Random CTDs for no apparent reason on Vista x64

[woodb3kmaster]

In just the past week or so, SC4 has started crashing while I have a quad open. These CTDs seem to have no cause and occur at random times, often when I'm not doing anything to provoke them and when the game is paused. I haven't changed any settings or updated the drivers for my video card recently. The last time I modified the desktop shortcut was to add a fix to allow the game to run without crashing on my dual-core CPU, and that was about a year ago.

The most recent CTD happened earlier today after I had been playing my largest quad for about 2 hours. The exception report from that crash reads:

Exception time: 07/06/2010, at 16:37:48.
Exception code: 0xC0000005 (-1073741819) ACCESS_VIOLATION.
Current thread ID: 3128 (0x00000c38).
Version information:
Application/module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4\Apps\SimCity 4.exe
Application/module version name: SimCity 4
Application/module version: 1.1.640.0
System version: Windows NT 6.0
System memory: 4096 Megabytes total, 1720 Megabytes free.

Exception module:  C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4\Apps\SimCity 4.exe.
Exception address: 0x005ba45b. Section:Offset: 0x01:0x001b345b.

Registers
   EAX: 00000000
   EBX: 00020000
   ECX: 00000000
   EDX: 00000016
   ESI: 00000009
   EDI: 81680004
   CS:EIP: 0023:005ba45b
   SS:ESP: 002b:0017f5c0  EBP:0017f7c0
   DS:002b  ES:002b  FS:0053  GS:002b
   Flags: 00010216

