You can download PD19 for 30 days and test it. It does not over right or remove PD18 at all it installs a complete new copy. I would DL it and where it crashes in PD18 I would then try the same edit in PD19 and see if you can get that to crash.

Also can you include the DXdiag in this post please. PowerDirector Tutorials Team

Quote You can download PD19 for 30 days and test it. It does not over right or remove PD18 at all it installs a complete new copy. I would DL it and where it crashes in PD18 I would then try the same edit in PD19 and see if you can get that to crash.

Also can you include the DXdiag in this post please.

Thanks. Trying PD 19 is certainly an option - the only problem with recreating the crash is that I often cant.
For example, earlier PD 18 crashed the machine, I then restarted and edited the same video (carefuly saving the project after every few changes) and was able to complete the edit without it crashing. It was the same on the previous PC. Totally random, but seems to be related to quick trims on the time line, as opposed to trimming the file from the list of files in the videos tab.

DX Diag attached

In your preferances 'uncheck' this function as the autosave can cause 'freezing'.

See if this stops it.

https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/17188.page PowerDirector Tutorials Team

At the bottom of your DXdiag file you will see this

Windows Error Reporting:
+++ WER0 +++:
Fault bucket , type 0
Event Name: BlueScreen
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/bsod-wheauncorrectableerror-cant-seem-to-fix/c44ff74b-be7d-463c-b5f5-b2fbc509958a

Then I found this which is the identical error to yours
https://www.tenforums.com/bsod-crashes-debugging/124855-bsod-kernal-mode-heap-corruption.html

+++ WER1 +++:
Fault bucket , type 0
Event Name: BlueScreen
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0
Problem signature:
P1: 13a
P2: 11
P3: ffffc58ecf802100
P4: ffffc58edfd16e10
P5: 0
P6: 10_0_19042
P7: 0_0
P8: 256_1
P9:
P10:

So from what I am seeing there might be a problem with the video card drivers. If you read that last forum post I am showing you they are giving theses intructions in the forum.

1) There was one misbehaving hardware driver identified in the memory dump.

2) uninstall the Nvidia GPU driver using DDU (display driver uninstaller)

3) re-install the Nvidia GPU driver from the Nvidia website

4) make sure that you check the clean install box and if available install the physx driver.

Display Driver Uninstaller Download version 18.0.0.4 (or newer version if available)

Display Driver Uninstaller: How to use - Windows 7 Help Forums

NVIDIA

Download Display Driver Uninstaller - MajorGeeks


So look for this post I have copied and above and see if this resolves your problem. But its not PowerDirector at all. There are other issues on your system which really looks like RAM and Video Card. PowerDirector Tutorials Team

Now at the same time you pushing this error

+++ WER2 +++:
Fault bucket 2299386966980055660, type 5
Event Name: RADAR_PRE_LEAK_64
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Read more here
https://www.techsupportforum.com/threads/radar_pre_leak_64-crash-black-ops-3.1107401/#post-6972513

Now these guys are using memtest86 which cost like $50.00 and you run to find errors in memory.

Now this is PowerDirector

Problem signature:
P1: PDR.exe
P2: 18.0.2725.0
P3: 10.0.19042.2.0.0
P4:
P5:
P6:
P7:
P8:
P9:
P10:

This is after all the rest of the items. I would look into getting those other items fixed like windows not updating and your video card drivers. When you have those working run DXDiag again to verify and then see if it crashes and if it does take another DXdiag to look over again. But I can see how this has been frustrating for you its kinda like looking for a needle in a hay stack. But when you get these fixed it should help. Ohh and DO NOT buy the memory program I was simply showing you my process and how I have got to where I am. Its just to point you nothing more. PowerDirector Tutorials Team

You also have a problem with colorpicker

Problem signature:
P1: ColorPicker.exe
P2: 0.27.1.0
P3: cb5b000e
P4: KERNELBASE.dll
P5: 10.0.19041.662
P6: ec58f015
P7: c000041d
P8: 000000000002d759
P9:
P10: PowerDirector Tutorials Team

Hi.
I very much appreciate you taking the time to look at this and advise.
However, I have to add that I do not believe the problem is hardware related due to the following reasons:

1. As I stated in my opening post, this issue exists on two seperate machines. Thats two different sets of RAM, two different graphics cards, two different windows installations. Two machines where the only blue screen crash occurs (at random points) when using PD 18 on both.

