OT - CPU crash - help?

[QuikSand]

So, I clicked over to the "Third Grade" test site...

http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=24039

..and while Mrs. Q was taking the online test, the thing seemingly froze up my whole computer.

Problem is (and may be related) I have Championship Manager open, and in active mode - with about three hours of play sitting there unsaved. So, I really want to get back to that.

I made it to the control menu, and chose "Task Manager" - trying to shut down MSIE. I got to the screen allowing me to "Shut Down" or "Cancel" and picked the former - now I'm getting an error message saying it cannot be shut down, suggesting that it might be in the debugging process ?!? The activity on my screen is now SUPER slow - the act of displaying the message box takes like 2 minutes, one tiny piece at a time.


Is there anything I can do to get this damned thing shut down and get back into CM, just to save me game? Or am I scrod?


Regards,

Anxious in Annapolis

[Buccaneer]

Suggest going into Task Manager - Processes and specifically kill the MSIE process (as oppose application). I think.

[Buccaneer]

It's called iexplore.exe

[QuikSand]

I have done another Ctrl-Alt-Del and am hoping it's on its way back toward Task Manager. Very slowly.

Thanks...

[Easy Mac]

Same thing happened to me in XP. Its the first time I ever had to manually shut down my computer by pressing the button. I had only been playing FBCB for an hour, but I lost a good season and a half. Now I can't even play the dynasty anymore, its hollow.

But yes, in my pre-XP days, CM was a huge computer resource hog, and surfing the internet (especially a flash site) and playing CM for extended periods was computer death.

[Easy Mac]

It's called iexplore.exe
Every time I've tried the iexplore.exe thing, its restarted my computer.

[Buccaneer]

Every time I've tried the iexplore.exe thing, its restarted my computer.
Do you mean explorer.exe instead? That is one of the 4 or 5 untouchables.

[Easy Mac]

mmm, might have been now that i think about it, good call. though windows doesn't really like me all that much lately... time to defrag again.

[QuikSand]

But yes, in my pre-XP days, CM was a huge computer resource hog, and surfing the internet (especially a flash site) and playing CM for extended periods was computer death.

This is not encouraging. Neither is my screen... sitting so close to perfectly still, you can hardly tell it's not. Argh.

[Easy Mac]

ahhh the good old days of smacking my computer just so it will start up. I really need a new hard drive in that thing.

Anyone got a 4200 rpm ata 33 hd lying around?

[QuikSand]

...and to think I passed up a poker tournament for a quiet night at home and a little futbol.

I'm mad enough that I'm tempted to use some of the little smilies. That's pretty bad.

[Easy Mac]

how the mighty have fallen :(

[Buccaneer]

Did you forget the lesson of "SAVE OFTEN" from a couple of years ago?

[GoldenEagle]

Your going to have to save the IE crash. It can be done with some programs. I will look around. In the mean time, do not do anything like crazy like rebooting...

[QuikSand]

Did you forget the lesson of "SAVE OFTEN" from a couple of years ago?

Apparently, I did.

I now have a backup game from the end of each season, but I refuse to use the "autosave" feature in this game because each save literally occupies about six to eight minutes.

Grrrrrrr. I may never learn my lesson. I guess I should autosave and just learn to live with it.

[Buccaneer]

Your going to have to save the IE crash. It can be done with some programs. I will look around. In the mean time, do not do anything like crazy like rebooting...
Good advice. You can even recover from a fatal hard drive crash if you don't reboot, I have heard.

[Easy Mac]

Apparently, I did.

I now have a backup game from the end of each season, but I refuse to use the "autosave" feature in this game because each save literally occupies about six to eight minutes.

Grrrrrrr. I may never learn my lesson. I guess I should autosave and just learn to live with it.
CM is the only text sim i autosim with, but its because its by far the largest and most powerful.

[Buccaneer]

Apparently, I did.

I now have a backup game from the end of each season, but I refuse to use the "autosave" feature in this game because each save literally occupies about six to eight minutes.

Grrrrrrr. I may never learn my lesson. I guess I should autosave and just learn to live with it.
You can't save a couple of times during the season? I am not admonishing you, I'm just understanding a happy medium between saving once per season and the awfully long autosave.

