, 2011)

I have downloaded and installed the coretemp software,and this is what it said while playing virtual world of kaneva. It IS getting hot from what I can see. I am going to try and include the screenshot taken while using this software with the kaneva kep client software.
The second one,is from while I was in-world,in the kaneva client virtual world. The temperature during this session,was rising quickly,and staying between 90 and 91. So I know that this is not good. I have my laptop on a laptop riser,but placed on something else for stability. I realize this is probably part of the problem.The extra support object I am using to keep it secure and from falling off what I have it placed on. 







CoreTemp-Scr.png (17.2 KB)


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## CindyMJ52 (Feb 21, 2011)

*Re: Flash player causes my computer to to a hard shut down*

I just followed the instructions to use Adobe Uninstaller to uninstall the Flash player,then when that finished, I clicked on the other link to install flash player straight from Adobe. This one is very different from the one I used before.I had thought I was downloading and installing Adobe Flash Player,but that little download screen was very different from the Adobe one that I saw and used this time. 
I am hoping this stops all of my alerts on facebook and kaneva,telling me I need to update my Flash Player.Even when I have already done that like a dozen times recently.


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## CindyMJ52 (Feb 21, 2011)

To Elzzie,
I have been noticing more and more,that this could be a heating problem that is causing our computers and laptops to do hard shutdowns. I am by no means computer tech savvy,but with everything I've been reading in these threads, and after downloading and installing coretemp, I am more and more convinced that it really is a heating problem. I have my laptop on a laptop riser that is completely open under the entire body of the laptop,but even with this riser, I am still feeling it getting too hot.Even the coretemp software program told me that when I am in-world on kanevas virtual world of kaneva,which only requires under 500 mgbs of free space while on,it tells me that the temp is in the low 90s. 
So maybe try and check that too.Also, I am still using the same battery that came with this laptop in 2008,so it looks like I am going to have to buy a new one finally with a battery life of at least 6 hours.


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## Elzzie (Feb 10, 2011)

I appreciate you reply, Cindy, but unfortunately my problem is not a heating issue.. I have also downloaded the coretemp program and used the probe program that came with my motherboard. My cpu's do not go above 50 degrees.. ever.

Since I started this thread I took my asus motherboard back to Micro Center along with my OCZ memory. I swapped the mobo out with a Biostar board, with a better chipset and the memory with PNY DDDR3 1333Mhz.

I got all the parts installed and I was pretty confident that I have found the problem and fixed it, which was the cheap ASUS board with its crappy design and below average chipset. I turned the computer on with all the new parts, got all of my drivers installed and logged in to facebook. Started playing Fishville, had no problems. It ran it perfectly, just as I had hoped. I got done with that after about 30 minutes and I switched over to Cafe' World. My computer instantly shut off when Cafe' World loaded. I was watching the temperature the whole time and it stayed right around 45 degrees.

I am at my wits end.. the only component in this machine I have not replaced is the hard drive.. but I fear that is not the problem. I actually know its not the problem because i have a brand new hard drive in my other computer and I swapped them out the other day just to see and I still had the shut down problem occur.. only when loading Cafe' World. Any other game, no problem.

Any thoughts?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

are you still using the same power supply?


download OCCT (free) test your system with that! it has a power supply tester too :wink:


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## Elzzie (Feb 10, 2011)

I actually have a new power supply, but I tested it anyways and everything checks out perfectly fine.. 

I have got it so that any other flash application works except for that stupid Cafe' World.

I'm fresh out of idea's...


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## Elzzie (Feb 10, 2011)

It just drives me nuts to think that a game like Cafe world can cause my computer to have a complete system power failure. I mean, its a browser plugin.. I can play wow for hours, I actually did a little bit ago, with the graphics cranked up and had no problems at all. 

I don't even care to play Cafe' World but the computer is for my friend and he is disabled and thats all he does is plays games on facebook.. he is devastated by this and I can't blame him. There is no reason for this to be happening and no explanation.

At this point it is a complete mystery to me, microsoft, adobe and anyone else that I have asked for advice..


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## rocky9748 (Oct 21, 2010)

dude nothing like this is required

use and update flash player the reason of ur restart is processor over heating
u must clean ur heatsink apply new paste in ur processor clean the cpu completely 
before doing this chk the temp in ur bios and then rechk after cleaning make sure it is normal as per ur motherboard standards my advice is bring it down to below 50 try to install extra fans to clear hot air 
and u r done


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

run OCCT for one hour


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## Elzzie (Feb 10, 2011)

I appreciate the input guys.. but please read my posts before saying that it is an "overheating" issue. I am NOT having an issue with my CPU, or any other component, overheating. I monitor my temperatures like a freaking hawk. My cpu never even reaches 50 degrees Celcius. I might as well use it as a refrigerator. I ran OCCT through its full cycle and everything PASSED.

Its obviously Cafe World and the other games that are associated with Facebook. Not my computer.

Thats the only logical explanation at this point.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

Elzzie said:


> I appreciate the input guys.. but please read my posts before saying that it is an "overheating" issue. I am NOT having an issue with my CPU, or any other component, overheating. I monitor my temperatures like a freaking hawk. My cpu never even reaches 50 degrees Celcius. I might as well use it as a refrigerator. I ran OCCT through its full cycle and everything PASSED.
> 
> Its obviously Cafe World and the other games that are associated with Facebook. Not my computer.
> 
> Thats the only logical explanation at this point.




I now agree with you 100% / no overheating AND successful one hour OCCT pass removes any hardware issue as your culprit!

your complaint lies soley with software title :4-dontkno


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## rocky9748 (Oct 21, 2010)

if ur flash is uptodate then try suing diffrent browsers and see what is happening
also clear ur cache


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## amirvahdat (May 2, 2011)

Hey Guys, 
I have the exact same problem for months...
I tried everything plus reformatting windows and even upgrade frim vista to seven, but did not help it. It goues out for a while but as soon as I receive a notice from flash update requirenment, here it goes and shutdown my comp. at least once every hour/
Whenever I restore my previous backup, it fixes the problem for a week or so but then it goes bad...!!!!


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## Ninjaboi (Dec 27, 2010)

Hello amirvahdat, welcome to TSF!

Do what everyone else has suggested, and clear your browser's cache completely. Check if that solves your issue. If not, uninstall and reinstall Adobe Flash Player and update it to it's latest version. Check if that solves your issue. If not, switch to a different browser ( examples: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome ). Try to run a flash application in that browser.

If none of those work, tell us and we'll go from there.


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## Jashobeam (Nov 19, 2011)

It is a Flash/Facebook problem. It even crashes my GoogleTV/Logitech Review setup. Ravenskye has shut down my computer 3 times a day for a few days. Other games have done this in the past, but since Ravenskye is the only one I play now I'm noticing it the most.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

If you have a computer related issue Jashobeam then please post a new thread. This thread is half a year old and will not get much attention. Posting a new thread will greatly increase your chances of getting a resolution.


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