2. To be sure I have conducted Memory tests, hard drive tests and windows system file checks on both machines.

3. Both machines have had multiple versions of graphics drivers - these are always kept up to date.

4. The second machine is brand new with clean installations of Windows and drivers.

5. PD 12 works without any problem - no blue screen crashes. Only PD 18 has this issue.

6. Both machines have been used for gaming - graphically intense - with no crashes or blue screens using any other application. Again, only PD 18.

RADAR_PRE_LEAK_64 simply means the OS has detected a resource intensive process running which isn't managing its memory very well - this suggests that PDR itself has a problem, not that there is a memory problem.

Colorpicker is part of Windows Power Toys. I have now disabled this module since I dont use it, but it hasnt produced any problems or crashes for me.

Bottom line is that I might have bought into this being a hardware issue if it was only one machine, but the fact that the exact same problem is occuring on two completely different PCs and that only one version of PDR is causing it on both points the finger squarely at PDR 18.

So at the moment, my choices are to try out PDR 19, switch back to PDR 12 or find an alternative editing solution.

Since I like solving a good puzzle, is there a way that you can file-share a small project that is repeatably causing your machines to crash so that we can try it out for ourselves? I know there's not much solace in telling you that PD 18 rarely causes BSOD's for others. (I've never had Win10 BSOD on me - but then, I don't work with High res, big files or complicated editing.)

As you acknowledged, a BSOD usually means a hardware problem - especially in this day and age, where Windows 10 is fairly good about protecting itself in software. But I wouldn't rule out a "software" issue, as below.

The fact that two machines, independent of each other, are crashing is a puzzler.

But what is not independent is that you own both of them. Are they are on the same network/Internet connection at your house? (Same modem? Same router? Same IOT appliances?)

If yes, then my hunch is that you've picked up malware. Especially since, on your second, new machine, you said that everything was working okay for a few days. And then it BSOD'd.

So something changed in those few days. Presumably it wasn't hardware. (And I am assuming, since you worked in the repair industry, that you don't have both your boxes tightly caged up where they can't breathe. Overheating would cause a BSOD for hardware reasons.)

To test my hypothesis, I suggest doing a complete bare metal reinstall of Win 10 on either machine. With your ethernet cable unplugged. (Which means that you won't be asked to create an MS account. You'll be air-gapped.)

To do it perfectly clean, I suggest installing Win10 to a leftover hard drive that you have lying around, that has been Boot & Nuke'd.

Only install Windows and PD 18. Nothing else. (Well, except Comodo's free firewall, if needed below. Set it for "Custom" on the Firewall rules. It is very good at stopping threats. Even the US spook agencies complained how good it is.)

(If you don't have Win10 install media, you can download a Win10 iso for free. If you need certain drivers to get Win10 to work on your box, then USB them over only.)

I can't remember if PD needs on-line activation to work the first time. If it does, then plug your Ethernet cable in just for that time. (Try the trial version. Or, I don't know if CL still offers it, but at one time they were offering a free, slimmed down version. I suggest trying those so that you don't trip your license use on your purchased copies.)

Let's see what happens.

(If it still happens after a clean install, then I wonder how the line voltage at your house is? There has to be something shared by both computers that is causing this problem.)

Try PD19 option and see what happens. I do computer programming, mainly php, css, html etc... for making web sites.

Quote Since I like solving a good puzzle, is there a way that you can file-share a small project that is repeatably causing your machines to crash so that we can try it out for ourselves? I know there's not much solace in telling you that PD 18 rarely causes BSOD's for others. (I've never had Win10 BSOD on me - but then, I don't work with High res, big files or complicated editing.)

As you acknowledged, a BSOD usually means a hardware problem - especially in this day and age, where Windows 10 is fairly good about protecting itself in software. But I wouldn't rule out a "software" issue, as below.

The fact that two machines, independent of each other, are crashing is a puzzler.

But what is not independent is that you own both of them. Are they are on the same network/Internet connection at your house? (Same modem? Same router? Same IOT appliances?)

If yes, then my hunch is that you've picked up malware. Especially since, on your second, new machine, you said that everything was working okay for a few days. And then it BSOD'd.

