During the last week I

Paul - The first thing I'd look at is the CPU/mobo temperatures. Do you have a program to monitor the temps now? If not, I'd recommend MotherBoard Monitor (MBM). It's freeware and very easy to use. (See: http://mbm.livewiredev.com/ ). FS9 runs the CPU at 100% all the time (very few other programs do this) and any disruption in the internal cooling will cause the CPU temps to rise to excessive levels and the P4 will eventually shut down to prevent permanent damage. Check the cooling fans, both the intake fan (if present) and the power supply fan. Also check to be sure the CPU fan is operating properly (MBM will measure the fan speed).Doug

Yep, apart from temps it could also be the power supply? The switching off and not rebooting makes it look so. Good luck, Paul. Kind regards Jaap

I wondered about that too as I've had it happen in the past, but that was totally random shutdowns and this is very definately only when FS is running.Dreamfleet Project ManagerGreatest Airliners - DC-8Greatest Airliners - 727 Whisperjethttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

I installed this without looking at it in much detail. I have the case and cpu temps showing 58 and 35 C respectively. When FS is running the cpu temp gradually rises to 55C..............does that tell me something usefull?As you can tell, I don't like digging around too much as whenever I do, it seems to take me hours and hours :-(Dreamfleet Project ManagerGreatest Airliners - DC-8Greatest Airliners - 727 Whisperjethttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

Paul,First of all, I know just enough about computers to be considered ignorant, but maybe I can be of some help anyway.Something doesn't look right with your temperatures. Your cooling media, the case ambient temperature, is hotter than your CPU.Have you changed your video drivers recently? I had similar results with some of the 80 series Nvidia drivers when I was searching for the "Holy Grail Driver" for my 6800gt. When I went back to the 70 series drivers, everything was fine. This occured when all I had loaded was XP Pro, FS2004, and squawkbox.Hope you solve it,Ted

As Ted has noticed, the temps seem to be reversed. If the idle temp is really 58C that's a big problem. But then you say it rises to 55C. Is that the case or the CPU temp? The P4 will start to throttle back around 68-70C and totally shutdown at something quite a bit above that. On the "average" PC with no special cooling I'd expect an idle temperature of 38-45C and a full-load (FS9-type) temperature of 50-60C. Anything much above those would, to me, be an indicator of a heating problem of some sort.Doug

Paul, it would be great if you could shed some light on the following: - System builder - Mainboard manufacturer plus p/n - PSU details - Last software modifications and when the troubles started to occur - Is the case clean and are the fans working? BTW, might be a good excuse to get a dedicated Flytendo if the only thing which fails is FS..? :-) Good luck and kind regards Jaap

Here's where the going will get tough............>- System builderWhat is this?>- Mainboard manufacturer plus p/n From memory, 875P Canterwood, DDR400, 800MHz FSB >- PSU details How would I find this out?>- Last software modifications and when the troubles started to>occurNo recent changes other than the fresh FS install into an empty folder.>- Is the case clean and are the fans working?I guess I'll need to take a look at this.>BTW, might be a good excuse to get a dedicated Flytendo if the>only thing which fails is FS..? :-) Flytendo?Thanks JaapDreamfleet Project ManagerGreatest Airliners - DC-8Greatest Airliners - 727 Whisperjethttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

I'm sure I read it correct; Case 58c and cpu 35c. As said above, the case temp looks wrong, especially with a room temp below 20c.With FS running, the case temp varied by almost nothing, but the cpu steadily increased to 55c, which as you say, shouldn't be an issue.I'll blow all the cobwebs out of tonight...........is that correct that I mustn't use a vacuum cleaner?Ignorance is bliss :-)Dreamfleet Project ManagerGreatest Airliners - DC-8Greatest Airliners - 727 Whisperjethttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

