Kernel Power 41 Computer Reset

Question

Hi All, 

I'm running into some issues w/ Kernel Power 41 error and my computer turning off mid-game when playing Counter Strike. This hasn't occurred once in the normal operating of the PC outside of when I'm playing video games, and it's never happened previously when using my HDD on Windows 7.

So here's the timeline of events:

I recently updated from Windows 7 to Windows 10 about a week ago, and then shortly after that I got a Samsung 860 EVO SSD and cloned it from my existing HDD. When I play counter strike utilizing my newly cloned SSD as my new boot drive, the computer shuts down on it's own within ~30 minutes, it reboots normally and then shows Kernel 41 critical error in the Event Viewer. I initially thought this was more likely to be related to my newly installed Windows 10 rather than my new SSD, but I just booted Windows 10 through my HDD and played Counter Strike for a few hours without a single issue, so now I'm inclined to think it's the new SSD and not Windows 10. I cloned the SSD from my HDD using Samsung Data Migration and then just started booting off the SSD. 

One other interesting quirk is that occasionally when I'm booting up my computer when it's using the new SSD as the boot drive, sometimes the computer will turn on, turn off about 2-4 seconds later, and then turn itself on again another 2-4 seconds later and it'll boot totally normally on this second attempt. 

I've tried every step in this link and pretty much anything else I can find on Kernel 41 errors.

https://windowsreport.com/kernel-power-41-error-windows-10/

My computer is a bit old, but given it's been working totally fine until this new SSD was utilized it makes me think it's unlikely to be a hardware issue. Any tips/ideas would be greatly appreciated as I have no clue what to do at this point. 

PSU: Antec Earwatts EA 750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge Quad Core 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost)

HDD: Seagate BarraCuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache

SSD: Samsung 860 EVO SSD 500GB

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe LGA 1155 Intel Z68 6Gb/s

Ram: HyperX T1 Series 16GB 240-Pin DDR3

Answer 1

Hi Marty, I am Rob, an independent and a 14 time and dual award MVP specializing in Windows troubleshooting and Bluescreen analysis. Please remember as independents we are not responsible for the development of Windows or the computer hardware and drivers. If you will work with me I will be here to help until the issue is resolved.

That issue is usually hardware and/or heat related though there can be software causes (rare)..

Be sure to update the firmware on the SSD and check with its maker about possible issues with it.

Sometimes running Stress tests can identify the possible hardware issue.

PC Stress Test free software for Windows 10/8/7

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/pc-stress-test-f...

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Could be your computer just does not have the complete specs to run your programs or games. Best to check with the program and game makers' support and forums.

Are there any DMP files in C:\Windows or C:\Windows\minidump? If so please post those so I can analyze them.

ID41 often with no Bug_Check - The main cause of this issue as you have described is hardware related :

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/202850...

1. Over-Clocking -> best to reset ALL to the defaults especially while troubleshooting
2. Memory (check thoroughly as indicated below).
3. Power Supply (see below to ensure you have enough power).
4. Over-heating - even if the overall temps are with-in specs a single component can be too sensitive to even the normal levels of heat and fault at a lower temp. Try adding a fan blowing into the case to reduce the effects of heat even more than the cooler usually does. Of course ensure all built-in fans are running.

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After checking determining the wattage of the power supply you will then need to check the requirements of the motherboard and devices. Usually the video card is one of the major power users.

How do I determine how big my power supply is?

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000800.htm

Other good sources of information are the device makers' sites and their forums.

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlit...

Power Supply Calculator

https://www.newegg.com/tools/power-supply-calcu...

Choosing the right power supply for your computer

http://en.kioskea.net/faq/588-choosing-the-righ...

How Do I Test the Power Supply in My Computer?

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/f...

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Memory tests do not catch all errors such as mismatched memory (possible even for sticks that appear to be identical) and when faster memory is placed in system behind slower memory. So it is best to also swap sticks in and out to check for those even if all memory tests fail to show a problem.

To test RAM check here - let it run 4+ hours or so. <-- best method

www.memtest.org

MemTestX86 - Test RAM With

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/14201-memtes...

For the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.

Type in Cortana's search box -> Windows Memory Diagnostics

at top of list - click it. in Windows 8/8.1/10 the name is "Windows Memory

Diagnostic".

Here to help,

Rob

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Please let us know the results and if you need further assistance. Feedback definitely helps us help all.

Answer 2

Thank you very much for your time in writing the above. Fortunately for me, I went on vacation, returned a week later and my computer hasn't crashed once under the same conditions that was forcing it to crash previously. So not sure what the issue was, but I'll bookmark this post and follow-up with it if I run into the same issue in the future. Thanks

Answer 3

One last thing I forgot to mention, not sure if there's any relevance to it but figured I should share in case it means something to someone. The way the computer crashes has come in two forms. While both forms result in a Kernel 41 error in the Event Viewer, half of the crashes have fully come by totally shutting down my desktop and my desktop losing power. The other half of the crashes have just resulted in a massive computer freeze, where the computer still has power, but it's totally frozen and nothing works (no CTRL ALT DEL or anything). In this latter state, I tried letting the computer sit like that for 15 minutes and it just stays frozen, so eventually I have to power it off and start it back up so the end result from my perspective is effectively the same.