Loaded Modules
   Address          Size Module             Path
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   0x00400000    8187904 SimCity 4.exe      C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4\Apps\SimCity 4.exe
   0x773c0000    1441792 ntdll.dll          C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll
   0x76d40000    1114112 kernel32.dll       C:\Windows\syswow64\kernel32.dll
   0x76920000     851968 USER32.dll         C:\Windows\syswow64\USER32.dll
   0x76660000     589824 GDI32.dll          C:\Windows\syswow64\GDI32.dll
   0x76440000     811008 ADVAPI32.dll       C:\Windows\syswow64\ADVAPI32.dll
   0x76f10000     983040 RPCRT4.dll         C:\Windows\syswow64\RPCRT4.dll
   0x75390000     393216 Secur32.dll        C:\Windows\syswow64\Secur32.dll
   0x74f00000      28672 WSOCK32.dll        C:\Windows\system32\WSOCK32.dll
   0x769f0000     184320 WS2_32.dll         C:\Windows\syswow64\WS2_32.dll
   0x76aa0000     696320 msvcrt.dll         C:\Windows\syswow64\msvcrt.dll
   0x77390000      24576 NSI.dll            C:\Windows\syswow64\NSI.dll
   0x76200000     942080 WININET.dll        C:\Windows\syswow64\WININET.dll
   0x768c0000     364544 SHLWAPI.dll        C:\Windows\syswow64\SHLWAPI.dll
   0x768b0000      12288 Normaliz.dll       C:\Windows\syswow64\Normaliz.dll
   0x762f0000    1257472 urlmon.dll         C:\Windows\syswow64\urlmon.dll
   0x76510000    1331200 ole32.dll          C:\Windows\syswow64\ole32.dll
   0x76170000     577536 OLEAUT32.dll       C:\Windows\syswow64\OLEAUT32.dll
   0x76b50000    1998848 iertutil.dll       C:\Windows\syswow64\iertutil.dll
   0x754d0000   11599872 SHELL32.dll        C:\Windows\syswow64\SHELL32.dll
   0x6e360000     458752 DSOUND.dll         C:\Windows\system32\DSOUND.dll
   0x734d0000     204800 WINMM.dll          C:\Windows\system32\WINMM.dll
   0x73490000     249856 OLEACC.dll         C:\Windows\system32\OLEACC.dll
   0x74cb0000     106496 POWRPROF.dll       C:\Windows\system32\POWRPROF.dll
   0x74d90000      32768 VERSION.dll        C:\Windows\system32\VERSION.dll
   0x660c0000     831488 OPENGL32.dll       C:\Windows\system32\OPENGL32.dll
   0x6ead0000     143360 GLU32.dll          C:\Windows\system32\GLU32.dll
   0x6e980000     937984 DDRAW.dll          C:\Windows\system32\DDRAW.dll
   0x747b0000      24576 DCIMAN32.dll       C:\Windows\system32\DCIMAN32.dll
   0x75fe0000    1613824 SETUPAPI.dll       C:\Windows\syswow64\SETUPAPI.dll
   0x74720000      49152 dwmapi.dll         C:\Windows\system32\dwmapi.dll
   0x6eaa0000     143360 MSVFW32.dll        C:\Windows\system32\MSVFW32.dll
   0x740f0000     544768 COMCTL32.dll       C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_5.82.6001.18000_none_886786f450a74a05\COMCTL32.dll
   0x76850000     393216 IMM32.dll          C:\Windows\syswow64\IMM32.dll
   0x753f0000     819200 MSCTF.dll          C:\Windows\syswow64\MSCTF.dll
   0x750a0000     122880 ShimEng.dll        C:\Windows\system32\ShimEng.dll
   0x746f0000     180224 apphelp.dll        C:\Windows\system32\apphelp.dll
   0x65c80000    2179072 AcGenral.DLL       C:\Windows\AppPatch\AcGenral.DLL
   0x749b0000     524288 UxTheme.dll        C:\Windows\system32\UxTheme.dll
   0x74cd0000     483328 NETAPI32.dll       C:\Windows\system32\NETAPI32.dll
   0x754c0000      28672 PSAPI.DLL          C:\Windows\syswow64\PSAPI.DLL
   0x6cf80000      81920 MSACM32.dll        C:\Windows\system32\MSACM32.dll
   0x73180000      20480 sfc.dll            C:\Windows\system32\sfc.dll
   0x73170000      53248 sfc_os.dll         C:\Windows\system32\sfc_os.dll
   0x74ed0000     122880 USERENV.dll        C:\Windows\system32\USERENV.dll
   0x73570000      81920 MPR.dll            C:\Windows\system32\MPR.dll
   0x76430000      36864 LPK.DLL            C:\Windows\syswow64\LPK.DLL
   0x766f0000     512000 USP10.dll          C:\Windows\syswow64\USP10.dll
   0x747e0000    1695744 comctl32.dll       C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.6002.18005_none_5cb72f96088b0de0\comctl32.dll
   0x10000000     638976 ~df394b.tmp        C:\Users\Zack\AppData\Local\Temp\~ef8d44\~df394b.tmp
   0x76770000     540672 CLBCatQ.DLL        C:\Windows\syswow64\CLBCatQ.DLL
   0x730c0000     303104 rasapi32.dll       C:\Windows\system32\rasapi32.dll
   0x73150000      81920 rasman.dll         C:\Windows\system32\rasman.dll
   0x73080000     200704 TAPI32.dll         C:\Windows\system32\TAPI32.dll
   0x73140000      49152 rtutils.dll        C:\Windows\system32\rtutils.dll
   0x02e50000     294912 SimCity 4 Extra Ch C:\Users\Zack\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\SimCity 4 Extra Cheats Plugin.dll
   0x74b40000     184320 WINTRUST.dll       C:\Windows\system32\WINTRUST.dll
   0x74b70000     991232 CRYPT32.dll        C:\Windows\system32\CRYPT32.dll
   0x74b20000      73728 MSASN1.dll         C:\Windows\system32\MSASN1.dll
   0x76ee0000     167936 imagehlp.dll       C:\Windows\syswow64\imagehlp.dll
   0x74c70000     241664 rsaenh.dll         C:\Windows\system32\rsaenh.dll
   0x6dbb0000     217088 ncrypt.dll         C:\Windows\system32\ncrypt.dll
   0x6db60000     286720 BCRYPT.dll         C:\Windows\system32\BCRYPT.dll
   0x74ea0000     135168 NTMARTA.DLL        C:\Windows\system32\NTMARTA.DLL
   0x76800000     299008 WLDAP32.dll        C:\Windows\syswow64\WLDAP32.dll
   0x74e80000      69632 SAMLIB.dll         C:\Windows\system32\SAMLIB.dll
   0x71240000      86016 GPAPI.dll          C:\Windows\system32\GPAPI.dll
   0x711a0000     237568 slc.dll            C:\Windows\system32\slc.dll
   0x74440000     552960 MSVCP80.dll        C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.vc80.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_8.0.50727.4053_none_d08d7da0442a985d\MSVCP80.dll
   0x744d0000     634880 MSVCR80.dll        C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.vc80.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_8.0.50727.4053_none_d08d7da0442a985d\MSVCR80.dll
   0x6ae10000     532480 ccL80U.dll         C:\Program Files (x86)\Norton 360 Premier Edition\Engine\3.8.0.41\ccL80U.dll
   0x6dca0000     110592 cryptnet.dll       C:\Windows\system32\cryptnet.dll
   0x71330000      24576 SensApi.dll        C:\Windows\system32\SensApi.dll
   0x73060000      86016 Cabinet.dll        C:\Windows\system32\Cabinet.dll
   0x03900000    5713920 nvd3dum.dll        C:\Windows\system32\nvd3dum.dll
   0x675d0000     835584 D3DIM700.DLL       C:\Windows\system32\D3DIM700.DLL
   0x74790000      24576 IconCodecService.d C:\Windows\system32\IconCodecService.dll
   0x69620000     999424 WindowsCodecs.dll  C:\Windows\system32\WindowsCodecs.dll
   0x6a890000     163840 MMDevApi.dll       C:\Windows\System32\MMDevApi.dll
   0x69410000     135168 AUDIOSES.DLL       C:\Windows\system32\AUDIOSES.DLL
   0x68820000     417792 audioeng.dll       C:\Windows\system32\audioeng.dll
   0x6b360000      28672 AVRT.dll           C:\Windows\system32\AVRT.dll
   0x6d510000     507904 DbgHelp.dll        C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4\Apps\DbgHelp.dll

(The last part of the report, concerning the stack, will be made available if requested.)

My computer is an HP Pavilion p6110y running Windows Vista Home Premium and DirectX 11 with 6GB of RAM, an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 CPU with a top speed of 2.6 GHz, and an nVidia GeForce 7950 GT video card.

[RickD]

The 0xC0000005 exception can have many causes. The most common are

- defective RAM (try running Windows Memory Diagnostic, available for download from Microsoft)
- faulty device driver (Try to rememember if you installed or updated any driver befor the crashes started and do a rollback to the old version)
- Adware/Malware infection (Scan your PC with Spybot S&D http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html and a virus scanner)