Empire Total War has stopped working.. again

**Chris Carnage** · February 09, 2010, 03:06 AM

Hi guys,

i installed Empire Total War on my machine about 2 month ago. And up until 3 days ago, it was working absolutely fine without any problems whatsoever.

then 3 days ago, after a long battle, Empire suddenly crashed to the desktop, and that message that says 'empire total war has stopped working - windows is looking for a solution to the problem' came up.

now since it happened the first time, it happens about every ten minutes or so now, so im presuming that something must have changed on my pc about 3 days ago that is causing this. however i dont know what that is.

also, i installed rome about a month ago and rome also crashes every 10 minutes or so (about 80% of crashes are at the end of battles on both games)

i dont think its my system spec that is a problem as i have been playing empire on highest settings without any problems up til now, but il post my dxdiag anayway

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

thanks for reading and hopefully responding
chris

**karamazovmm** · February 09, 2010, 04:17 AM

the probability is heat issues, laptops are much more susceptible to dust accumulation, or heat imprisoning than desktops, the process is simple, you will download the cpu fan utility and install in your comp, you will run it then you will play a battle, when it crashes you will be able to see the heat, if it indeed is go open your laptop and buy or use canned air/vacuum cleaner, gently hold the fan in place and it's done. If it continues to happen, and it is indeed again a heat problem buy a cooling pad.

Ps: with that resolution and graphics card and cpu combination it is highly recommended that you play on medium, since I have a P7350, HD 4670, 1366*768 and I play it on custom high, so my laptop don't overheat (I live in Brazil it's melting in here!)

Now if it is not a heat problem go take a look at your drivers, empire has been updated, although highly unlikely this could be the issue nonetheless.

Ps for more info take a look at the TROUBLESHOOT STICKY

**Shiloh** · February 13, 2010, 12:49 AM

I've been having the same issue. I've been running ETW on Steam for weeks with no problem then starting yesterday I get the error on startup (see attached). I have tried reinstalling Steam, ETW, Graphics Card Driver, uninstalling DarthMod but to no avail.

Computer specs:
- MSI M/B K9A2CF- F AMD 790X
- Processor is AMD2+ ...2.2ghz.. Agena. (Quad Core) ..can be upgraded to new AM3
(update BIOSfirst)...4 gigs OCZ( Gaming)
- Ram Fatality 800 ram set to run at 1066
- Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm 250 Sata Hard Drive
- 450W BFG PSU ..NVIDIA PNY 9800GT one GB video card with NVIDIA Control Suite Panel Software

I ran Everest and this is the report. I don't know if these are an issue and if so could these temps be causing my problem?

Temperatures:
Motherboard 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU 33 °C (91 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #3 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #4 25 °C (77 °F)

**Shiloh** · February 13, 2010, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by Ezekielen

I've been having the same issue. I've been running ETW on Steam for weeks with no problem then starting yesterday I get the error on startup (see attached). I have tried reinstalling Steam, ETW, Graphics Card Driver, uninstalling DarthMod but to no avail.

Computer specs:
- MSI M/B K9A2CF- F AMD 790X
- Processor is AMD2+ ...2.2ghz.. Agena. (Quad Core) ..can be upgraded to new AM3
(update BIOSfirst)...4 gigs OCZ( Gaming)
- Ram Fatality 800 ram set to run at 1066
- Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm 250 Sata Hard Drive
- 450W BFG PSU ..NVIDIA PNY 9800GT one GB video card with NVIDIA Control Suite Panel Software

I ran Everest and this is the report. I don't know if these are an issue and if so could these temps be causing my problem?

Temperatures:
Motherboard 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU 33 °C (91 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #3 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #4 25 °C (77 °F)

I opened the case of my computer and put a large fan on the side and tried ETW, same deal. I took another temp reading and this is what it read.

Temperatures:
Motherboard 23 °C (73 °F)
CPU 34 °C (93 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #3 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #4 25 °C (77 °F)
GPU [ TRIAL VERSION ]
GPU Memory 41 °C (106 °F)
GPU Ambient 28 °C (82 °F)
Seagate ST3250410AS [ TRIAL VERSION ]

RTW and MTW are playing fine on this computer (disc versions). I'm running out of options here guys.

**irishron** · February 13, 2010, 09:03 AM

Have you checked your power supply?

**Shiloh** · February 13, 2010, 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by irishron

Have you checked your power supply?

How would I check that? I'm not real hip on diagnosing PC gaming computers as this is my first one, I got it a month ago. Could you take a look at this report and see if anything sticks out? I searched the document using "power" and this is most of what came up. Should I assume the temps are OK?

Chassis Properties:
Manufacturer To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Version To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Serial Number [ TRIAL VERSION ]
Asset Tag [ TRIAL VERSION ]
Chassis Type Desktop Case
Boot-Up State Safe
Power Supply State Safe

Power Management Properties:
Current Power Source AC Line
Battery Status No Battery
Full Battery Lifetime Unknown
Remaining Battery Lifetime Unknown

ID Attribute Description Threshold Value Worst Data Status
01 Raw Read Error Rate 6 100 253 0 OK: Value is normal
03 Spinup Time 0 97 97 0 OK: Always passes
04 Start/Stop Count 20 100 100 622 OK: Value is normal
05 Reallocated Sector Count 36 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
07 Seek Error Rate 30 78 60 81985419 OK: Value is normal
09 Power-On Time Count 0 97 97 3319 OK: Always passes
0A Spinup Retry Count 97 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
0C Power Cycle Count 20 100 100 503 OK: Value is normal

**irishron** · February 13, 2010, 10:03 AM

I have a 9800GT 512mb for this rig I built about six months ago. I blew the 600w psu out in a bout a month. The 750 watt is working perfectly. I noticed you only have a 450w and seems low for a gaming rig so I am asking. Yes, this game in battles uses more power than Rome or Medieval2.

**Shiloh** · February 13, 2010, 10:31 AM

I've done fine on ETW with medium settings to date. I know I can upgrade PSU at some point and likely will when needed, but it wasn't a bad starter rig for $400. (including Vista OS) and overall, it's done well for me. Thanks for the heads up on that.

I have fixed the issue with your post from another thread by doing this:

1. Delete all mods if you have any.
2. delete your scripts in the appdata folder.

I had already deleted Darthmod and I went to appdata folder>Creative Assembly and deleted all scripts within which were dated back to when I first installed Steam/ETW (late January). Thanks for all your help and after about 6-7 hours troubleshooting, I'm back gaming.

Do you have any ideas what may have caused this? Could I load Darthmod again or should I wait for 1.6 patch?