I have two files here, both very similar and one blows up Blender 2.6 series, the other doesn't.

They are parts from a model of a ship I made. There is a ship's wheel, a tiller and a tiller shape. It is something about the tiller shape that I think is causing the problem.

The ships wheel was made with a cylinder for a hub, the rim was a plane, spun 360 degrees, Each spoke was an edge loop spun 360 degrees, then dupliverted on an 8 pointed circle. The spokes were made independent objects, all objects had a simple wood image applied as a texture and then the hub, rim and spokes were joined into a single object.

The tiller is a bezier curve with two guide points. The tiller shape is a bezier circle.

Both versions work fine in Blender 2.59.

In Ships Wheel_tiller_tiller shape.blend, the tiller shape was made almost square by moving the control handles out till the vertical handles touched the horizontal handles. Blender 2.6 seems to blow up if I touch the Ship's Wheel in this version.

In Ships Wheel_tiller_tiller shape3.blend, the tiller shape was squared off by selecting all control points and handles and pressing V to set them to Vector. Blender 2.6 seems happy with this version.

How the control handles are set on the tiller shape is the only difference between the two files. Such a small variation, why does one file blow blender 2.6 up and the other doesnt?

The following thread is where I first discussed the problem and Ricky Blender confirmed that it blew up on his machine and had some information that may be of help.
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?238674-Why-does-this-blow-up-in-2.60a&highlight=

Ships Wheel_tiller_tiller shape.blend
Blows up on these two machines
Dell Inspiron ME051, Intel Celeron M 1.60 GHz, 504 MB RAM
Windows XP, Home Edition Version 2002 Service Pack 2

Dell Inspiron ME051, Intel Celeron M 1.50 GHz, 504 MB RAM
Windows XP, Home Edition Version 2002 Service Pack 3

Here's the system-info.txt for the 1.60 GHz machine.

============================================
= Blender 2.61 (sub 0) System Information =
============================================


Blender:
============================================

version 2.61 (sub 0), revision 42615. Release
build date: 2011-12-14, 13:35:50
platform: Windows:32bit
binary path: C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender.exe
build cflags: /nologo /Ob1 /J /W0 /Gd /wd4018 /wd4244 /wd4305 /wd4800 /wd4065 /wd4267 /we4013 /openmp -O2 -DNDEBUG -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -D_LIB -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE -DWITH_MOD_FLUID -DWITH_MOD_OCEANSIM -D__LITTLE_ENDIAN__ -DWITH_AUDASPACE
build cxxflags: /nologo /Ob1 /J /W0 /Gd /wd4018 /wd4244 /wd4305 /wd4800 /wd4065 /wd4267 /we4013 /openmp /EHsc -O2 -DNDEBUG -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -D_LIB -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE -DWITH_MOD_FLUID -DWITH_MOD_OCEANSIM -D__LITTLE_ENDIAN__ -DWITH_AUDASPACE
build linkflags: /SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE /MACHINE:IX86 /STACK:2097152 /INCREMENTAL:NO /LARGEADDRESSAWARE /NODEFAULTLIB:msvcrt.lib /NODEFAULTLIB:msvcmrt.lib /NODEFAULTLIB:msvcurt.lib /NODEFAULTLIB:msvcrtd.lib
build system: SCons

Python:
============================================

version: 3.2 (r32:88445, Mar 4 2011, 02:13:51) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)]
paths:
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\scripts\addons
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\scripts\startup
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\scripts\modules
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\python
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\python32.zip
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\python\DLLs
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\python\lib
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\scripts\addons\modules

Directories:
============================================

scripts: ['C:\\Blender 2.61\\blender-2.61-release-windows32\\blender-2.61-release-windows32\\2.61\\scripts']
user scripts: None
datafiles: C:\Documents and Settings\Spinner Laptop003\Application Data\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.61\datafiles\
config: C:\Documents and Settings\Spinner Laptop003\Application Data\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.61\config\
scripts : C:\Documents and Settings\Spinner Laptop003\Application Data\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.61\scripts\
autosave: C:\Documents and Settings\Spinner Laptop003\Application Data\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.61\autosave\
tempdir: C:\DOCUME~1\SPINNE~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\

OpenGL
============================================

renderer: Intel 915GM
vendor: Intel
version: 1.4.0 - Build 4.14.10.4410
extensions:
GL_ARB_depth_texture GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_ARB_multitexture
GL_ARB_point_parameters GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp
GL_ARB_texture_compression GL_ARB_texture_cube_map
GL_ARB_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_env_combine
GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3 GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar
GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object
GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_ARB_window_pos GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_bgra
GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_blend_minmax
GL_EXT_blend_subtract GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint
GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array GL_EXT_cull_vertex
GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_EXT_fog_coord GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays
GL_EXT_packed_pixels GL_EXT_rescale_normal GL_EXT_secondary_color
GL_EXT_separate_specular_color GL_EXT_shadow_funcs
GL_EXT_stencil_two_side GL_EXT_stencil_wrap
GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc GL_EXT_texture_env_add
GL_EXT_texture_env_combine GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic
GL_EXT_texture3D GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1
GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_NV_blend_square
GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap GL_WIN_swap_hint

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ships Wheel_tiller_tiller shape.blend

Does not blow up on this machine
Dell Dimension 8400, Pentium 4 CPU 3.20 GHz, 1.00 GB RAM
Windows XP, Professional Version 2002, Service Pack 2

