Why does my son's computer shut down when he presses quit game?

SekaiXD

Every time he quitseso, which has been running no problem, his computer shuts off. Even if he waits a few minutes and turns it on again, it starts then shuts off. He has to wait around 5 minutes before it will stay on and he can do something else. (I don't get this when I play.)

Has anyone seen anything like this? Why does it happen? How can we fix it?

SickleCider

Questions:
1. He's just pressing "logout," right?
2. Are you two using the same computer?
3. What kind of computer? What is its age?
4. Is the computer having any other issues?

Elsonso

When you say "I don't get this when I play", are you saying that this does not happen for you when playing ESO on the same computer?

I do think you need to open a ticket with Support, just to get that ball rolling.

Tandor

We need to see the offending computer's specs, for starters. Are you saying, however, that when he switches the computer back on it switches itself off again before he's even attempted to log into the game, unless he waits 5 minutes before doing anything? If so, it's nothing to do with ESO. It sounds like it might be an over-heating issue. I assume you're playing on a different machine, is that right?

If you're both playing on the same machine, then what is different about the way you run ESO? Is your son using different addons or any third party applications, whether legitimate or otherwise?

Mancombe_Nosehair

Sounds like your computer is overheating. My laptop get pretty hot when I play eso, as it is a very processor heavy game.

I would Google ways to check your computer's cpu temperature. The fan for it may have gone, although they tend to get quite noisy when they start to go.

SekaiXD

That you for the replies! Here are some answers to your questions.
I play on a different computer. We both have desktops, but mine was built in May and his a few years ago.

It happens when he presses quit while in game, not log out then quit.

The computer is starting to get old. I unfortunately don't have the specs handy, but I understand that without that, it's hard to say. I'll check and get back on that.

I've checked the temp when he finally gets it up and running and it's low. I'm not convinced it's overheating because it happens every single time he quits eso - not just now and then. When we had a heatwave it was overheating now and then when it was like 30C inside, but now it's around 21C inside and it's running cool and hasn't overheated.

FriedEggSandwich

SekaiXD wrote: »

That you for the replies! Here are some answers to your questions.
I play on a different computer. We both have desktops, but mine was built in May and his a few years ago.

It happens when he presses quit while in game, not log out then quit.

The computer is starting to get old. I unfortunately don't have the specs handy, but I understand that without that, it's hard to say. I'll check and get back on that.

I've checked the temp when he finally gets it up and running and it's low. I'm not convinced it's overheating because it happens every single time he quits eso - not just now and then. When we had a heatwave it was overheating now and then when it was like 30C inside, but now it's around 21C inside and it's running cool and hasn't overheated.

CPU should be good up to about 70C. I use RealTempGT to keep an eye on cpu temps. It could be the PSU getting close to retirement. Maybe quitting the game causes a power draw that it can't cope with or something.

danno8

Sounds like the game crashes on exit, then drags the whole system with it.

Sometimes switching to Borderless Windowed Fullscreen can help mitigate this issue, or at least lets you alt-tab out of the game when it crashes, rather than freeze you out completely.

stybbe17b16_ESO

You have any error msg in event viewer?

SeaGtGruff

Mancombe_Nosehair wrote: »

Sounds like your computer is overheating.

^^^ That's what I was about to suggest, too. I had a Windows laptop that would overheat while playing ESO, to the extent that it would sometimes shut down in the middle of the game if I played for too long. It would even shut down in the middle of Skyrim and Oblivion. I now play on a MacBook Air (when I'm not playing on my desktop computer), and it gets pretty hot, too, but so far it hasn't shut down while playing.

Kosef

Switch to windowed mode and play in full screen. Then just alt tab out the game and right click on your taskbar and close it that way. I'd still logout the game first.

JanTanhide

Well, this is one of those weird ones alright. From all the answers I've seen so far and the info OP has provided I would jump to the Power Supply.

Yes, I know. Makes no sense does it? But I had something similar to this a year or so ago (not ESO related) and it turned out to be the power supply.

Anyway, just a thought. Good luck!

Vevvev

JanTanhide wrote: »

Well, this is one of those weird ones alright. From all the answers I've seen so far and the info OP has provided I would jump to the Power Supply.

