700m Crashes

I have looked through the boards, and I don't think anyone else has posted this.

I bought my 700m in August and have had problems with the screen going black and locking up. It is not hibernating or standing by, it is frozen. The only way to get it unfrozen is to hard re-boot with the power button. This usually happens when the computer is idle, but occasionally i have seen it happen. I have to either turn off the computer or hibernate it every time I walk away from it or it freezes up.

I have gotten blue screens on about 5 occasions. searching the error code gets me nowhere with MS.

I have called Dell over and over. They have sent me new drivers and walked me through diagnostics that don't find anything. I have reformatted the hard drive 3 times and re-installed XP and all drivers in the appropriate order. I have updated BIOS.

Any takers on what my problem is? I've pretty buch written off Dell techsup because they have been so useless. Anybody know how to get a tech rep to come out and look at my computer?

Thanks for any help possible.

-Greg

 

What version of Windows have you installed? I had (may still have) a problem with my computer. It shutdown itself when a certain program reported a mistake so I reformatted the HDD and installed Windows XP Pro instead of MC which is what it came with. I have used the certain program that made the crash afterwards and so far, it hasn't shut itelf down. That's still up to testing though.

 

It sounds like an overheating issue.... Might want to get a can of compressed air and blow the vents out....

We need more info though:

1). Please tell us what programs are generally running in the background ( anti-spyware, antivirus...etc..)

2). Using the Event Viewever, could you give us the exact error code during the "Blue Screens"? It should say something like.. " The system just recovered from a bugcheck. The error occured at 0x00000 (1x0A)"

3). When the computer randomly shuts down again, quickly feel the bottom of your computer, especially around the memory area....see it fells really warm/hot ---> if this is true, get a can of compressed air!

Also, not sure if you know this, but at Dell Support Web-Site, they have a whole section about STOP (Blue Screen) errors. Like for example they have a tool http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R107879&formatcnt=1&fileid=140628 which can scan you computer and detect any errors...Or did you already run this test?

 

Ok, in response to Crazy Person:

1. I run McAfee SecurityCenter which inludes anti virus, spam blocker, and a firewall. McAfee has always been stable on my desktop, so I kept it.

I have a whole list from the processes tab in Task Manager. I'll post them if necessary.

2. From the event viewer:
Error code 1000008e, parameter1 c0000005, parameter2 bf802fa5, parameter3 edc45c14, parameter4 00000000.

Error code 1000007f, parameter1 00000008, parameter2 80042000, parameter3 00000000, parameter4 00000000.

This one happened tonight after I updated the chipset driver in an effort to fix this problem:
Error code 10000050, parameter1 f7916429, parameter2 00000000, parameter3 f7916429, parameter4 00000000.

3. It could be an overheat but it has happened since it was new. Could there be enough dust, etc in a new machine?


Hope this helps you help me, I'm pretty close to selling it.

Thanks again.

 

When did you buy the laptop?

This might not even be a hardware related problem, maybe just software. I recommend you grab a good Windows Optimizing program, such as RegScrubXP ----> http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2048. That will clean out your registry from debris, and perphaps get rid of STOP errors...

It wouldn't hurt to visit bootleg2go's awesome thread about how to optimize a laptop ---> http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=5787

I also use RegScrubXP and CCleaner. They do a pretty good job. I also like System Mechanic 6 (trial version).

I know what's it like to have a bothersome computer.. ... hope everything will work out for ya'...

 

have you tried reformatting? I hate to suggest that, but it couldn't help to try it.

 

Did you try the Dell Crash Analysis Tool ?

 

I installed the crash analysis tool and it never did anything. Is it supposed to run something besides the installer?

I installed RegScrub, only time will tell I guess.

I changed the background services from bootleg2go's website. Then I rebooted and lost some display options as well as my wireless connection, so I un-did all of that.

Thanks for the help up til now. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

To run the Crash Analysis Tool, perform the following steps:

Click the Start button.
Click All Programs.
Point to Dell Accessories.
Click Crash Analysis Tool.

At the following link you will find STEP-BY-STEP info on how to use it

---> http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1090985&l=en&langid=1&c=us&cs=&s=gen

Just to be on the safe side, it would be a good idea to run this tool, and see if it detects errors....

Did you do any personal upgrades on the laptop? Say...you installed new memory or hard-drive? If so, you might want to check the connections and seating.