Here's the system-info.txt for it.
============================================
= Blender 2.61 (sub 0) System Information =
============================================


Blender:
============================================

version 2.61 (sub 0), revision 42615. Release
build date: 2011-12-14, 13:35:50
platform: Windows:32bit
binary path: C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender.exe
build cflags: /nologo /Ob1 /J /W0 /Gd /wd4018 /wd4244 /wd4305 /wd4800 /wd4065 /wd4267 /we4013 /openmp -O2 -DNDEBUG -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -D_LIB -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE -DWITH_MOD_FLUID -DWITH_MOD_OCEANSIM -D__LITTLE_ENDIAN__ -DWITH_AUDASPACE
build cxxflags: /nologo /Ob1 /J /W0 /Gd /wd4018 /wd4244 /wd4305 /wd4800 /wd4065 /wd4267 /we4013 /openmp /EHsc -O2 -DNDEBUG -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -D_LIB -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE -DWITH_MOD_FLUID -DWITH_MOD_OCEANSIM -D__LITTLE_ENDIAN__ -DWITH_AUDASPACE
build linkflags: /SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE /MACHINE:IX86 /STACK:2097152 /INCREMENTAL:NO /LARGEADDRESSAWARE /NODEFAULTLIB:msvcrt.lib /NODEFAULTLIB:msvcmrt.lib /NODEFAULTLIB:msvcurt.lib /NODEFAULTLIB:msvcrtd.lib
build system: SCons

Python:
============================================

version: 3.2 (r32:88445, Mar 4 2011, 02:13:51) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)]
paths:
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\scripts\addons
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\scripts\startup
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\scripts\modules
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\python
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\python32.zip
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\python\DLLs
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\python\lib
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32
C:\Blender 2.61\blender-2.61-release-windows32\blender-2.61-release-windows32\2.61\scripts\addons\modules

Directories:
============================================

scripts: ['C:\\Blender 2.61\\blender-2.61-release-windows32\\blender-2.61-release-windows32\\2.61\\scripts']
user scripts: None
datafiles: C:\Documents and Settings\Gordon Fisher\Application Data\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.61\datafiles\
config: C:\Documents and Settings\Gordon Fisher\Application Data\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.61\config\
scripts : C:\Documents and Settings\Gordon Fisher\Application Data\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.61\scripts\
autosave: C:\Documents and Settings\Gordon Fisher\Application Data\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.61\autosave\
tempdir: C:\DOCUME~1\GORDON~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\

OpenGL
============================================

renderer: GeForce 6800/PCI/SSE2
vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
version: 1.5.2
extensions:
GL_ARB_depth_texture GL_ARB_fragment_program
GL_ARB_fragment_program_shadow GL_ARB_fragment_shader GL_ARB_imaging
GL_ARB_multisample GL_ARB_multitexture GL_ARB_occlusion_query
GL_ARB_point_parameters GL_ARB_point_sprite GL_ARB_shadow
GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_shading_language_100
GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_texture_compression
GL_ARB_texture_cube_map GL_ARB_texture_env_add
GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3
GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two
GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_transpose_matrix
GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_ARB_vertex_shader
GL_ARB_window_pos GL_ATI_draw_buffers GL_ATI_texture_float
GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once GL_S3_s3tc GL_EXT_texture_env_add
GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_blend_color
GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_EXT_blend_func_separate
GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array
GL_EXT_Cg_shader GL_EXT_depth_bounds_test GL_EXT_draw_range_elements
GL_EXT_fog_coord GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays GL_EXT_packed_pixels
GL_EXT_pixel_buffer_object GL_EXT_point_parameters
GL_EXT_rescale_normal GL_EXT_secondary_color
GL_EXT_separate_specular_color GL_EXT_shadow_funcs
GL_EXT_stencil_two_side GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_EXT_texture3D
GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc GL_EXT_texture_cube_map
GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp GL_EXT_texture_env_combine
GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3 GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic
GL_EXT_texture_lod GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp
GL_EXT_texture_object GL_EXT_vertex_array GL_HP_occlusion_test
GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat
GL_KTX_buffer_region GL_NV_blend_square GL_NV_centroid_sample
GL_NV_copy_depth_to_color GL_NV_depth_clamp GL_NV_fence
GL_NV_float_buffer GL_NV_fog_distance GL_NV_fragment_program
GL_NV_fragment_program_option GL_NV_fragment_program2 GL_NV_half_float
GL_NV_light_max_exponent GL_NV_multisample_filter_hint
GL_NV_occlusion_query GL_NV_packed_depth_stencil
GL_NV_pixel_data_range GL_NV_point_sprite GL_NV_primitive_restart
GL_NV_register_combiners GL_NV_register_combiners2
GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_NV_texture_compression_vtc
GL_NV_texture_env_combine4 GL_NV_texture_expand_normal
GL_NV_texture_rectangle GL_NV_texture_shader GL_NV_texture_shader2
GL_NV_texture_shader3 GL_NV_vertex_array_range
GL_NV_vertex_array_range2 GL_NV_vertex_program GL_NV_vertex_program1_1
GL_NV_vertex_program2 GL_NV_vertex_program2_option
GL_NV_vertex_program3 GL_NVX_conditional_render
GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap GL_SGIS_texture_lod GL_SGIX_depth_texture
GL_SGIX_shadow GL_SUN_slice_accum GL_WIN_swap_hint
WGL_EXT_swap_control