Need help with freezing, buzzing, and turning-off during sleep mode

Since you've already tested the memory as part of the Dell diagnostics, I doubt that's the problem.

Does it happen only during internet activity?

No. Sometimes I just have the windows media playing going and it buzzes. Other times it doesn't. Some days it rarely buzzes regardless of what I'm doing. Some days it buzzes like mad. It's so unpredictable.

I have found though that sometimes Firefox triggers it - as does Media player, but not always. Sometimes Word triggers it. It seems to happen either opening or closing programs or paging around the net.  It's like there's too much drain on the system, or it's glitching.

Here's what I would do if this were my system. I would start by performing a clean installation of the operating system, drivers and applications. Once I'd got everything up and running, I would create an image of the hard drive.

Then I would wait to see if the problem is replicated. If it is, that would confirm a hardware problem, and I would start swapping things out to test which component is creating the problem.

I have the same problem on my Dell Desktop XPS8300; have been working with Costco & Dell tech support since last December to resolve this;  today was my 8th call to tech support & I ordered a beefy machine so it could take anything that I would throw at it - i7 processor, 1.5TB HDD, 16GB Ram, Win7, Office, Blu-Ray drive; 

originally I replaced the speakers that arrived with the unit but it didn't help the buzzing; later, Dell remotely re-installed the OS, the problem appeared resolved, but then I started reinstalling my programs & it started again after installing Microsoft Security Essentials, Office & Carbonite (the 1st 3 programs I reloaded);  I called Carbonite to see if any other callers had this problem with buzzing while using Carbonite;  they hadn't heard of it they said;  they checked the resource usage while Carbonite was running & it showed 80 - 100% CPU usage;  when we disabled Carbonite (by freezing backup) the buzzing disappeared;  when backup was unfrozen, it started buzzing again.  this shouldn't happen with the beefy configuration of this pc!  so, when I want to listen to audio from any source (iTunes, Zune, websites, blu-ray player), I freeze the Carbonite backup & then resume it when I'm no longer listening to audio.  it certainly is annoying to hear that momentary BUZZ - it destroys the mood of the music, etc;  I decided that Dell needed to fix this issue so, again, I called tech support thru the Costco concierge service & finally, they're sending a tech out to replace the mother board; I might also mention the Costco tech was transferred or hung up on 5 times by Dell tech support;  Costco then got a supervisor involved & then Dell got a supervisor involved; I work & don't have much time to check on message boards but, I'll try to let you know how that motherboard replacement affects the buzzing problem;  the audio is integrated into that board on my pc;  Dell also ran numerous diagnostics on the hardware along with updating device drivers - you name it, they did it - nothing helped without disabling Carbonite.

Sorry to hear you're having the same issue - I understand how annoying it is.  my pc only froze once so far, have had it about a year.  thank goodness Costco doubled the 1yr Mfg's warranty.

Radio Junkie, I think you may stumbled onto something, I got my computer from Costco as well.

My buzzing seems to have stopped for now, but it's happened before. It'll stop for a while and then it'll come back and make up for lost time.

Hi Radio Junkie. I'm going to try disabling Carbonite, as you did, and see if it stops the buzz.  It does sound encouraging.

Thank you so much for posting. From what it sounds like, you've gotten further than anyone. I hope the new motherboard fixes the problem.  

Carbonite backing up at various intervals would explain the intermittent issue.  

I'll post back too.

I phoned Carbonite and when they checked my CPU usage, it was high. The tech told ESET virus protector to ignore Carbonite and Windows Firewall because they seemed to be conflicting. The usage dropped dramatically. So I shall watch - or rather "listen" for the buzz. Nerve wracking.  I'll post back.  

Hi VictoriaSky,

Wow, very interesting and a great idea from Radio Junkie. Let's see how it goes.

I did some checking and this is a known issue with Carbonite. (And I should have considered a high CPU usage problem, my fault.) One issue is with Carbonite trying to backup running applications. The solution is to go to the Carbonite pane in System Preferences, select Backup and make sure that any folder that might contain a running app (e.g. "Applications", "devtools", etc.) is set to "Will not be backed up" (indicated with a red dot) next to the folder or file.

Spikes in CPU definitely appear to be linked to Carbonite.  Yesterday, after the tech changed some settings the PC ran fine. Not a sound. Today it almost immediately started buzzing. I checked fhe CPU which was bouncing from mid 30's to 75% when I opened Carbonite and saw it was searching for Backups.  I disabled it and CPU dropped to single digits.

I have open:  Pagemaker - Word - Media Player and CPU is in single digits,  physical memore 29%.

It certainly seems to be linked to Carbonite.  I'm leaving it on "freeze" the rest of the day to see if it buzzes again.

Thanks for researching, Osprey.  I'll try what you said to do. I really think this could solve the problem !!

BTW -  we just got the other XPS (older gaming pc) running. It's beautiful  But very odd.  The new drive would not format a Windows XP OS.

We had to instal Windows 7.  I like XP for my older programs, but this XPS is running like a charm.

Hope freezing Carbonite has netted you some results from the BUZZ. Dell is sending out a tech today with a new mother board.  Seems to me that the resource issue should be addressed by Dell or Carbonite - we shouldn't have to re-config settings to use these machines.  

I'm anxious to see if this gets rid of the Buzz.  I'll let you know.

Hi Radio.  Yup. Freezing Carbonite seems to have done the job.  They changed some settings, blocking ESET, but it still buzzed. So when I'm working, I freeze it.  

I think I'm going to add another drive and when my subscription runs out, cancel Carbonite.

Thanks for the help !!  I hope your new motherboard solves your issues.  Please post back.

Hi

No Carbonite and this machine is acting weird. Nothing open other than Word and it started freezing. The cursor dot just spinning and spinning, computer not responding. The drive seems to be running a lot too. Checked CPU, very low usage.

I have no idea what the heck's wrong with this computer.  No buzzing tonight but freezing up a lot.

I'm getting ready to throw it out the window.

Ok, hopefully this is a separate problem.

Freezing can be caused by a misbehaved process or application. A nice little tool for diagnosing this is process explorer. Run that in the background and it will tell you which process is running amok.

I believe it is a separate problem.  Check this out.  The other XPS with the new hard drive:  Carbonite Restored my files from another account, separate from the 8100. Everything was fine while they were downloading, which took 5 days for 54 gig. Set Carbonite to Backup Files. ESET is installed on this machine too.  So - I had Media Player on, doing nothing at all, barely no programs installed yet -  BUZZ, BUZZ. I almost dropped over. 

It's definitely Carbonite and ESET glitching. It has to be, because I froze Carbonite and it hasn't buzzed since.  

Back to the 8100.  Haven't had the speakers on, so not sure if it's buzzing, but - put it to sleep this morning for an hour, came back, it was off.

When I hit the power button, the black screen appeared: Start Windows Normally ...    When it loaded, got an error message: Windows experienced an unexpected shutdown. 

I think this 8100 is majorly screwed up.  It's fine for days then shuts down at will.  Without Carbonite the buzzing stops, but I still have these other issues.

I'll try the diagnostic tool you've described and be back.