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Dell laptop freezing randomly
cooler
Posts: 13,024 Forum Member
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Im having a problem with a Dell Inspiron laptop which runs on Vista Home Premium.
The laptop freezes randomly. When this happens, everything on-screen freezes, including the mouse cursor so I have to turn off the laptop at the power button. This problem only started occurring about 6 days ago. It freezes about once per day, but sometimes two times a day.
I've ran a scan with Dell System Detect. At the end of the scan, it said it passed. This tests the CPU, Memory, Video Card, CD/DVD Drive and HDD.
I've also ran a scan with Malwarebytes. It only found 1 object, which was called something like PUP.Vunerable.DellSystemDetect. I didn't remove the object because it seems that is a false positive as that isn't
malware.
Is there anything else I can do to find out what is causing this to happen?
The laptop freezes randomly. When this happens, everything on-screen freezes, including the mouse cursor so I have to turn off the laptop at the power button. This problem only started occurring about 6 days ago. It freezes about once per day, but sometimes two times a day.
I've ran a scan with Dell System Detect. At the end of the scan, it said it passed. This tests the CPU, Memory, Video Card, CD/DVD Drive and HDD.
I've also ran a scan with Malwarebytes. It only found 1 object, which was called something like PUP.Vunerable.DellSystemDetect. I didn't remove the object because it seems that is a false positive as that isn't
malware.
Is there anything else I can do to find out what is causing this to happen?
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Is it overheating? You might have temperature readings in the BIOS.
is the RAM seated properly? You can take the plate off the base and reinsert them.
Other than that, you can eliminate software issues with a clean install in Windows if you have never done one!
Also, yeah, check it's not overheating. I had to replace the fan in mine.
I'll look in the BIOS to see if there are temperature readings.
I think the RAM is seated properly because it passed the memory test on Dell System Detect. Does passing the memory test indicate that the RAM is seated properly?
I did a clean install of Windows about 9 months ago when I replaced the HDD, so it's a fairly recent install.
Im using Chrome. Although earlier this week when I used Firefox, the laptop freezed then so the freezing problem isn't just specific to one browser.
I can hear the fan blowing air occasionally, for instance if I watch a HD video on YouTube so I know the fan is working. Does the fan only need to be replaced if you can't hear it?
https://www.piriform.com/speccy
It will give you a real time readout of temperatures. Much more useful than looking in the BIOS as you obviously can't do that while running Windows or any applications that might be stressing the system.
Not necessarily. If you have two sticks of RAM and one is not connected then the memory test will only see the one that is connected and ignore the other. So always worth a look. It is also worth removing and replacing the RAM stick(s). Sometimes the contacts get gunged up and a quick removal/replace cleans them up.
If the fan was running all the time and making a lot of noise then that certainly indicates a problem. The fan should run when needed and be reasonably quiet in normal use. If it runs all the time and is much noisier than normal that could mean the vents are clogged severely restricting the air flow.
It's always worth cleaning the vents out anyway from time to time as part of routine maintenance to help prevent any overheating issues.
Also avoid using a laptop on your lap! Your clothes can block the vents. Much better to sit it on a hard surface, either a table or one of those lap trays that have a solid top surface for the laptop and a "cushion" on the underside to keep your legs happy.
I downloaded Piriform Speccy.
In the Summary, these are the temperatures it is showing.
CPU: This temperature fluctuates between about 35 °C to 51 °C
Motherboard: This temperature fluctuates between about 49 °C to 61 °C
HDD: 44 °C
In the RAM section in Piroform Speccy it says-
Total memory slots 2
Used memory slots 2
Free memory slots 0
So this seems that both RAM modules are connected.
I removed the access panel underneath the laptop and unscrewed that long piece of metal which has the heat sink block at the end of it.
There was only a thin layer of dust in the heat sink block, which I cleaned out. So im doubtful whether that made any difference. There was also some dust in the slits for the fan which I cleaned.
Anyway, I ran Piroform Speccy after, the motherboard temp is still 60°C.
Could it possibly mean I need to replace the thermal grease or would that only be if the CPU is indicating high temperature?
Today, the laptop freezed after it had only been on for 5 minutes, so it's not just doing it when it's been on for hours.
Yesterday, it took about 8 hours before it freezed since the previous time it happened. So if I left it on the bios screen for an hour or two there's a good chance it wouldn't lock up.
I've noticed that when it freezes, the fan is blowing air so it does seem that it's a heat related problem.
I haven't installed any new drivers recently, so I don't know how a driver would become ropey within the last 7-8 days. Could it be due to windows updates?
This is because when there is an hardware failure the signal for the fan to blow gets "stuck", and the fan is blowing because of a hardware problem somewhere else.
The mistake here is in thinking it's possible to diagnose the problem, and then fix it.
All that can be done is to try things and see... So when someone suggests re-seating the RAM then you should try it.
It can still be a RAM problem even if the laptop is working most of the time. Another thing to try (eventually) is to remove ONE of the memory sticks and see if the laptop is ok after several days use. If not then try the other memory stick on it's own instead.
This is clearly an intermittent problem, so testing software is not going to be of that much use since it will only be testing when the situation is fine.
There is a load of trivial stuff in the Event Viewer that does not matter which you have to ignore. However if you look at the exact time of the freeze there maybe some indication as to the hardware/software area.
The fact you have Vista indicates quite an old Laptop thus hardware starting to fail is a likely possibility.
On the face of it 61 C is too high for a MOBO temperature, but that is just one point in a large area.
I went into the Event Viewer.
In the section Administrative Events I looked at the exact time of the last freeze. There are about 10 events shown. The messages for each of the events say-
Does this provide any indication to the hardware/software area.?
For a CPU it would be acceptable but for a motherboard it's high.
But it might not be very accurate, being a higher temp than the CPU seems wrong.
I haven't tried updating the bios. I've heard that doing so can brick a laptop if something goes wrong during the bios update, so that is off putting.
But if the freezing issue is caused by an outdated bios, why would it only have started freezing just recently in the last 10 days or so?
Vista has been real good up to now. Freezing issues happen with newer OS's also, so I doubt it's due to Vista itself.
personally, i've never bricked a bios, but you should always use caution and make sure you're running of a well charged battery on mains power (although dell requests you do that anyway)