this is a very specific problem and it happens every time. 100% of the time. Everything seems to work just fine, but if I open User Preferences and close it blender will crash. This doesn’t make Blender unusable, but it is very annoying. Esp. when you download a new build and have to set up all your stuff and it crashes every time you do it. Despite it crashing it does save the settings I choose, so eventually I will not need to open user pref and this will be a non issue. Did I mention this is really annoying?
Win 7 64bit
GTX 650 ti 1 gig
6gigs mem
Blender 2.70 and 71 (problem appeared after the 2.7 build was installed)
I’ve been experiencing the same problem. Pretty much the same equipment. I downloaded the most recent build of 2.71 without any change. Good luck. I also have problems with Cycles crashing the 2.71.
I think I just fixed the problem. I ran a full virus scan and deleted a lot of problems it found. I also uninstalled internet explorer. Voila User preferences works fine as does Cycles. I’ve got about the same hardware and configuration as you do. Good luck.
that sounds like a highly unlikely fix. None of that should have any effect on Blender. I tried it nonetheless, but it didn’t work for me. I can live with this minor issue. I’m sure it will work itself out in later versions.