I'll look into the cleaning you recommend when I meet with my computer guru. When I bought this in '07 it had less other programs than it does now as I've added a few things. I don't think the additional programs are causing the new glitch. It's worked fine for five years and since it started doing this a couple weeks ago no additional programs have been installed in fact one or two programs may been uninstalled and removed. I'm not sure about that in my timeline.
I don't have any issues in recording with ACID or burning discs when I'm done. I don't have issues when editing in Vegas it's just in the rendering process that the computer shuts off.

Clean as Kelly suggested. You might also look to see if there is a power option set to put the computer to sleep in less time than the render is taking. If you are doing long renders you should probably have the power options set to never sleep, hibernate, shut down or do anything else but wait for something to do.

It's not the greenest setting, but it beats rendering jobs more than once.

I never thought about the power scheme setting. Currently it's set to turn off monitor "after 15 Minutes" & turn off hard disk "after 30 Minutes" with system standby "after 20 Minutes". The monitor shouldn't matter but maybe the hard disk and standby settings I'll change when rendering. After I get this thing clean. Thanks.

More of the same for the OP to read in this thread
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=790334

A glitchy or failing power supply can also cause the problem you are describing.
Ken

On my homebuilt system I installed Motherboard Monitor years ago. It can be set up to show a variety of variables such as CPU temp and voltages.

When my CPU heatsink is clean, running a CPU-intensive operation (such as a video render) makes the temperature rise to about 10 degrees below the point where my system hangs. For every month thereafter (the system is on 24/7 since it also is a webserver) the render temperature will rise about 1 degree, so there comes a point where a render will eventually hang the system. Vacuuming out the heatsink restores the original temps.

The fact that your render hangs late in the render implies to me a dust issue, not a power supply issue, which I theorize would happen randomly. It could be a memory issue but that can be checked with something like Memtest.

But first thing is dust. I was amazed at how much junk was on the CPU heatsink the first time.

+ 1 dust.

it's amazing how in a carpetless, clean room, how quickly the heat sink can fill with dust. i suppose the only option is to wear a bubble suit to stop the dead skin cells being sucked in - in my case mostly dead brain cells....

By the way, always used compressed air to clean the inside of a computer, NEVER a vacuum cleaner, they tend to generate static electricity, particularly if the hose is made of plastic. I bought an inexpensive air compressor from Harbor Freight for this purpose. Cans of compressed air are ridiculously expensive and one can end up using an entire can just getting the dust out of a computer case and still not do as good a job as an air compressor.

Another vote for having compressed air on tap.
Either invest in an oil free compressor (expensive) or make certain you have an oil trap in the line. We also now have the option of air via a regulator,very handy for delicate things or when you don't want to blow crud into places it'll be even harder to get out of.

Bob.

I use compressed air - have a nice big compressor for other purposes.

Just be careful and prevent blowing into fans thus spinning them to dangerous speeds an possibly damaging the bearings. I use a pencil or something to prevent a fan from spinning when blowing in their direction.

Willem.

Oil-free, 3-gallon, 125 psi "pancake" compressors are $65 at Harbor Freight. The fittings, hose and nozzle are maybe another $15. You can also use it to inflate your tires.

As time goes on, and Microsoft updates its OSs, it puts more and more memory intensive operations on your system. Also, around where I live, the lightning strikes also tend to tax my electronics of all kinds. So it wouldn't be a stretch to think a memory stick is failing either.

But do the dust blow out first, then think of a new machine or a memtest at least.

Hmmm...

Suck or blow? I went on Google to find out. Most folks say compressed air is better, because of the chance of static electricity and/or because the airstream can be more directed.

But using compressed air will fill the room with an amazing amount of dust and filth. It will settle on everything else and get in your lungs.

So the options are to take the case somewhere else (not practical) or run the vacuum in parallel with the compressed air operation to pull in all the dislodged dust.

