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    System appears to be malfunctioning?

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by deadboy90, Feb 6, 2012.

  1. deadboy90

    deadboy90 Notebook Evangelist

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    The laptop crashes back to the login screen and has that message and tells me I need to reboot. It's been happening alot lately (at least 3 times a week) any thoughts?
     
  2. unclewebb

    unclewebb ThrottleStop Author

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    You need to do some basic stability testing like Prime95 to see if your computer is stable when overclocked and at default settings.

    45nm Core 2 Duo CPUs can lose stability over time and will require additional core voltage. You can't change that on the R1 so you might have to ditch your overclock and go back to default settings. It would also be a good idea to do some MemTest 86+ testing to make sure your memory isn't failing.
     
  3. deadboy90

    deadboy90 Notebook Evangelist

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    Oh god I hope it's the memory...
     
  4. deadboy90

    deadboy90 Notebook Evangelist

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    ok running prime95 now, im running the small FFT's which says it doesnt use much RAM and I assume uses mostly CPU correct? So if my CPU is unstable small FFT will find it right? or should I use the Blend test?
     
  5. deadboy90

    deadboy90 Notebook Evangelist

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    It ran all night with the OC (10 1/2 hours) with no problems, does that mean it's the RAM?
     
  6. unclewebb

    unclewebb ThrottleStop Author

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    When you say the laptop crashes do you mean it reboots and goes back to the login screen?

    I like running Prime95 Small FFTs and some Blend as well. If both of those are OK then your CPU and memory are not likely causing the problem.

    How are your GPU temperatures when these crashes happen? Have you changed GPU drivers recently?

    Some Core i processors seem to have an issue with going into the deeper sleep states like C3/C6. They can lock up when a laptop is mostly idle but I haven't heard of this issue with the previous Core 2 generation.
     
  7. deadboy90

    deadboy90 Notebook Evangelist

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    It usually happens right after I turn it on, the laptop will run for a minute or two then the login screen will reappear with the message saying the laptop is malfunctioning and needs to be rebooted so it's not the temps. At that point I can login again but within a minute the login screen will reappear with the same message. This continues till I reboot
     
  8. un4tural

    un4tural Notebook Evangelist

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    well you got an SSD, so i'd suggest a clean windows install if you haven't yet, as it is fairly quick and painless with an ssd, just backup old stuffs. Sounds like a windows issue as well, mostly when i see ram failing it just sort of crashes or BSOD, not gives a message about it...

    Also have you tried removing OC and using m11x like that, for say a week to see if it still happens? though it doesn't seem likely.

    But yeah sounds like something most likely to do with the software side of things, drivers or just some corrupt windows files etc. easiest way to fix these things is a clean install of windows.

    I use AIDA64 for stability tests(has memory, CPU and HDD) i find it sufficient, plus MSI kombustor for GPU stability.

    hope it helps.