Windows 7 Problems with VLC player on windows 7 ultimate

[dibakar]

Hi,
I am using HP 431 notebook on a Windows 7 Ultimate platform. Everytime i am running VLC player or any other media player to run video files my notebook is going into a state of sleep or hibernation. Please help and if there are any other technical specifications needed please do ask.

 

[Ian]

Welcome to the forums dibakar .

Can I clarify the problem a little more please. Do you mean that you can watch a video fine, but after a while the laptop goes to sleep because the keyboard/mouse have been inactive? Or, that as soon as you start watching a video the laptop goes to sleep?

If it's the former, then you can try adjusting your power settings so that the laptop doesn't go to sleep or turn off the display. There's a tutorial on that here: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/9090/learning-windows-7-manage-power-settings/

 

[dibakar]

Hello Ian,
Thanx for replying back
No the problem is not the former issue, the thing is everytime i am running any media player just after 2-3 seconds the screen goes black(indicating a state of sleep or hibernation) and after restarting or resuming windows whichever happens there is a error message saying windows has detected an error. It has nothing to do with power settings or other sort. It might be some internal issue which i cant decipher.
Should i send any log messages to you?

 

[Ian]

Ah ok, that's a more complicated matter then. Yes, if there are any error logs then please attach them here. You may find that going to "event viewer" and looking for any error/warning messages from the time this happens.

My initial thoughts are that it could be a problem with a video or audio driver (so I would update both manually, it'll do no harm). Or, perhaps it could be a problem with overheating (but a few seconds is a little quick). Maybe a codec related crash, as it happens on all media players.

Let us know what the logs/event viewer says and we can go from there .

 

[dibakar]

Sure!
I am attaching the log files from at 11.45 pm, they are in an order in which they were recorded by the system.
Please go through it.

 

[Ian]

Thanks for attaching those - it looks like your system is overheating.

It looks like your CPU is gradually being underclocked to try and reduce the temperature of the system (1), but this doesn't work and the system goes in to hibernation mode to try and stop the laptop from overheating further (2):

1) "The speed of processor 0 in group 0 is being limited by system firmware."
2) "The system was hibernated due to a critical thermal event."

Can you check that the air vents around the laptop are free of dust/debris and that the fans are working when it is on?

It may be useful to monitor the temperature of your CPU using a temperature monitoring tool like this:

http://openhardwaremonitor.org/

It may be that the overheating is incorrectly detected - on the other hand, it may confirm that you need to give the laptop a bit of an overhaul to see why the CPU overheats (clogged exhaust ports, cooler fan not working, heatsink unseated, etc...). Is the laptop still within warranty?

edit: I did a bit more googling and it looks like this model laptop is very susceptible to overheating. Other users have had success by getting an air duster and vacuum to clean out the ventilation ports, then updating the BIOS from the HP support site.

 

[dibakar]

Thanx for ur reply
Actually yeah the pc overheats up too much and i tried to dust away the laptop vents. Regarding BIOS update i have recently updated it. But if the problem is only with the BIOS then it should have affected other softwares too na? I mean its only affecting the runtime of media players and not any other softwares. VLC and other players are up to date; i appreciated ur solution but can there be any other alternative effective solution to this that may improve/balance the proper functioning of CPU clocks as u said?

 

[Ian]

I would try using a temperature monitoring app to see how high your CPU temperature gets. If your laptop is within warranty I would return it to see why it overheats so easily - that shouldn't happen with just a video. There's a page on the support site for your laptop which lists some cleaning tips:

http://support.hp.com/ie-en/product/hp-431-notebook-pc/5086745/document/c01657439/

Other than finding out why the laptop overheats (by opening it up), then I can't see a way to avoid overheating.