Unexpected shutdowns / restarts - TCP/IP stack and IPsec

[Wuhtzu]

Hey all

I have a problem where my computer unexpectedly shuts down and restarts - no windows shutdown screen, just sudden black screen and the computer starts to boot again - as if I turned of the PSU and started the computer again.

The problem only occurs when I play the game Puzzle Quest - Challenge of the Warlords, but it seems like it is a more common problem cause by the TCP/IP stack in Windows XP.

Event Viewer -> Systems reports the following:

Event Type: Error

Event Source: System Error

Event Category: (102)

Event ID: 1003

This error is described here by Microsoft:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925922/en-us

and they list the following as the cause:

This problem may occur if the TCP/IP stack tries to access a buffer that the stack did not initialize. This action corrupts the pool header. Therefore, the computer stops unexpectedly. This problem may occur if the network uses Internet Protocol security (IPsec).

They suggest installing this hotfix WindowsXP-KB925922-x86-ENU.exe which you must manually request via a webform. I have installed that hotfix and it doesn't solve the problem.

I don't know much about the whole "IPsec"-thing, but it seems to be the source of the problem. Have you got any ideas of how to get around it?

Additional information:

Windows XP Professional SP 2 (5.1, build 2600)

Best regards

Wuhtzu

[cluberti]

If you add /DEBUG into the boot.ini for the Windows install you're using, does the machine "hang" at the black screen instead of reboot? If so, it's a bugcheck and you can catch it with a null-modem cable, a second machine, and a debugger. If it doesn't hang, it is likely not a bugcheck and potentially a hardware or driver issue (using /DEBUG tells the kernel to "break" (pause) when an exception that would cause a system crash occurs, and thus the machine will appear to hang rather than reboot if it does break.

[Wuhtzu]

Thanks for your suggestion cluberti

I tried adding /DEBUG to my boot.ini, but the only thing I found out was that daemon tools does not work with kernel debugger enabled, because I haven't been able to trigger the error since..

Not even removing /DEBUG from boot.ini again triggered the error...

I'll get back to this if once I get the error again