So something changed in those few days. Presumably it wasn't hardware. (And I am assuming, since you worked in the repair industry, that you don't have both your boxes tightly caged up where they can't breathe. Overheating would cause a BSOD for hardware reasons.)

To test my hypothesis, I suggest doing a complete bare metal reinstall of Win 10 on either machine. With your ethernet cable unplugged. (Which means that you won't be asked to create an MS account. You'll be air-gapped.)

To do it perfectly clean, I suggest installing Win10 to a leftover hard drive that you have lying around, that has been Boot & Nuke'd.

Only install Windows and PD 18. Nothing else. (Well, except Comodo's free firewall, if needed below. Set it for "Custom" on the Firewall rules. It is very good at stopping threats. Even the US spook agencies complained how good it is.)

(If you don't have Win10 install media, you can download a Win10 iso for free. If you need certain drivers to get Win10 to work on your box, then USB them over only.)

I can't remember if PD needs on-line activation to work the first time. If it does, then plug your Ethernet cable in just for that time. (Try the trial version. Or, I don't know if CL still offers it, but at one time they were offering a free, slimmed down version. I suggest trying those so that you don't trip your license use on your purchased copies.)

Let's see what happens.

(If it still happens after a clean install, then I wonder how the line voltage at your house is? There has to be something shared by both computers that is causing this problem.)

Thanks for your thoughts. Yes, it is a puzzler, and very frustrating.
What is most frustrating is that my first machine, which I have had for 5 years, has never blue screened other than for this issue.
The second machine is about a month old, and for the first three weeks (typically using PD18 once a week) was also fine.
Having said that, when previously using PD18 on my older machine, it would sometimes behave for a week or two before demonstrating this issue.

With regards malware - I run a pretty tight ship and regularly check, so no I dont believe it is that. A malware cause would also typically not be restricted to just using one application and doing the exact same thing each time.
Neither machine is overheating, and both run at much higher temperatures when gaming without issue.

The only two facts that cover both machines are:

1. That they are both nVidia cards (though different generations)


2. That the problem occurs when trimming a video file on the timeline in PD 18

This isnt very "scientific", but it almost feels like if I am working quickly, trimming and moving a file on the timeline in quick succession, there is a higher chance of a crash than if I proceed more slowly and cautiously. With the older machine I put it down to the hardware perhaps not having enough muscle to cope with the workload - but now....

At first I thought it might be something to do with the specific video file being trimmed, and indeed in the past I have had PD "freeze" when trying to work with a video file that turned out to be corrupt. But that is very different from the entire machine BSODing.
But since I can actually restart the machine after a BSOD and edit the same file without a crash, the corrupt file theory is torpedoed.

The other piece of evidence is that the files I am editing have all been downloaded from youtube and edited into a montage.
They are all MP4 and downloaded using 4K Video Downloader. Next time I do this, I will check the specifications of each file to see if there are any differences and if there is any common denominator linking the files being used in that sequence to the BSOD.
For example, some video files are older, are a different screen ratio etc

That said, even if I find a link, the fact remains that I dont get this problem with PD 10 or PD 12.
Before purchasing my new machine, I resorted to using PD 12 to edit the sequence, then PD 18 to add the text elements - so I may end up doing the same again!

Some further development.

I came across these forum posts outlining a similar problem:
https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/78341.page - this dealt with the issue arising in PD 17 after having no problem with PD 14

and https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/83038.page also had crashing problems. WIth this particular case, the user hadnt updated graphics drivers in a very long while - which isnt the case for me. But, the moderator highlighted a potential cause by having Hardware acceleration on in the PD options.

Having checked, I too have hardware acceleration enabled.

I have therefore now disabled this and will test.
Given that I have sometimes been able to edit without a BSOD, I will need to test for a few weeks to be sure that this is indeed the cause.

It is rather concerning that users might have to disable a feature to be able to use the product without a crash, but lets see.
I will update again when I can say for sure one way or the other!

Several comments on this topic . .
The basic problem you outline seems to be that PD is not fast enough to keep up with the edit commands you are inputting, and harware acceleration is implicated. Issues around hardware acceleration are not unique to PD18.
I've regular contact with users of other editors and this issue is a regular there too - problems that disabling hardware acceleration fixes, and very occasionally ones that enabling it fixes.