[QuikSand]

You can't save a couple of times during the season? I am not admonishing you, I'm just understanding a happy medium between saving once per season and the awfully long autosave.

Generally, I save after every sitting, which is usually an hour or two of real time, and perhaps a month or two of game time.

I think if I turn on autosave, it will back up the game every so often (half hour?). At this moment, from where I stand right now, that seems like a worthwhile tradeoff. When it has happened, and I haev to go take a walk to kill time while my computer spits and coughs, it doesn't.

[GoldenEagle]

Browse over some of the programs here to see if anything fits what you need....

http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=Crashes&tg=dl-2001&search=+Go%2521+

It looks like a program called Emergency System Recovery may do the trick. I must give a word of caution about any of these programs as I have never used any of them before.

[QuikSand]

Can't seem to get to Task Manager. Catr-Alt-Delete just cleared my screen (expect for the wallpaper) and then very rgadually re=drew tha whole background. Seemed pointless.

I have now pressed Alt-Tab, and gotten to the menu that selects among the active programs. I hit it a couple more times to tab over to CM... but cannot get that to "release" and get me back into that program. If I could get back into CM, I'd let it save the game - even if it took all night.

[Craptacular]

Can't seem to get to Task Manager. Catr-Alt-Delete just cleared my screen (expect for the wallpaper) and then very rgadually re=drew tha whole background. Seemed pointless.


My computer at work does that. After the background is redrawn, the task manager window eventually pops up.

[QuikSand]

Well, after being away for a few minutes, I went back and now I have the CM screen up -- but it's still in SUPER-slow mode. It's something like a six or seven step process to save... I have clicked on "Game Options" and will now wait a few minutes to see if that does anything.

At this rate, I'm going to invest 20 hours of time tryint to restore three hours of game play and writing. &%$#@*!

[QuikSand]

I get nothing from anything in the CM game - so I have done another Ctrl-Alt-Del, and will try to get to Task Manager. I think I'm about out of patience.

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll do better next time.

[GoldenEagle]

Something is eating your virtural memory. It is probably IE. Close all programs that are not system critical and it will speed up.

[QuikSand]

I have been able to get into Task Manager, albeit painfully slowly. Everything is "not reponding" expect for CM which is "running" and in the background I can see it inchign along, flickering every 15 seconds or so.

How do I get to the "processes" to turn off the iexplore.exe ?

Each step I take occupies several minutes - I'd rather not hunt and peck.

[Buccaneer]

It is the second tab (Applications/Processes/Performance/Networking/Users). Having CM still running and not 'not responding' is encouraging. Good luck, be patient.

[GoldenEagle]

If you have Windows XP, click on the Process tab.

http://www.thecfl.net/windows.jpg

[QuikSand]

Got it now - it took about ten minutes until that set of tabs appeared on my screen... several minutes after I posted the question above. Now I have clicked the tab, and get to wait until something happens. Painful.

[Buccaneer]

I would prefer he clicks on the Processes tab. ;)

[Buccaneer]

Sorry, I didn't mean post a smilie in a QuikSand thread. My bad.

[Buccaneer]

Come on, Michael, I want to go up and read but I want to know how this comes out first.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

QS,

I am with you on trying not to save too much in CM cause it takes so long. But the one rule I have is that I will not open up other programs (including explorer) without first saving. My wife hated it because she would want to get on the computer and I would do a 10-minutes save first but that was my "golden" rule. I hope you get it back. If you do, PLEASE let us know how you did it, just in case I forget my rule one time.

[QuikSand]

Sorry, gang. I ran out of patience. I jut couldn't get the "processes" tab to ever come up, and punted. *sigh*

Thing is, it isn't really the three hours of game play that I lost... it's the fact that I'm taking that game seriously, and now when I re-run those couple of months of games, I will somehow know that this isn't what really happened. It's stupid - but maybe a reflection of the immersion factor, I guess.

I'll learn my lesson yet.

[Dutch]

Just pretend like you were having a bad dream you are an oil tycoon from the old show Dallas. That should do the trick.

[QuikSand]

Just pretend like you were having a bad dream you are an oil tycoon from the old show Dallas. That should do the trick.

Yup. All better now.