Simply adore your sense of humour, Paul! :-) >>I'll blow all the cobwebs out of tonight...........is that correct that I mustn't use a vacuum cleaner?<< Ideally, you'ld have a compressor or one of those air sprays. Just make sure you hold the fan props as they might rotate beyond specification (which could kill the bearing). A vacuum cleaner is risky because the pipe is often staticly loaded and hence, 'interaction' with components might occur. System builder? --> Person/entity which built the FlyTendo (FlyTendo --> a device which simulates flying aircraft like Dreamfleet's 727) :-) PSU details are usually on a sticker on the power supply's side. A mention of the brand and wattage should suffice to get an idea. I asked for the mainboard specs because a couple of years ago, there were large batches of faulty capacitors which caused mainboard failure. I.e. mentioned and shown here: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195Many mainbord manufacturers were struck by this error, not Abit alone. Hope this helps, good luck and kind regards Jaap

OK, I'll bite the bullet and unplug it all tonight (I can never remember where to plug everything back in though!) and find out the PSU info before taking the side off.Compressor indeed, I can probably find some (h)air spray in my daughters room but I suppose that won't help? Blow though a drinking straw?If the vacuum's a bad idea I'll have to go with picking the dust and cobwebs out by hand..........if it looks anything like I imagine it could do, anything I pull out of there will be of some benefit :-)I can see this leading toward me dropping the PC off at my brothers business and asking for a new one.........but then that'd involve having to mess about installing things again, not to mention trying to decide just what to include in it and that'll be a week wasted reading about stuff I know sod all about thinking I'm making an informed decision!Dreamfleet Project ManagerGreatest Airliners - DC-8Greatest Airliners - 727 Whisperjethttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

It sounds like the monitor program just isn't getting the case temp quite right - I'd think it would be somewhere around 30-32C. But, 35C for an idle temp is fine and 55C for the full-load temp is fine also. If 55C is the CPU temp when the machine shuts down then an overheated CPU isn't the problem. As Jaap says, time to look at the power supply. But (there is always one of those) it could also be other things. Bad memory module(s), bad motherboard, and even a bad CPU. I had a CPU fail last fall that resulted in constant reboots but my guru at the local shop says a complete shutdown is also a common symptom with a CPU that's "gone south". Unfortunately, with either the power supply, or the memory sticks, or the motherboard, or the CPU the only to know where the problem lies, for sure, is to substitute parts known to be good.Doug

Well, as I suspected, it was pretty dirty inside. Even though I know better, I still took the vacuum to it.Everything still works fine, the temps are no different and sure as can be, FS just shut the PC down after 40 minutes.Given that it only happens when FS is running, what is being most taxed that could limit the things to try? I did notice when the shutdown happened, that a fan continued to run and the screen continued to show the display for around 5 seconds.Dreamfleet Project ManagerGreatest Airliners - DC-8Greatest Airliners - 727 Whisperjethttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

There are a couple of things that you may want to try. If you have two 512MB memory sticks, pull one of them and run it at 512 rather than the full gig (or with 256's pull two, etc). Then try the other stick(s). If any of them fail that's a good clue. Also, if you have another video card lying around you could swap cards and see if the shutdowns continue. Video card faults can often put a serious drain on the power supply. You might also want to verify that the fan on the video card is, in fact, operational as an overheated video card could be a contributing factor. To further eliminate the temperature issue, take the case off and run a external fan blowing air across the CPU/video card. (To test the memory without pulling anything you could run Memtest86. See http://www.memtest86.com/ . If there is a memory problem that program will find it.) Another approach is to strip the machine of everything except the video card. Disconnect any extra HDD's, pull any PCI cards, disconnest any extra cd-roms or DVD drives, etc. That will deload the power supply to the minumum output necessary. If it still fails go for a new supply. Or, just go ahead and buy another good power supply of at least 350 watts (there're not all that expensive) and substitute for the one you have. Even if it doesn't fix the problem you'll probably have a less noisy fan :-). Talk to the guru at your local computer shop. Those guys see this stuff all the time and may have some really good ideas based on what you can tell them and the brand of the computer. Or, just take it in and have them diagnose and fix it. Most shops won't charge anything if they can't get it to work. I'm running out of ideas.....Doug