Really Frustrated PLEASE HELP!!!! Computer randomly shutting off!

[hckyfrk2k7]

Ok guys, I'm in desperate need of help with my gameboy emulator!!! I have three different versions of VBA (I think v 1.7.2, 1.8.0, and 1.8.0 beta 3). Now the problem is that i cannot play it without my computer shutting down!!! I know that there is either something wrong with the emulators or the ROMs, but I've tried removing the existing games and replacing them and the same with the emulators themselves. It does not do this with any other programs on my computer, I have run virus, trojan, spyware scans and my computer is fast enough to run VBA as I have played it before on my same computer! I havent got a clue as to what the problem could be so if you guys have any suggestions as to what I could do, please do tell. By the way, the games that I'm trying to run are Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green if that may be of any help! Thanks

[Reaper man]

is it shutting down or restarting?

what operating system are you using?

[hckyfrk2k7]

its just shutting down and Im using windows XP service pack 2

like i said it worked perfectly fine before but then all of a sudden one day it stopped working

[Reaper man]

Originally Posted by hckyfrk2k7

its just shutting down and Im using windows XP service pack 2

like i said it worked perfectly fine before but then all of a sudden one day it stopped working

so does it instantly turn off completely or does it say "windows is shutting down" etc?

[hckyfrk2k7]

it turns off instantly and i never know when its going to.... sometimes it will turn off after about 5 min of using the emulator, other times it can go to about 15 min..... its pretty much random, thats y i cant figure it out!!!!

[(wraith_)]

Originally Posted by hckyfrk2k7

it turns off instantly and i never know when its going to.... sometimes it will turn off after about 5 min of using the emulator, other times it can go to about 15 min..... its pretty much random, thats y i cant figure it out!!!!

That sounds like a heat-related issue.

How old is your machine? Is it running stock settings or do you overclock?

[Reaper man]

Originally Posted by hckyfrk2k7

it turns off instantly and i never know when its going to.... sometimes it will turn off after about 5 min of using the emulator, other times it can go to about 15 min..... its pretty much random, thats y i cant figure it out!!!!

this is not a problem with your emulator, it's a problem with your computer. It's more than likely a heat issue. Get Sisoft Sandra lite (link) and run the burn in utility. If your PC turns off after running it for a while, then yeah your PC is overheating.

also this is more a tech talk thread, moving...

[ToastyCheesy]

I would also like to mention some alternative problems it may be... Your power supply may not be supplying enough power (which can be from heat issues) or you may want to check your drivers if this is something that happens whenever you use, i.e. Direct3D

[The 9th Sage]

Originally Posted by ToastyCheesy

I would also like to mention some alternative problems it may be... Your power supply may not be supplying enough power (which can be from heat issues) or you may want to check your drivers if this is something that happens whenever you use, i.e. Direct3D

I would also suggest that it could be bad memory...I had a bad stick of RAM that was causing something very much like what he describes. You could use something like Memtest to test that out.

http://www.memtest.org/

[(wraith_)]

Also, try to right-click on "My Computer" and choose "Manage."

Look under System Tools -> Event Viewer and look through the various logs for warnings and errors.

Of course, the easiest way to determine if overheating is the issue is to install your motherboard's hardware monitoring program.