When I run inkscape, my Windows XP system suddenly halts... hard, like it had a RAM defect or overheating.
I've checked my RAM, and replaced it; the system is definitely not overheating (checked that too).

The system rarely crashes, but running Inkscape reliably invokes the symptoms.
The crash distinctive in that the power shuts off without warning, with a slight "pop" or tick sound from the speakers. Hitting the power button restarts the machine (and it operates normally afterward) but unusually also results in the same slight "pop" or tick sound from the speaker.

The system is a ZD7010us laptop, w/ a gig of RAM.
The Inkscape Version is 0.45.1, and the XP system has all the most recent MS updates.
I run Symantec AV 10.1.6, and Comodo Firewall Pro 2.4.18.

I've checked my event logs... while I'm not an XP admin, I don't see anything obvious that suggests why the system is powering down without warning. The only thing I know other than that is that editing with Inkscape invokes the sudden halting.

Any ideas on what it is about Inkscape that could trigger such a problem?

just fyi, I had installed several previous versions of inkscape, some with just unzip, and the most recent with the installer. I just completely uninstalled anything I saw related to inkscape, rebooted, and reinstalled the latest preview release. Lets see if the cold boot happens again...

If your problem continues, refer to this thread - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=484