Computer troubles

[appleby]

Last year, I purchased a Dell Laptop (Vista Basic), and have been enjoying it so far. Even though most people have been complaining non-stop about Vista, I have experienced almost no problems with it.

While using the computer yesterday, it froze up on me and the screen took on some funny colors. (This picture is probably a good description of what I saw http://kazuya-akimoto.com/2006/2006images/IMG_5224_colorful_chats_500.jpg). I tried the normal alt-f4, ctrl-alt-del, etc, and none of them evoked a response from the computer. So, I shut down the computer and turned it back on. Several minutes later, the same thing happened again. This time, I couldn't get the computer to fully boot back up.

The BIOS would load (I believe that is the correct terminology), but the computer wouldn't get further than that. It would freeze up on a screen that contained several lines that vibrated up and down. After 4-5 boots over a period of 2 hours, I managed to get back on to my account, and I promptly backed everything up. As soon as that was finished, it froze up again, so I decided just to leave it off.

The first time it froze up, I was editing a html document in notepad and testing it in IE. The second time it froze up, I was in the process of opening a media player. The third time it froze up, the PC was booted in safe mode and I was viewing "My Computer".

These problems are occuring on a laptop that hasn't been on the internet in over a month, and has not had a new program installed in over three months. So this leads me to believe that there is some sort of hardware problem. Do you guys (and gals) know of anyway to determine what my problem is or what may be causing it?

Much thanks, and sorry for the long read.

 

[Cutlass]

Since you managed to back up your files, the next step is to wipe the hard drive and reinstall windows. Since it's a dell, you should have complete disks and instructions for doing so.

If the reinstall fails, then you most likely have a hardware problem.

 

[Padma]

Overheating, perhaps?

 

[Quintillus]

Sounds like an overheating problem to me, too. Specifically something to do with the graphics card, with artifacts like that. My best guess would be that either it was defective from the beginning and has been getting progressively worse - not being a major problem until now - or perhaps a heatsink was knocked loose, resulting in a lack of cooling. Either way it would be a problem that you'd want to have Dell fix (or perhaps a local shop if you're out of warranty). I'd hazard a guess that it isn't a broken fan, as I have a similar vintage Dell laptop and even with all the fans off it doesn't overheat, and I've got the most power-hungry components that were available.

If you manage to get back into Windows, I'd download and install I8Kfangui, start it up, and enable all of its temperature monitoring. This will tell you how hot things are running. Things will start to crash and otherwise have major problems at these temperatures:

Processor: 95 C (lower for pre-Core 2 Duo)
Graphics card: 80 C or so (varies)
Chipset: varies, probably want below 70 as it is in contact with a lot of stuff
Memory: Again want below 70 - the cooler the better
Hard Drive: 60 C (you want it below 55 but it won't cause any instant problems at 56)

If you can't get into Windows, Dell does have a BIOS-run diagnostic mode on its recent laptops. You can enter this when the Dell screen is loading by pressing F12. Running these tests should tell you about hardware problems - note that these tests take awhile to complete, so have something else to do while they're running. But the end result either way is likely getting it serviced.

 

[appleby]

Cutlass: That's next on my to-do list, I'll be re-installing Windows later tonight. Thanks.

Padma and Quintillus: Maybe it is over-heating, I never thought of that before. I ran the BIOS diagnostics test thingy last night, and my system came up clean. I didn't experience any problems yesterday, but then again all I did was run the test (~3 hours) and then turn the computer off.

I decided to give my computer one last run tonight, just to see if maybe it was a fluke. I turned the computer on and ran Itunes and my screensaver. Nothing else - no mouse connected, no network connections, nothing. After 42 minutes and 33 seconds (I was timing it ) the computer froze up again.

This time, no funky colors were displayed. It just froze in the middle of the screensaver with the song it was playing hung up on one note. I felt the bottom and sides of the laptop, and it wasn't hotter than it usually is. Then again, I don't know what a good or bad temperature would feel like.

I'm going to wait about an hour for my laptop to "cool down", then re-install Windows and see what happens. Thanks so much for all of your help and suggestions - they are much appreciated. Hopefully we can work this out once and for all.