Did you scan your registry with RegScubXP?
To do that:

Click the Start button
Point to All Programs
Point to RegScrubXP
Click RegScrubXP --a window pops up
Hit the button that says "RegScrubXP Finds Problem"

 

Did you contact Dell when you first had your problem??? And you had this problem when you first received this laptop??? If so, it seems to me like a hardware problem.

 

We haven't heard from you nynj700m in 2 days.... could you give us an up-date? Are you still experiencing lock-ups and freezes?

 

I am also facing the same problem with my 700M. I also got it the end of August 2005. I had contacted Dell many times but no one is able to help me. I had reformated my hard drive and reinstalled the OS many times but it still doesn't work. Please let me know if you have this issue fixes.

 

I will try all these suggestions tonight to find out if it would solve this issue. This problem drives me nuts couple weeks after I got this machine. My machine turn blue, flashing and frozen when it is idle. Please let me know if you have any other suggestion to fix this issue.

 

Make sure that you have all your hardware drivers UPDATED from DELL'S SUPPORT SITE. Including the BIOS. If you have everything, than follow the suggestions on the first page...

After that I would STRONGLY recommend that you download either RegScrubXP or System Mechanic 6 (trial version, can be found at www.download.com).

I personally use System Mechanic 6 and it's awesome. I used to have this little problem: sometimes when I opened up my AOL program, windows would STOP (Blue Screen of Death). I called tech support...but it was a waste of time. So I read about System Mechanic. I downloaded it and installed it..and guess what? No more problems. I do not use the defragmenter nor the Duplicate File Removal....they are not very "safe".

I also use RegScrubXP... It's pretty good too.

Also make sure that your laptop is not over-heating, because overheating causes automatic shut-downs and freezes. You can feel the under-side of your computer, (When the freezes occur) and by using logic, you can see if it is averagely normal, or really HOT..

On the previous page I posted the links to Dell Crash Analysis Tool...

Anyways...Good luck and remember go only with "baby steps" when troubleshooting...

Oh, and I am not sure what happened to nynj700m, ...is he still around?

 

I am not sure if he is around or not. Today I just went on Google to search more about 700M and it brought me here. I don't think this is an over-heating issue because this problem happens right after i got the machine and I didn't feel the heat on the bottom of my machine.

I deleted all the partitions, reformated the hard-drive, and reinstalled the OS but nothing help. I also called Dell requesting the OS CD and Drivers CD. I reinstalled everything and update the BIOS but the problem still happens.

I only install Windows XP but the problem still occurs. I hope the Crash Analysis Tool can give me a better idea of what is going wrong. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.

 

Thank you very much for your help "Crazy_Person"

 

No, it doens't work. Seem like this is a bigger issue then what I thought. I have found out that there are a lot of people also run into the same problem in Dell Forum. This problem happens due to either the hardware conflict or bad driver. It is really crazy. Seems like most of the laptops get this issue are made in Malaysia.

Dell Forum's link
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfo...sage.id=139038&view=by_date_ascending&page=22

 

Well... I am sorry that I was unable to help you...

 

Thank you very much for your help. I hope Dell will replace this machine. Dell has the worst customer support. They doesn't want to deal with these issues. I have called them for months but no one is able to help me. It is so sad when a company big like "DELL" wouldn't be able to help its customer.

 

i have the same problem.It's completely the same. But I'm living in Turkey and I can't use my guarantee in Turkey because i bought my 700m in USA. I thing it's hardware problem. Maybe memory or screen problem.

 

This crash seems to be a problem with the Intel 855 GM graphics card driver. The symptoms are that your screen flickers sometimes, especially after it has just finished booting. Then, in the middle of use, or just when the notebook is just sitting idle, it freezes with a blue, green, or black screen. I’ve even had it begin to flicker in different colors while completely frozen. It’s crazy and bit scary site. Sometimes in the middle of use it may even Blue screen and write a crash dump file with something like “IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL” and a bunch other crap.

Anyway, a lot of people, including me, have had very good luck with the Dell A08 version of the graphics card driver (Microsoft Version 6.14.10.3775). It seems to resolve the entire problem. I’ve been running with it for over a year now and I have not had any problems. Whenever a newer version of the driver is released, I try updating to it and every time it results in the return of the problem. Thankfully rolling back to 6.14.10.3775 (Dell version A08) resolves the issue every time.

So download the file R76532.EXE (video driver version 14.1 / A08) from this page: http://tinyurl.com/apabf

This should take care of the problem. And also make sure that you do not have the window XP automatic update set to automatically download and install updates. It ends up downloading and installing a newer version of the driver which results in the return of the problem.