Being 'not fast enough' is a function of the cpu on your machine as well as your work rate, rather than the program itself. A cpu with a fast clock speed does much better: eg, one with a clock of 3.4ghz is 33% faster than one with a 2.4ghz clock. For everything, not just PD. Generally (rule of thumb) a desktop will have or can be purchased with a fast cpu clock, whereas a laptop generally has a much slower one - to minimise heat generation, for one thing. There are apparently laptops (I haven't seen one but in this discussion elsewhare I was pointedly reminded that they do exist) with fast clocks, but they are expensive.

Next point is that it would be normal for an earlier version to work OK, compared to a later one which exhibits 'an issue'. The later versions of any brand have much more feature stuff jammed into them, all to be executed without user impact. More often than not, that just is not the case: more features means more work in the logic trees, even if they are features you do not use.

Quote Several comments on this topic . .
The basic problem you outline seems to be that PD is not fast enough to keep up with the edit commands you are inputting, and harware acceleration is implicated. Issues around hardware acceleration are not unique to PD18.
I've regular contact with users of other editors and this issue is a regular there too - problems that disabling hardware acceleration fixes, and very occasionally ones that enabling it fixes.

Being 'not fast enough' is a function of the cpu on your machine as well as your work rate, rather than the program itself. A cpu with a fast clock speed does much better: eg, one with a clock of 3.4ghz is 33% faster than one with a 2.4ghz clock. For everything, not just PD. Generally (rule of thumb) a desktop will have or can be purchased with a fast cpu clock, whereas a laptop generally has a much slower one - to minimise heat generation, for one thing. There are apparently laptops (I haven't seen one but in this discussion elsewhare I was pointedly reminded that they do exist) with fast clocks, but they are expensive.

Next point is that it would be normal for an earlier version to work OK, compared to a later one which exhibits 'an issue'. The later versions of any brand have much more feature stuff jammed into them, all to be executed without user impact. More often than not, that just is not the case: more features means more work in the logic trees, even if they are features you do not use.

Hi. Thanks for your comments.

The CPU on the new machine is i7-10700K 3.8GHz. Cant get much faster than that without going to a i9.
The old PC had a 6th generation i7 - so quite a big step up, but as I said before the same problem affects both machines.

Its interesting to read that "hardware acceleration" seems to crop up in a number of threads, and certainly at the moment that appears to be the most likely culprit. I will update this post when I have tested sufficiently.

One other thought I had is that the nVidia drivers these days are split into two sub-types - a Gaming driver and a studio driver, with the latter designed for "creative" work such as this. Does anyone have any experience of problems using the gaming variety with modern versions of PowerDirector?

Quote Several comments on this topic . .
The basic problem you outline seems to be that PD is not fast enough to keep up with the edit commands you are inputting, and harware acceleration is implicated. Issues around hardware acceleration are not unique to PD18.
I've regular contact with users of other editors and this issue is a regular there too - problems that disabling hardware acceleration fixes, and very occasionally ones that enabling it fixes.

Being 'not fast enough' is a function of the cpu on your machine as well as your work rate, rather than the program itself. A cpu with a fast clock speed does much better: eg, one with a clock of 3.4ghz is 33% faster than one with a 2.4ghz clock. For everything, not just PD. Generally (rule of thumb) a desktop will have or can be purchased with a fast cpu clock, whereas a laptop generally has a much slower one - to minimise heat generation, for one thing. There are apparently laptops (I haven't seen one but in this discussion elsewhare I was pointedly reminded that they do exist) with fast clocks, but they are expensive.

Next point is that it would be normal for an earlier version to work OK, compared to a later one which exhibits 'an issue'. The later versions of any brand have much more feature stuff jammed into them, all to be executed without user impact. More often than not, that just is not the case: more features means more work in the logic trees, even if they are features you do not use.