 

[Mise]

I can't believe that it's the gfx card overheating, if it happened while you were using notepad/ie, and had never happened before after a year of use. Perhaps if your html (or something else) had some dodgy code in it, it could make the CPU overheat, but not your gfx card.

If a fresh install doesn't work, it's probs a hardware fault. It could even be just that the connection between the gfx card and the screen has gone a bit funny, and it's now only half connected or something. Either way though, Dell have a pretty good warranty, so you should be able to get it fixed. And if you bought it from a big reputable shop, they should sort it out for you too.

 

[Cutlass]

You could try a notebook cooler. It's an external device the thing sits on that pushes more air through it. Or if you're confident enough to open it up, you could see if any of your cooling fins or fans are loaded up with duct and blow them out with canned air.

 

[appleby]

Well, I re-installed Windows. Guess what? The problem persisted. Looks like it is a hardware problem. You guys are good.

I dug up all of my old warranty info, and discovered I have 9 days left on it. I hate cutting things close, so I spent two hours online this morning chatting with a Dell Agent. They didn't seem to believe me when I told them I had already run the Diagnostics test, reinstalled Windows, etc. So I did it all again to amuse them.

But it did get pretty humorous towards the end of the conversation. They kept refusing to let on that it was a hardware problem, believing it was software caused. They kept having me reboot the laptop, running different tests to satisfy them.

Every time I booted it, the problem just got worse. It eventually got to the point that the BIOS loaded and took me to a Blue Screen of Death. And not any old BSoD; this one didn't even have any information on it, just a bunch of white squiggly lines jumping up and down.

So they're finally convinced that it's a hardware problem, but they think the perpetrator is the hard-drive. So in two days, I should be receiving a new drive from them.

In the mean time, do you guys have any suggestions for me? Would it be possible to unhook the laptop's hard-drive and hook it up to a desktop to check if it is faulty or not? I've swapped hard-drives between desktops before, but I don't know if laptop drives have the same connectors as their bigger brothers.

@Cutlass: I will have to look into a cooler. For the most part, my laptop is stationary, so the added bulk wouldn't bother me at all. I just enjoy it for the portability of using it when I'm not at home.

 

[Mise]

I'm surprised they're sending you a new hard drive?? Normally they'd just get you to ship it back to them and they'd send you a whole new laptop (or a refurb'ed one, but either way it'd be a different physical box). Do they expect you to fit the hard drive yourself??

 

[warpus]

Doesn't sound like a drive problem to me, but hey, what do I know

 

[Cutlass]

I would be surprised if the drive is the real problem. But by sending it too you, they could use up your warranty time The old drive, you need to check which interface (cable) is attached to it, but it'll probably be the same cable that a desktop uses for cd drives, so you can plug it into a desktop.

If you take the thing apart, make sure you take the time to blow any dust out of it.

 

[GoodGame]

I agree with Mise comments in general here. Failing hard-drives usually make some kind of whirring noise, and would have immediately led to a BSOD on a critical fail, not video issues.

 

[appleby]

Doesn't sound like a drive problem to me, but hey, what do I know

Turns out, more than they do. I received the hard-drive today, and installed it on the computer. The problem still persisted; while it was setting up Windows for first time use, I experienced another black screen with dancing white lines.

Before I put in the new harddrive, I downloaded and ran CPUcool (I tried I8Kfangui, but for some reason I couldn't get it to work properly >_< ). I was actually able to run the computer for about 2 hours without it crashing while doing mostly light work (playing music, browsing through files, opening and closing MS Word repeatedly). The program seemed to report decent temperature readings (according to the temps Quintillus posted), so maybe overheating isn't an issue.

I'm going to contact Dell again tommorow morning. Best case scenario: I get a replacement computer, one that works. I'm going to keep praying

 

[GoodGame]

This thread now reasures me that computer warranty service is garbage and I should always DIY.

I wonder if RAM could be a problem? If you have multiple BSODs, and the error codes for them are very inconsistent, that might be the problem. Is your RAM removable that you could try reseating it or swapping it around?

 

[Cutlass]

Ship the thing to dell before the warranty runs out. dell has a reputation for using cheap, and in some cases refurbished, parts.