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Inspiron 15 inch i7 3543 Laptop freezes for minutes at a time during normal operation
Hi I have a Inspiron 3543 laptop, i7-5500U 8Gb RAM, Nvidia 840M 2Gb, Win 10 Home
The laptop boots quickly without issues, during normal operation (web browsing, accessing the file system) it just freezes randomly for up to 5-10 minutes a time showing 100% disk usage. There is plenty of disk space it's a 1TB drive I have 900 Gb free! I have done the following things which haven't fixed my problems.
Turned off SuperFetch, turned off all app notifications, turned off BITS.
I have removed all antivirus software from the computer other than Windows Defender.
Installed the latest device drivers from Dell, flashed the BIOS, Chipset, Video Drivers.
Turning off SpeedStep in BIOS improved performance dramatically but the computer still does this.
The BIOS diagnostic tool didn't show up any hardware problems.
Curiously I am able to delay this from happening if I don't access the file system, ie use Windows Explorer. Opening any folders from the desktop instantly causes this problem.
Please help!
DELL-Rishi
2K Posts
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July 23rd, 2016 14:00
Hi IVANB303,
Looks like you have basically tried most possible required steps to isolate the issue.
Restart the system and check in Safe mode - http://bit.ly/1LHcO2c if it works fine.
Create a local admin account and check if it works - http://bit.ly/1JoFhcw
Run a stress test through Support Assist - http://dell.to/1NEc1Y4
Also, run an extended test on the HDD through onboard diagnostics - restart and press f12 key on starup - and check for any possible errors.
Also, please click my DELL-username and write me a private conversation with the service tag and your contact details(Name and Email) for case records.
Keep us updated.
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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16K Posts
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July 24th, 2016 03:00
Clean Install Windows 10 its likely an issue from the Upgrade Install:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-windows-10-oem-and-retail-iso/
IvanB303
5 Posts
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July 24th, 2016 04:00
Just an update, doing the things I did mentioned in the email vastly improved performance, especially
turning off Speedstep in BIOS. But I still got the problem i mentioned but not as often. I recently downloaded the latest Chipset driver through Support Assist .
I ran the extended stress test through Support Assist it gave me an error with the Intel 5500 HD graphics card. The error code it reported was :
But this doesn't seem to me to be the primary culprit.
If I just use a browser/or some other program, or app, it doesn't happen at all. As soon as I try and access the file system, ie File->Open, Save or Browse to upload an attachment any of those dialogues in a program the problem occurs. If I'm using the Windows Explorer to look through files/folders makes it happen.
DELL-Rishi
2K Posts
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July 24th, 2016 05:00
Hi IVANB303,
Thank you for the update.
Well, the stress test encountering an error with the video card is not a good sign to start with.
Did you happen to run the extended test on the HDD? That might possibly generate an error, if the HDD has any issues.
Have you tried the safe mode and the local admin account?
You could also try reinstall the OS from the link provided by the other user.
If that does not work - try this link - http://bit.ly/1OifiMP
Let us know if you have any other queries.
IvanB303
5 Posts
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July 24th, 2016 08:00
Hi
I ran the extended scan from Dell Support Assist and the only error is the one I quoted with the video card. The report is an html file I can send you that. How can I send you the file ?Nothing comes up for the HDD.
I haven't tried safe mode yet. What do you mean by local admin account?? The current account for the computer has admin rights. I'm running Windows 10 Home.
Can I reinstall the OS without needing to wipe the whole hard drive?
DELL-Rishi
2K Posts
0
July 24th, 2016 12:00
Hi IVANB303,
Thank you for the update.
Run the diags on the HDD from onboard diagnostics - as per my previous post - "Also, run an extended test on the HDD through onboard diagnostics - restart and press f12 key on starup - and check for any possible errors."
Check in safe mode for functionality.
The current account you are using might have issues. Hence, I have advised you to try using the built in admin account. If that account works fine, then the issue could be within your user account.
If the OS has issues, then is recommended to perform a clean install of the OS, which includes formatting of the HDD and then installing the OS.
Let us know if you have any other queries.
IvanB303
5 Posts
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July 31st, 2016 03:00
Hi Rishi
I ran the extended scan ie pressing f12 and running the extended scan. It took a long time but it didn't find any errors.
I activated the built in admin account but when I restart it told me that the desktop file is missing and you get basically no functionality from windows, so I couldn't really do much.
The computer essentially runs fine now except when you try to use Open or Save dialog from file menu from any application! It then freezes like mentioned before which takes a while for it to recover. Once it recovered , the computer doesn't as fast before, you have to restart to get back normal fast operation.
IvanB303
5 Posts
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July 31st, 2016 04:00
Okay so i started Windows in safe mode. There is no problem when you start the computer in safe mode!
So definitely a software issue! What is the next step?
DELL-Rishi
2K Posts
0
July 31st, 2016 17:00
Hi IVANB303,
Thank you for the update.
Open Task Manager and disable all startup items - restart the system and check in normal mode of windows if the system works fine. If no, then perform a clean boot - http://bit.ly/1WdxyWy
If the issue stands resolved with the startup items disabled and the clean boot, then one of the installed applications and services is causing the issue on the system. You would need to do a trial and error method to identify the application causing the issue.
Also, please reinstall the video driver from the vendor site - http://intel.ly/2aiKWrm - restart and then run the stress test again.
Keep us updated.