Dell Precision M6600 randomly freezing

Thank you for the suggestion. However, we have all updates installed. I turned off the automatical updates, enabled updates for Window and Other Microsoft Products (as all other boxes were already enabled), checked for updates, checked for updates again, restarted and checked for updates once more. There were no updates available. Then I turned on automatical updates again. Microsoft Security Essentials is not on the list of installed programs. We use ESET Smart Security 7.

Hi Kletobservatory,

    So, In the past couple days I've seen a couple similar questions regarding system lag / intermittent responsiveness etc etc. One of the cases  very fresh in my mind actually DID come from a Windows Update issue. By default, Windows 7 x64 is set to automatically receive important updates per "Use Recommended Settings" but not recommended or optional updates. Here's what I suggest

From the Control Panel at Windows Update. you will see Change Settings in the left hand column. TEMPORARILY turn this off. Windows will issue a warning ...this is okay for now.

Put an X in the "Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates." box.

Put  an X in all the other boxes

With Automatic updates TURNED OFF. Click "Check for updates in the left hand column. Download all of them (except maybe the Bing Bar which won't even show up until Windows update is almost current.)

Repeat this step following the restart instructions and coming back  to the "CHECK FOR UPDATES"  

Even when Windows Update says it's Up To Date...check once again just to make sure and then when you have no more updates Important Recommended and Optional. MAKE SURE TO RE-ENABLE AUTOMATIC UPDATES. 

--You will also be offered to receive updates for "Window and Other Microsoft Products" If you decide to opt in, do it after you're up to date from windows and pay close attention to those updates for other products. Only install Microsoft Security Essentials if you don't already have an antivirus utility. It's a great tool but there should never be 2 antivirus utilities running at the same time. Just a precautionary "heads up." Based on the details you've provided I'm confident these steps with alleviate your app hangs. GOOD LUCK and if this solution works properly for you please remember to click the Yes this was helpful button. If you need further assistance feel free to contact.

In the meanwhile, we swapped out the SSD and SATA harddiscs for a new SATA harddisc on which we put clean installation of Windows 7 64-bit and did windows updates. The laptop is still freezing as described. Anyone else has any other idea? Also, where can we turn to when the Next Buisness Day On-Site warranty isnt being upheld by Dell? We keep calling them and emailing with them but we cannot seem to be able to get them to actually come and do something about our malfunctioning laptop. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Did you ever resolve this issue? It's been a few months so I assume you did one way or another, but maybe this can help someone else.

Intermittent hard lag and freezing that doesn't actually crash the system is often GPU related. This can be due to software or hardware. There was recently an issue that could be caused on some NVidia GPUs by running two YouTube videos simultaneously - on my Vaio this would lead to the whole system freezing and glitching, with enough severity to make me think at first that my GPU hardware was dying on me. Poorly written GPU applications that fail to respect proper scheduling and resource sharing can wreak havoc on a system.

Anyway if you're using an NVidia graphics card, you can disable it temporarily using Optimus, which I would suggest trying first. This will revert the system to the Intel HD integrated graphics. Since the architecture is so different, it's unlikely a software issue would cause the same symptoms on the Intel GPU.

By the way, what are your M6600's fans doing when the freezes occur?

Anyway if the problem persists, the next thing I'd do is boot from a linux live cd. Knoppix is one of the best live cd distributions and useful to have around, since it was designed as a live cd from the beginning, unlike most of the other distributions out there. But Ubuntu would serve the purpose if you already have it lying around. You could try some web browsing, openoffice, some fractal generators, watch some videos etc and see if you experience the problem. This avoids making any changes to your system or having to install anything.

So having tried a live cd and disabling the GPU, if the problem persists it is likely a faulty motherboard. For anyone in this position without a warranty, if you're in the UK you have 6 years of consumer protection under the Sale of Goods Act, so you could look into this and approach Dell for a repair or replacement. If that laptop has not been dropped or mishandled, they have a legal obligation to fix the problem regardless of whether you purchased a warranty. This does not apply in the US.

If you have AMD graphics, FirePro M8900 / M6100 etc. then there's no way to disable it short of temporarily removing the card from the laptop. If you're in this situation and everything else fails, I can talk you through the procedure, and explain what precautions are necessary to do it safely.

In case you're wondering about memory, I doubt it's a RAM issue. RAM problems *should* be noticed by the CPU's memory controller, and I believe cause a "machine check" exception which would crash the machine outright and give you a blue screen. The fact that your machine doesn't actually crash makes me think you can rule out RAM issues, but if nothing else it might be worth carefully removing and reseating the RAM to check for sure. If you have 4 dimms installed, it's worth trying with only 2 especially if not all the ram is identical. Check first whether your warranty is affected by this procedure, and make sure you use proper antistatic precautions (I'll explain these if you're unsure).

If you can't get any joy with Dell, as a final resort I suggest going on ebay and finding a nice used HP Elitebook ;)