Is there anything logged in stderrdea.txt, stderrgui.txt, or the event log?

Never looked in there but did do ctrl-alt-del and bring up task manager. Boinc and all the science apps are still running. In fact I never did figure out what had stopped running. Then did a restart from the task manager.

What is the install scenario you all are using?

Installed as service.

Do you allow BOINC Manager to start automatically at logon?

NO but use Boinc Manager occasionally to check the local and remote computers.

If running as a service, what type of user account is being used?

Local System account. Interact with desktop NOT checked.

how far back to these random explorer crashes go?

I have seen 4 in the last 30 days or so. 2 on QX6800 and 2 on P4D CPU's

What version did you have installed when you first noticed the issue?

version 5.10.7 but I remember this occuring VERY infrequently before that version. In fact I chalked it up to a Windows XP crash until I saw this thread.

Is everyone experiencing the explorer.exe crash using the screensaver?

NO - I do not use the screen saver at all. I go blank screen after 10 minutes.

ROM - I hope this helps you. Seems like a very hard bug to track down to me but then I know nothing of programing. Good Luck.

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Boinc....Boinc....Boinc....Boinc....

Rom's looking for data and asking questions like:

Please also tell us which projects were you running (or attached to) when explorer.exe crashed?

This will help us determine whether the problem is with BOINC itself or with a specific project application.

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Charlie Fenton
BOINC / SETI@home Macintosh & Windows Programmer

The same happened on monday with a P4 HT running SETI and Rosetta.
Yesterday i noticed it also on a P4D running the same projects.
Have not checked any logfiles ..
If it happens again i'll try get more info

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.... I will endeavor to upgrade Andromeda, (a K6-2, 350MHz), and Intrepid, (a P-III 600), to 5.10.7 as well.

Great minds think alike! I have an Andromeda and an Intrepid too. The rest of my Fleetfarm is Enterprise, Voyager, Valiant, Equinox, Defiant and Steamrunner. The last remaining unit (wife's) is not named after a starship.

Back on thread......all are running 5.10.7 with CI of 0 and cache of 2 days. I had no problems during the upgrade, or at any stage after. These settings seem to work really well with the wide range of processing power I have.(check the specs of the fleet if you wish to see the variety)

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Bill
Auckland, NZ

This morning it happened to my AMD64 3700 Sandiego, A8N-E Asus board, Asus 6200 pciex video, 1G OCZ gold, 8% OC, Winxphome.

Boinc 5.10.7 installed as service to admin account, and to start boincmgr at startup. I have Mcafee asking to allow the VBS script at startup. Screensaver not used, but Power Options set to blank after one hour. Can't currently access any files/logs as nothing works other than Boinc and Boincmgr are functioning on the screen, and the mouse/cursor still function. There's nothing else on the screen, except the rolling hills background. No shortcut icons, no start button, no taskbar, no systray. nothing but boinc and the pretty hills.

I've sent an email to Rom letting him know and am leaving it alone until I hear from him (heck it just runs boinc anyway, and boinc is running, LOL)

EEK, I've just poured the first cup of joe, and started my VNC tour through the farm, and found my AMD64 X2 5200 in a similar situation except the manager isn't open (I left it open, but it went away on it's own). This machine has Asus M2NPV-VM mobo, 2 G (2x1) Corsair XMS II memory, onboard video S3, Like the other, Boinc 5.10.7 32b is installed as service to password protected admin account. Has Winxp Pro 64 OS.

I see pah_xplor_7.30 and metropolis_2.42 running atm (via taskmanager, processes), both at 49/50%.

I'll leave this one alone too, and report it to Rom.

This is strange, I just watched it switch from metropolis to rieselsive app, but there isn't anything labelled boinc in the processes list.

[edit] OK now I see boinc, strange. Anyway here's screenshots of them:

5200 desktop with taskmanager

3700 desktop with boincmgr and taskmanager open

Anybody else noticed that 5.10.7 nor any other 5.10.x version is recommended any longer?

