MS Windbg (free from MS) plus the 200MB symbols file, was very useful helping me solve my crashing problems. I used it with the Windows minidump. I'm no expert but it helped pinpoint what was causing my crashes.

ADB,

That's interesting...the symbols you downloaded were probably just windows symbols, correct? Not specifically SVMS? I'm running into a consistent crash-on-exit with SVMS 8 that I'm interested in figuring out the cause/resolution. Any tips? Thanks.

Himanshu

Yes, the symbols file is an optional part of the Windows debugger ... it makes the messages more meaningful.

For those of us that have uncontrollable curiosity, what turned out to be the problem?

Paul,
I'm not sure if you're talking about what my problem turned out to be but it was a VIA RX55 register error caused by using NVIDIA with a VIA based motherboard. A bios upgrade fixed the problem. The debugger helped me track it down through an NVIDA ddl that was involved in the crashes. For some reason VMS rendering was pushing its buttons.

In response to mine...it still freezes when I'm rendering.....I'm an idiot I know but......how do I "Re-install"Windows"?

IMO, reinstalling windows is a pretty severe remedy. Sometimes it will save time in the long run, but if you aren't comfortable or familiar with it it can seem intimidating.

Before taking that step I suggest you contact Sony support to see if they have any suggestions. You may get lucky and save yourself from having to rebuild a system, which can be very tedious if you have lots of different applications installed.

Is it only freezing when you're rendering?
Well, VMS is pretty stable, and I have only seen it freeze or crash on my system when I render a project to a target disk which doesn't have enough space left (in my case a 2GB usb-stick). So before doing anythingh drastic, check your paths and disks! You never know it is as easy as that!

I came close to re-installing Windows with my rendering problems ... I went as far as doing a Windows repair. Now that I've fixed my problems, VMS is remarkably stable ( I say remarkable because its still hard to get used to ;-) )
Also make sure you have a good antivirus ... I use the free Avira ... it seems better than Norton. ... and a good firewall ... I use the free Comodo which rates better than most commercial packages. It may also be worth purging your system restore ... I once had a Trojan lurking there (prior to getting Avira and Comodo).
Do you have a registry cleaner ?
Did I mention to check your drivers : http://driveragent.com/?PHPSESSID=51d4d835aeb2d076bf238dc6e82f3ab9

I'm writing on behalf of my son, the budding movie director, who has the same problem. Unfortunately, neither of us is as computer literate as most of you folks.
He says the closing problem, which happens when he tries to render part of his project to see what it looks like, started when his project file got quite large, just as the first poster mentioned.
He reloaded Vegas 7, but it only worked briefly before the problem started again. I would rather not reload Windows, since we did that recently to solve a crashing problem (who says this is stable software?).
For now, he his splitting his movie into smaller files, which seems to avoid the problem. But at some point he will have to assemble them all in order to render it. This probably means more headaches.
I noted the advice about the Windows debugging program but would like more specific info on MS Windbg - is that the proper name of the program and does MS do a good job of explaining how to use it?
Also, we have done a partial driver update and, like ADB, have a fairly new computer with a dual processor.

Firebolt, I run VMS6, and it is very stable. I only get an error when my drive is full!
Yet, adding large image files to a movie may cause issues. Try reducing their size to 800 by 600 pixels (an ordinary tv is below that anyhow.) before you import them into Vegas. You can do this in your photo software. Some programmes even allow for batch conversion (eg Irfanview).

KStoner, do you use high resolution images in your movie? If so, try reducing the resolution before you import them into your Vegas project.

Hmm....I didn't even think about that. All of the images are PNGs. Could that be the problem?