Application crash analysis

[BrianF]

I have two applications that crash (shut down) in certain circumstances
without any indication of the reason. (My system is Win XP, 2.8 GHz P4 and
512 MB RAM.)

Google Earth 3 & 4 do this if I enter a location in the search box. The
globe starts turning towards the location and zooms in but within a period
of 0 - 30 seconds, the program makes the error 'clunk' sound and closes. If
I search manually, there is no problem and the program continues to work
until it is closesd manually.

VOIP Buster was working fine until a recent upgrade, since when it does the
same thing after making a connection to a remote telephone number.

There is no indication of the reasons for these crashes in the program event
logs nor in the Wndows event log. Even uninstalling, registry clean-up and
reinstallation has achieved nothing

I have raised these issues in the forums of both products but without any
solutions being offered.

Can anyone here suggest how I could further analyse or resolve these
problems?

BrianF

 

[BrianF]

I have two applications that crash (shut down) in certain circumstances
without any indication of the reason. (My system is Win XP, 2.8 GHz P4 and
512 MB RAM.)

Google Earth 3 & 4 do this if I enter a location in the search box. The
globe starts turning towards the location and zooms in but within a period
of 0 - 30 seconds, the program makes the error 'clunk' sound and closes.
If I search manually, there is no problem and the program continues to
work until it is closesd manually.

VOIP Buster was working fine until a recent upgrade, since when it does
the same thing after making a connection to a remote telephone number.

There is no indication of the reasons for these crashes in the program
event logs nor in the Wndows event log. Even uninstalling, registry
clean-up and reinstallation has achieved nothing

I have raised these issues in the forums of both products but without any
solutions being offered.

Can anyone here suggest how I could further analyse or resolve these
problems?

Is there really no-one who has an opinion on this?

BrianF

 

[Malke]

Is there really no-one who has an opinion on this?

If you get the crashes every time you do this, then the problems are
probably caused by software. I'd update the drivers for your video and
sound cards (one at a time) and see if that helps.

Never get drivers from Windows Update. Get them from:

1. The device mftr.'s website; OR
2. The motherboard mftr.'s website if hardware is onboard; OR
3. The OEM's website for your specific machine if you have an OEM
computer (HP, Dell, Sony, etc.).

Read the installation instructions on the website where you get the
drivers.

To find out what hardware is in your computer:

1. Read any documentation you got when you bought the computer.
2. If the computer is OEM, go to the OEM's website for your specific
model machine and look at the specs (you'll be there to get the drivers
anyway)
3. Download, install and run a free system inventory program like Belarc
Advisor. The older Aida32 is good for this, too.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc Advisor
http://www.aumha.org/free.htm - Aida32 (hosted on Jim Eshelman's site)

Malke

 

[BrianF]

If you get the crashes every time you do this, then the problems are
probably caused by software. I'd update the drivers for your video and
sound cards (one at a time) and see if that helps.

Never get drivers from Windows Update. Get them from:

1. The device mftr.'s website; OR
2. The motherboard mftr.'s website if hardware is onboard; OR
3. The OEM's website for your specific machine if you have an OEM
computer (HP, Dell, Sony, etc.).

Read the installation instructions on the website where you get the
drivers.

To find out what hardware is in your computer:

1. Read any documentation you got when you bought the computer.
2. If the computer is OEM, go to the OEM's website for your specific
model machine and look at the specs (you'll be there to get the drivers
anyway)
3. Download, install and run a free system inventory program like Belarc
Advisor. The older Aida32 is good for this, too.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc Advisor
http://www.aumha.org/free.htm - Aida32 (hosted on Jim Eshelman's site)

Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately, I have already done all the things
you suggested, including similar advice from Google Earth support.
Belarc Advisor is also on my PC and I have used it to ensure that I have the
latest drivers for all items.

Today, there is a new version of VOIP Buster and (fingers crossed) it looks
as though that has fixed that problem. So it is just Google Earth that needs
fixing.

BrianF

 

[Malke]

Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately, I have already done all the things
you suggested, including similar advice from Google Earth support.
Belarc Advisor is also on my PC and I have used it to ensure that I have
the latest drivers for all items.

Today, there is a new version of VOIP Buster and (fingers crossed) it
looks as though that has fixed that problem. So it is just Google Earth
that needs fixing.

Thanks for updating the thread. Hope you get the problems with Google Earth
worked out. Of course, Google Earth, while nice, isn't an essential program
so if it doesn't work for you just uninstall it.

Malke