33 replies to this topic

[motox822]

I'm not really sure what is wrong, but the diagnostics program is nowhere to found. When I clicked start there was no new programs. I extracted it like you said and it automatically extracted to C:/dell/drivers. Also, that link to the instructions to run that other diagnostic thing didn't work either because when i pushed F12 then there was only 1 diagnostic option to highlight and it was a diagnostic for my hard drive. I ran it and there were no problems that cam up but I'm not sure if that was the same thing as what that link showed. I'm kind of confused because I am pretty good with computers. Any Suggestions? Thanks in Advance

[Doug]

While waiting for Jephree to continue with his excellent course of action, it would be well to visually re-inspect inside of your case.
Again, review and abide by the cautions in the linked post regarding maintenance, by Digerati.
Particularly be sure that all components are firmly seated, even to the point of removing PCIe video adapter card, blowing out the slot with compressed air and reseating. Same with RAM.
Check all connectors to assure firm seating.

Inspect for bulging or leaking capacitors.

Inspect for vigorous fan action.

Does your PCIe vid card have an onboard fan? Is it spinning vigorously?

Consider placing a desk fan directed into the open case while operating. Does that make a difference with shut-down?

Download and run SpeedFan: http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

Dell is miserly when it comes to providing sensors, but you should get some Temperature readouts and a listing of Voltage readings.
Post the values in your next reply.

Give us feedback on what you observe from the above.

Best Regards

[motox822]

Everything looked good and speed fan could only give me 1 thing with was temperature of HD0 which was 34C

[jephree]

How is the computer working presently? Do you still get freezes? Can you pretty much trigger a freeze or is it random?

We can move through several alternative diagnostics starting with your RAM. Windows offers this tool:

http://oca.microsoft.../en/windiag.asp

[motox822]

The computer is still acting up.. I can trigger a freeze just by watching a video for a few minutes or playing a game. I will reply back after using that diagnostics tool.

[motox822]

This Diagnostics thing looks to be extremely complicated and maybe a bit out of my league.. the instructions say I need to create a CD-ROM that I can boot from and i have no idea what that even means is it possible that you could give me some further instruction on how exactly I'm supposed to go through with this?

[jephree]

This tool along with most diagnostic and or restoration CD's is a boot disk.

The download is an ISO file which is a disk image.

It creates a bootable CD.

Here is a free ISO creator that you can download:

http://isorecorder.a...isorecorder.htm

After that download anytime you Save an ISO file you can right click on it and have the option to "Create Disk Image".


In addition you will need to set your BIOS Boot Menu to boot the CD prior to the hard drive.

[jephree]

It also just occurred to me you might try to reinstall your graphics driver.

Your model offered so many choices that we need to determine what you have.

Right click My Computer then click Manage then Device Manager then open (+) Display adapters.

What is listed?


The Dell options are here under Video unless you have added a card on your own:

http://support.dell..../...tid=&impid=


In general your current driver needs to be uninstalled prior to installing the new driver.

This is best done via the Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs

> either ATI or Nvidia (depending on your hardware) > display driver only.



...

Edited by jephree, 28 July 2009 - 09:42 PM.

[motox822]

1. Okay first things first, how do I "Set your BIOS Boot Menu to boot the CD prior to the hard drive"


2. Secondly, under "Display Adapters" it shows:

• ATI Radeon X300/X550/X1050 Series
• ATI Radeon X300/X550/X1050 Series Secondary
• LogMeIn Mirror Driver

3. I'm not really sure which driver I need due to the X300/X550/X1050 part, so can you help me out on that?

[Doug]

have a look in your Device manager
(R-click - My Computer - Properties - Hardware(tab) - Device Manager(button) )

In Device Manager you will see Display Adapters
Click to expand Display Adapters
You can ignor LogMeIn Mirror Driver
The other one is probably ATI Radeon X300/X550/X1050 Series
(If there are more Display Adapters listed, let us know)
Double-click on ATI Radeon X300/X550/X1050 Series to see what version of Driver you have installed.

You can then go to the Manufacturer's Website to download the appropriate Driver.
You can also get the factory original Driver from Dell by logging into Dell.com and using your Dell Service Tag number to navigate to the exact machine specifications and driver downloads available from Dell
____________________

Set your machine to boot first from CD by entering your BIOS/CMOS Setup
You get to BIOS by re-starting your Dell and immediately pressing F2 to enter Setup
Navigate to Drive or Boot Order
use the up or down arrows to change the possition of your CD Drive to the top of the list

Note: if F2 does not boot you to Setup, then watch carefully during the pre-Windows boot sequence.
You will see a prompt, such as
Press F2 for Setup or it could be F10, F12, ESC... but it is most likely F2
(It goes by very quickly so watch carefully)
______________________

[motox822]

Okay I updated my video drivers and ran the diagnostics. All of the six tests it performed were successful. Are there any other tests I can do because it doesn't seen to be getting better? Thanks

[motox822]

Hi again. I forgot to mention in my first post that when my computer freezes when watching a video, then the sound that was playing at the point when it freezes loops really fast. This also happens during games, both downloaded and online. My point is, do you think that it could be something to do with sound instead of video?

[Doug]

Were you able to successfully run the Windows Memory Diagnostic?

Have you been watching for Error notifications in Event Viewer
(Start - Run - (type)eventvwr.msc - enter)

Particularly be looking in the System list, but you might also find Errors in application.
Let us know

Jephree gave you instructions for Event Viewer, in a post above:
http://forums.whatth...=...st&p=582428

[jephree]

Along with Doug's ideas I would ask a few more questions and hope it is not too tedious a process.

First off your symptoms are classical over-heating. The audio loop is just an after effect of a graphics hardware lockup (freeze).


Did you have any such issues prior to your Malware Infection? If not did these symptoms appear to occur right after your cleanup?

It would be nice if you had your Dell XP CD but lacking that we might try to run Ubuntu in order to weed out the software side of things.

Ubuntu is a free Linux based OS that will again be an ISO download which you can then burn the image to CD and boot it.

Choose just to run it and not install it and see if the same issues persist.

http://www.ubuntu.co...Ubuntu/download


Another tool you might try to separate the CPU from the GPU is SuperPi

http://files.extreme...m/file.php?f=36

If you can run SuperPi through all its iterations without freezing it points more directly towards a graphics issue.

[motox822]

Jephree: I will try both of those and post what I can find.


Doug: I check my event veiwer to see if I could find anything and there were 2 errors at the time when my computer froze these were:

• The LogMeIn Kernel Information Provider service failed to start due to the following error: The system cannot find the path specified.
• The Java Quick Starter service failed to start due to the following error: The system cannot find the path specified.