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    Computer skips?

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by DacMaddy, Sep 1, 2011.

  1. DacMaddy

    DacMaddy Newbie

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    Hey guys, I just got my m11x r2 about 2 weeks ago, and just last night it started skipping randomly. I had the laptop on a 1 inch binder, so it was a little tilted. Then when I picked it up I heard kind of a grinding noise, did I scratch the hard drive? Anyway, ever since that my computer skips, like the noise goes crackly and the screen freezes for a second, which is very annoying when I'm playing tf2 or something of that nature. Is there any way to solve this?
     
    DacMaddy, Sep 1, 2011
    #1
  2. GNandGS

    GNandGS Notebook Deity

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    fan stuck or binding? Got something stuck in there?
     
    GNandGS, Sep 1, 2011
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  3. ejohnson

    ejohnson Is that lemon zest?

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    May need a new hdd, if you got warranty call dell and see.
     
    ejohnson, Sep 1, 2011
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  4. DacMaddy

    DacMaddy Newbie

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    Ok, so I did a disk check, looked at the fan (I didn't know how to take the casing off the fan), and nothing. It still skips intermittently, so I'm going to guess the hard drive was scratched or something. I'll call Alienware support and see what they can do.
     
    DacMaddy, Sep 1, 2011
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  5. ejohnson

    ejohnson Is that lemon zest?

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    One thing I would like you to check, go into your power setting and make sure the GPU is set to max power while on battery.
     
    ejohnson, Sep 1, 2011
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  6. DacMaddy

    DacMaddy Newbie

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    Ok, I did it, although the problem occured even while I was on power. I'm gonna run some Mass Effect and see if the problem persists. Oh, and it was doing the same thing even when I was running Youtube vids, so we'll see if this helps. Thanks johnson.
     
    DacMaddy, Sep 1, 2011
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  7. ajslay

    ajslay Overclocker, PC Builder

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    the hard drive should be ok.. i thought the free fall sensor would have kicked in.
     
    ajslay, Sep 1, 2011
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  8. DacMaddy

    DacMaddy Newbie

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    Alright, so I tried Mass Effect on battery, only for around 10 mins, it ran ok. I don't have the time or access to TF2 yet, but I'll give an update late tonight after work. Thanks for all the input so far :D
     
    DacMaddy, Sep 1, 2011
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  9. DacMaddy

    DacMaddy Newbie

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    Ok, so I tried setting GPU on battery to max, but I still get the same problem. I'm guessing the replacement hard drive is my final solution?
     
    DacMaddy, Sep 2, 2011
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  10. GNandGS

    GNandGS Notebook Deity

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    boot off live cd or thumbdrive... or if spare swap the HD and see. Have you done the hardware checks already?
     
    GNandGS, Sep 2, 2011
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  11. DacMaddy

    DacMaddy Newbie

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    I don't have any live cds or flash drives, I'll ask my brother tomorrow if he has any. And unfortunately I don't have a spare HD. How do I do the hardware check? Thank you for your help GN.
     
    DacMaddy, Sep 2, 2011
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  12. DacMaddy

    DacMaddy Newbie

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    It was also happening during Youtube vids if that's any indicator. Would this mean it isn't the hard drive at fault?

    EDIT: I just watched some youtube vids and it isn't doing the skipping anymore. I just finished defragging my hard drive to see if that will do anything.
     
    DacMaddy, Sep 2, 2011
    #12