Sutaru Tsureku did, that's when I started this. I'm starting to suspect it affects those who've followed the latest alpha releases. There's many more reports of it with alpha testers than regular users (since only one other person has reported seeing it). I'm suspecting a remnant VBS script is the cause. One which "uninstall" or "remove" didn't uninstall during our upgrades. I'm waiting on Rom to wake.

Out of curiosity, I went to the startup folder on each machine.

AMD64 2800 has no vbs script and hasn't lost the desktop
Mobile AMD64 3700 has no vbs script and I'm unsure if it has
AMD64 3700 has the vbs script and has experienced the lost desktop
AMD64 X2 4800 has no vbs script and I don't remember it losing the desktop
AMD64 X2 5200 has the vbs script and has experienced the lost desktop
AMD64 X2 6000 has the vbs script and has experienced the lost desktop

I think this is interesting. All that have the script have experienced it, those that don't either haven't or I don't remember them doing so.

Is anyone who is experience this finding a Boincmanager.vbs script in the start up folder? Anyone seeing the lost desktop and not finding it??

What vbs script? What's the file name?

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Boinc....Boinc....Boinc....Boinc....

What vbs script? What's the file name?

C:\\Documents and Settings\\Administrator\\Start Menu\\Programs\\Startup

Look for: boinc manager (vbs script file)

Rom gave directions to Poorboy for removing it and here they are.

Please completely uninstall BOINC and then manually delete the VBS
script files. Once that is done go ahead and install the latest client.
I doubt you are going to see the VBS script then.

If I remember correctly the vbs file was to try to get around some Vista gizmo which affected boinc in some manner. To be honest I don't have vista and wasn't paying attention. I've seen one report by someone who "believes" it's happened without the vbs file, so this might not be the issue.

Just recieved this from Rom:

Rom Walton to me, boinc_alpha
show details 10:27 am (0 minutes ago)

Everyone, go ahead and manually remove the VBS script, one of the last builds was supposed to do it automatically, in any case it is no longer needed.



It’ll either be in:

C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Start Menu\\Programs\\Startup



Or:

C:\\Documents and Settings\\<Username>\\Start Menu\\Programs\\Startup



Depending on install type.



----- Rom

I see that there is a Windows V 5.10.9 on the DL list. Did I miss an alpha release notice. Anyone know what the changes are.

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Boinc V7.2.42
Win7 i5 3.33G 4GB, GTX470

I see that there is a Windows V 5.10.9 on the DL list. Did I miss an alpha release notice. Anyone know what the changes are.

I haven't seen Rom ask us to test it, but I'm a glutton for punishment.

If the VBS was the cause of the lost desktop, then those who go from recommended to recommended probably aren't affected.

I see that there is a Windows V 5.10.9 on the DL list. Did I miss an alpha release notice. Anyone know what the changes are.

I haven't seen Rom ask us to test it, but I'm a glutton for punishment.

If the VBS was the cause of the lost desktop, then those who go from recommended to recommended probably aren't affected.

Like you I'm also 'glutton for punishment' and install new versions as they are released. I'll have to wait until tonight for this one. I like to be around for a couple of hours to catch any problem when I do an upgrade.

I may have seen the desktop problem once, a while ago, but I just rebooted assuming it was just Windows acting up. I can't associate it with the VBS file as I lost track of the chronology of events. I know I had to manually delete the VBS file when Rom announced he was reverting to using the shortcuts.

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Boinc V7.2.42
Win7 i5 3.33G 4GB, GTX470

Since I installed 5.10.7 on my XPS Desktop I occassionally lose my desktop and icons....rebooting fixes. I don't do much else but BOINC on that machine....

Have AVG..updated & running. Power Management/Hibernation is disabled.

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Since I installed 5.10.7 on my XPS Desktop I occassionally lose my desktop and icons....rebooting fixes. I don't do much else but BOINC on that machine....

Have AVG..updated & running. Power Management/Hibernation is disabled.

have you installed any version between 5.10.0 and 5.10.6 inclusive at any time on that machine?

No was running 5.8.15 before....

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and your desktop looked like the ones in this earlier post of mine?

If yes, do you find any vbs script in the startup folder?