XPS 630 General Hardware Discussion thread

To see what is locking those files, use unlocker (free very useful utility). You can also use it to unlock and delete the files.

http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/#download

THIRD ATTEMPT TO POST THIS

Thanks for the responses.  I downloaded the unlocker and it lets me delete the bios files.    I still do not know what other program the file is suppose to be open in.    When I run unlocker I get:

Process:                               Path Locked:                                                               Process  path:                                                                             

Explorer.exe                         C:\user\larry\desktop\xps630i-010012.exe                 c:\windows\explorer.exe

So I just deleted the bios files I had on my system and downloaded another copy.  Same thing happens.  I can not delete it without unlocker as it says it is opened in another program.     So I am not back to where I started- afraid to update to bios 12 since it says it is opened in another program.

What unlocker is telling you is that it is Windows Explorer that is locking the file. Just let unlocker unlock it, then you should be OK to run it.

THIRD ATTEMPT TO POST THIS. THIS IS REALLY TEDIOUS

I do not mean to be a pain with this but still having problems.   When I open up the file with unlocker I use the button that says to unlock all and no action is listed in the botton left hand corner then it takes me back to the desktop.  At that point I can not delete the file manually as it continunes to say it is open in another program so I am assuming it has not unlocked anything.  When I go back and open up the file again in unlocker it still shows the file is locked.   Looking at the directions on the download site it says if that happens to check delete in the bottom left hand corner.  When I do that and then click on unlock all it deletes the file.  What am I missing here?

Looking at the directions on the download site it says if that happens to check delete in the bottom left hand corner.  When I do that and then click on unlock all it deletes the file.

I thought that was you wanted to do: delete the file ??

THIRD ATTEMPT TO POST THIS

I guess I was not very clear.  But at this point I am about to give up and try to update the bios even though it is locked and hope for the best.  But my story is long and strange.  I was hoping to unlock the bios files so I could update the bios without worrying about it being opened in another file.  From there it was suggested to use unlocker but all I seem to be able to do is delete the bios files with them when I thought I could unlock them with that progam.   I have downloaded the files to the desktop and a separate folder and they are locked both ways.  I even downloaded them to a flash drive on another computer and they were not locked.  However, when I put the flash drive in my xps630 it says they are locked on the flash drive even before I move them to the computer's hard drive.   I am so confused-  :).    This all seem to have started when a dell tech guy had my registry opened and downloaded a bios file.  I have no idea if it is related but I did not have this problem before then as I had updated my bios from 1.02 to 1.08 and deleted bios files without any problems.   I appreciate everyones help and am assuming I am stuck with this problem for whatever reason unless I restore my computer to default setting and can then go thru the long process of updating everything on it to fix all the problems it came with.  Again thanks for all the suggestions and help.   

I was wondering if someone could help me.

I bought an XPS 630i a little before Christmas and everything was all good until it blue screened a few days after New Years. Then it blue screened again on the 13th, and again today. I contacted Dell after the second time, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong and told me to contact them again if it happened again. I ran a full diagnostic and it said there were no problems. I've emailed Dell, and am simply waiting for a response back.
I was just wondering if there's anyone else having this problem, and if they know anything about it.

The Blue Screen happens RANDOMLY when I'm not doing much, simply browsing the web or listening to music.

happens to me too, sometimes even on shut down i get the blue screen, but dell has yet to tell me why, i have called atleast 5 times,  i am getting tired of the answer they give me, so for nothing has helped

I got my 630 at the end of November and I have the same issue with random blue screen and assorted crashes.

I've gotton -

Blue screen - BAD_Pool_Caller - while surfing the net.

"A fatal error has occured processing the restoration data. File:\hiberfil.sys" trying to come out of hibernation.

"Your computer cannot come out of hibernation. Status: Oxc0000242" trying to come out of hibernation.

"Floppy disk(s) fail (40) press 1 to continue" many times trying to boot up.

"Windows did not shut down successfully" upon startup

"A problem has caused windows to stop working" After reporting crash, Windows problems and solutions says the problem is caused by Nvidia and provides a link to their site.

Most recently, the computer would not start.  After 2 phone calls taking about 4 hours Dell said the Motherboard needs to be replaced.

I'm waiting for the tech as I type, hope the new mobo solves the problems.

I have some general questions on xps machines and video cards.  I have an xps 630 with a 8800gt in it.  I am considering getting a new video card and wondering if a 9800gt or an ati 4850 would give me a significant increase in performance on games.  I am probably not interested in upgrading for a 10 or 15 percent increase.  Looking at comparison charts on toms hardware  it does not appear to me that I would gain a significant increase with either of these cards.  Is that correct?  BTW I am running a 22 inch monitor.     I am also assuming with the crippled dell motherboard (8x vs 16x)plus my monitor size I probably would not gain anything going with a higher end video card.    My son has a xps 420 (he had a huge gift card at walmart and got the machine there and it has a worthless video card in it) and if I remember these were offered with the 8800gt so I could certainly put my 8800gt in his machine.  If I do not swith my card out would the xps 420 take a 9800gt- size and power requirements.   I know some of these questions were discussed on the old dell forum but that info is all gone and who can find anything searching on this new forum.  

DELL-Chris M,
When my computer blue screens it restarts less than ten seconds later, making it very hard to write down an error message.
So far I was able to get down, at the bottom of the screen, "Dumping physical memory dump," which has a number next to it that counts up to 100 before restarting.
Where would any other error messages be? At the top or bottom because that would help a lot next time it happens.

DELL-Chris M, When my computer blue screens it restarts less than ten seconds later, making it very hard to write down an error message. So far I was able to get down, at the bottom of the screen, "Dumping physical memory dump," which has a number next to it that counts up to 100 before restarting. Where would any other error messages be? At the top or bottom because that would help a lot next time it happens.

I find BSOD almost meaningless.  But i think you can look at the event log.  Not sure where that is located off the top of my head but it might tell you what failed.

Also if you overclock and this happens then your overclock is not correct.  If this happens and you haven't touch anything with the system then it could be bad RAM or Mobo.  Those are usually the 2 culprits.  I would give dell tech support a call regardless.

I have some general questions on xps machines and video cards.  I have an xps 630 with a 8800gt in it.  I am considering getting a new video card and wondering if a 9800gt or an ati 4850 would give me a significant increase in performance on games.  I am probably not interested in upgrading for a 10 or 15 percent increase.  Looking at comparison charts on toms hardware  it does not appear to me that I would gain a significant increase with either of these cards.  Is that correct?  BTW I am running a 22 inch monitor.     I am also assuming with the crippled dell motherboard (8x vs 16x)plus my monitor size I probably would not gain anything going with a higher end video card.    My son has a xps 420 (he had a huge gift card at walmart and got the machine there and it has a worthless video card in it) and if I remember these were offered with the 8800gt so I could certainly put my 8800gt in his machine.  If I do not swith my card out would the xps 420 take a 9800gt- size and power requirements.   I know some of these questions were discussed on the old dell forum but that info is all gone and who can find anything searching on this new forum.

A 9800GT is really just a repackaged 8800GT, so performance wise you should be about the same.  The 4850 is actually a bit faster than the 9800GT or 8800GT.  For a substantial boost i would recommend getting a second 8800GT and going sli and also overclocking the CPU.  For me, i have a pair of 9800GT and I get about a 25-35% boost in FPS in crysis over a single card.

You could also go for a gtx260 or 280.  But if you do then the 8lanes does cause some loss of performance.  The 630 really is meant for SLI or Crossfire.  A single card solution just isn't what the 630 was designed for.