The above comments are probably painting with a pretty large brush.
1) Many editing tools use the GPU entirely different. For the most part, PD only utilizes the NVENC and NVDEC a very specific feature and very little of the GPU CUDA cores, unless you like large portions of your timeline redone with for instance the AI style packs. If so, CUDA can be very beneficial. As such, often more economical to buy the lowest GPU supporting encode and decode features you need vs similar GPU with vastly more CUDA cores. CUDA cores can however be very beneficial to other editors or gaming.
2) Comment on clock speed rather dated to single core days, ~20yrs ago. If you look at a comparison of CPU clock speed and performance it is rather diverse. Attached chart shows behavior of nearly 500 Intel high end CPU's utilizing the data from https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html Passmark provides a series of tests wrapped into their Passmark rating to provide some guidance to end users, maybe your "For everything" comment. In general, I've found through the yrs the Passmark rating of CPU's provides good guidance for PD user's performance experience. As seen, clock speed alone is not adequate to portray performance of any modern CPU and a linear scale for comparison is not too valid.

Quote One other thought I had is that the nVidia drivers these days are split into two sub-types - a Gaming driver and a studio driver, with the latter designed for "creative" work such as this. Does anyone have any experience of problems using the gaming variety with modern versions of PowerDirector?

My experience, you will see no difference concerning PD. Several users often guide to one or the other, however, I've never seen any defining points, more a personal choice. If you look at specifics, Nvidia partners and products for studio did not include PD. It is often wise to do a clean custom install and only install the graphics driver, unless of course you are a gamer.

Your problem is for sure somewhat unique. I've tested nearly 20 different Nvidia GPU's with PD through the yrs on many systems and have not had random crashes. The fact you can do it on two vastly different systems probably points to something somewhat unique in your workflow, edit features, or source files. I have however had many issues with hardware encode and decode features in PD, both on the timeline and producing, just not hard crashes.

Jeff

Regarding JL's remarks, my comments were necessarily broad to cover a topic that had not been raised here but is applicable.
In my experience, a faster cpu clock is definitely not a passe item: it was good 20 years ago when the PC main cpu clocks were around 400mhz, and it's still good today when the the clock rates are much more spread - 2.1ghz thru 4.3Ghz feature in a lot of the spec materials. When I changed a motherboard some years ago, to one 33% faster, a whole range of things just speeded up, particularly those which are compute intensive and last long enough to be user noted - like AV scans, and video rendering. The program code being applied and the size of target data did not change, but the time the PC took to do the job certainly did.

Re video cards, the range of cards is large, and not all the latest drivers are compatible with older hardware. Less so now, with normal failure attrition, than it used to be. There's an extensive wikipedia article on this: search CUDA. The basic concept of using a video card in editing is to enable the use of the considerable computing capacity (specialist cpu and dedicated RAM) of that card to assist the main cpu - effectively, the main program off-loads a part of the job to the video card via the drivers for that card. CUDA is the standard for this. And all that means is that the program software has to use it via the published program interfaces. Posts elsewhere based on experimental evidence make it clear that program support for this often does not happen, reasons not stated, surmised to be 'too hard, or not cost effective" for the programmers. Users claim PD does support it, but I've not seen a definitive statement from the cyberlink people on that. For example, Intel says (publicity material, altho in the spec details apparently at least 1 recent generation doesn't) that every cpu made since 2011 has a built-in video processor, all software has to is use it. And in the last few years programmers seem to have tried: Intel Quicksync has been popping up in hardware accleration options.

What would happen if you had an nvidia card in a PC with an intel processor would be interesting, I suspect quite variable depending on the quality of the hardware it was running on; but in the software I have seen, having both options chosen is not available - it's one or the other.

And if your system does not have a display adapter in the expansion bus (essentially, its a desktop), CUDA is generally meaningless because there is no hardware to support it. There may be exceptions for the drivers applicable to the much simpler on-board display chips. Similarly if your PC has an AMD processor, intel QuickSync won't work either, for the same reason. No display card - same effect. Yet both options can appear in editor preference option choices, and generally there are no warnings or greyed out selection choices that the hardware the main program - PD - is running on does not support those acceleration choices.

Which is digressing: hardware acceleration is intended to speed processing up in specific software programs, but I've seen so many cases when it just doesn't: disabling it possibly will slow things down but often fixes a failure.

Davidk101, I won't hijack the OP thread to comment. There are plenty of forum threads and info from CL at the Support & Learning center to bring one up a learning curve with PD features and desktop hardware.

Jeff

Just an update to this thread, for anyone else coming across similar problems, I can confirm that since disabling Hardware Acceleration in the options no further crashes have occurred over the last six weeks or so.