Since I've used the vacuum on my PC a dozen times with no ill effect, I'll continue to do so, but to each his own, I guess.

One guy suggested hosing the motherboard down, swears it works great.

I use the vacuum cleaner too. I put a grounding strap on the hose right near the mouth of it. Never had a problem, and i've cleaned PCs this way hundreds of times over the last 25 years.

I have been cleaning PCs for years also and using a vacuum cleaner is the way to go. The amount of dust created from a compressed air jet is harmful to your lungs and to anything electrical in the room, like another PC!. Its just moving the dust around.
Best solution, use a vacuum cleaner with a brush nozzle to remove most of the dust, then a combination of holding the nozzle at one end while applying a compressed air blast to heat sinks and power supply fans at the other. Blow with one while suck with the other! :) Its shifts the dust and you collect it.

Paul.

I find that if it's time to clean the machine it's time to upgrade which means you don't need to clean because it's all new.
JJK

A vacuum cleaner can't possibly suck all the dust out of the nooks and crannies of the inside of a computer case, a good blast of air can. Also, I take the computer outside when I blow it out.

Simplest solution to the dust problem it to not let it get inside the PC in the first place.

My old system built in the Antec Twelve Hundred case has never needed cleaning internally. The three dust filters on the drive cage fans collect all the dust and maintain positive air pressure inside the case. Of course those filters do need an annual clean. They are a bit of work to get out for a blow and a scrub. Antec's newer DF 85 case solves that problem, the filters can be removed without undoing anything.

The important thing is to keep positive air pressure using filtered air inside the case.
With negative air pressure dust gets caught in any gap in the case including optical drive doors and hence internals. I don't recall loosing an optical drive...ever.

Some case designs do seem pretty bad for blowing dust into the case...by design. Sucking air from the bottom side of the case without a filter is a sure way to get a lot of dust inside the case. I guess you could fit a filter to the fan but it's going to have to be held on by the fan mounting screws and hence be a pain to get off to clean.

One thing I've noticed is even the most aggressive blowing doesn't get all the crud off filters, I clean them by first blowing the dust off and then spraying the with window cleaner and then rinsing them with warm water and then blowing the water off.

Bob.

We used to dunk the whole thing in Triclo. Not sure if it would leak into the drives.The dirt flushes out faster than crap through a goose.
JJK

Another handy tool is a clean, dry paint brush. Say with a tip of about 1/2 to 1 inch width. Perfect for getting right into fans, grills, heat sink vanes, RAM holders and case corners. One of my main cleaning tools is just that.
Because sometimes the dirt is not just dust. It can form a gunk like goo and that will not blow off with compressed air. A paint brush will usually get that off. In extreme cases (major goo) you have to remove the fans and heat sink (cpu/gpu) and really get stuck in with some cleaning fluid or warm soapy water. But if a PC gets into that bad a state, usually its about to fail big style anyway for other reasons.

"Some case designs do seem pretty bad for blowing dust into the case...by design. Sucking air from the bottom side of the case without a filter is a sure way to get a lot of dust inside the case".. agreed, most PC cases are rubbish at filtering dust and generally make things worse by collecting it.. should be better.

Paul.

Oil-free, 3-gallon, 125 psi "pancake" compressors are $65 at Harbor Freight.

Link, please?

Here you go... $64.99

http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/air-compressors/3-gallon-100-psi-oilless-pancake-air-compressor-95275.html

Or if you prefer one with a conventional tank, this one has the same specs and price...

http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/air-compressors/1-3-hp-3-gallon-100-psi-oilless-air-compressor-97080.html

(By the way, I misspoke in my original post, they are 100 psi, not 125 psi.)

Air blow gun - $3.49
http://www.harborfreight.com/air-blow-gun-with-4-nozzle-68258.html

25 foot air hose - $5.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/air-hoses/1-4-quarter-inch-x-25-ft-self-coiling-air-hose-47.html