Yes, I know. Makes no sense does it? But I had something similar to this a year or so ago (not ESO related) and it turned out to be the power supply.

Anyway, just a thought. Good luck!

The power supply is always worth a check. The amount of times I've seen people say to check it and turn out to be right about it being the problem is quite a lot!

I do know I had issues where on my older laptop ESO crashed the GPU/Monitor ((not sure which)) leading to complete and total darkness. Sound still played but the game, and the computer, were dead. Had to press and hold the power button and hope when I turned it back on the screen came back. Had to turn off shadows and set the graphics to the lowest they could possibly go so the computer didn't get hot in order to keep playing. Still never understood what was caused this issue, but I eventually moved on to a different machine so never got a real fix.

Nestor

First thing to try, is disable any addons, and see if the issue persists. Addons can cause a crash on exit, and the PC can see that as a hardware issue and reboot.

However, the other thing to do is take the case sides off, take the machine outside and blow out the dust. PCs are really bagless vacuum cleaners. Make sure to blow out the power supply and all the heat sinks and fans. Careful with the fans, a direct blast of air can bork a bearing.

The above is cheap and quick.

Also, Thermal Paste on the CPU can degrade over time, if the thing is still running hot. A little dab of Arctic Silver or Thermaltake may sort this.

But, don't rule out a power supply.

Elsonso

Video card drivers are all up to date?

WoodenHeart

I had a similar issue a long time ago. Turns out the Nvidia sound driver (which gets installed with the video drivers unless you tell it not to) was the culprit. This was also causing a lot of random in-game crashes. Make sure your drivers are up to date.

Open your device manager, look at your sound or audio, and see if you have two different drivers running there. If you normally use the driver that came built in on your motherboard (or sound card), it's safe to just uninstall the extra Nvidia driver. That way your computer isn't trying to fight for two competing drivers and getting confused over which to actually use. (If you stream, however, leave the Nvidia one there and disable the other.)

Also make sure to quit the game using by exiting it properly from the game itself, not just clicking an X at the top of the window and letting Windows handle it.

Heat could be a very probable cause as well, like some people have already said. You can download the free MSI Afterburner to see what your temperature is, as well as change fan settings (depending on computer, you can turn up the fans a little to cool your gpu better than stock). This in turn will help keep your cpu cooler as well, possibly helping with the crash. I have mine set to start with Windows and apply my settings each time I boot.

If you have Radeon instead of Nvidia, there are probably similar steps to use, but I can't suggest anything there.

Sylvermynx

WoodenHeart wrote: »

I had a similar issue a long time ago. Turns out the Nvidia sound driver (which gets installed with the video drivers unless you tell it not to) was the culprit. This was also causing a lot of random in-game crashes. Make sure your drivers are up to date.

Open your device manager, look at your sound or audio, and see if you have two different drivers running there. If you normally use the driver that came built in on your motherboard (or sound card), it's safe to just uninstall the extra Nvidia driver. That way your computer isn't trying to fight for two competing drivers and getting confused over which to actually use. (If you stream, however, leave the Nvidia one there and disable the other.)

Also make sure to quit the game using by exiting it properly from the game itself, not just clicking an X at the top of the window and letting Windows handle it.

Heat could be a very probable cause as well, like some people have already said. You can download the free MSI Afterburner to see what your temperature is, as well as change fan settings (depending on computer, you can turn up the fans a little to cool your gpu better than stock). This in turn will help keep your cpu cooler as well, possibly helping with the crash. I have mine set to start with Windows and apply my settings each time I boot.

If you have Radeon instead of Nvidia, there are probably similar steps to use, but I can't suggest anything there.

Yeah, do not EVER let NVIDIA install anything other than the base vid drivers. I prefer NVIDIA cards to anything else, but damn.... the amount of micromanaging....

SekaiXD

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I really appreciate it.

The first thing he tried was logging out of the character, hitting back to get the base log-in screen and then click quit. That worked! His computer did not die! WTF??!! Weird.

When our heat wave began, I had him install a temp monitor, and through all this his temps have been fine. All under 70C.