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FishyBusiness

7 Posts

4890

March 31st, 2006 13:00

Inspiron 8200 - jerky mouse/crashing/muting

I have a problem with my Inspiron 8200. It seems to spontaneously crash. Right before the crash, the mouse cursor becomes VERY slow to respond. The muting symbol on the speaker icon in the system tray starts flickering on and off. After about 5 seconds or so, the whole system locks up. Ctrl-Alt-Del doesn't work. The only thing I can do is hold down the power button to turn it off. Upon restarting, Windows locks up on the the screen where it shows the blue status symbol. I can boot the computer in Safe Mode with Networking. However, once or twice Safe Mode didn't even work. When booting, picking Last Known Good Configuration seems to work. I don't have any minidump data in the Windows directory. When viewing the Event Viewer, I only see one thing. It says that the Fax printer could find any devices that could be used with it. On top of that, I don't see any modems listed in the Device Manager. When I reformat the computer, the modem is listed.
 
The problem jsut started one morning after I turned on the computer. I put in a CD and it started doing this behavior. This has happend when computer has been on for 20 mintues or a few hours. So I don't think that it's a heat issue. Here are the things that I have tried to fix the problem. None of them have fixed the problem.:
  • Reformatting with a fresh install of Windows w/SP2 and no updates.
  • Starting the computer without the battery or CD-RW/DVD-ROM.
  • Used a good HDD from another laptop.
  • Ran Memtest86+. Although, I only let it complete all tests once.

I hope that someone can help me, because I don't have a clue. Any kind of help is greatly appreciated. The sad part is that all of this happened about 2 months after my 3 year mail-in warranty expired. :smileysad:

Message Edited by FishyBusiness on 03-31-2006 07:42 AM

glsmas

51 Posts

March 31st, 2006 19:00

Is your antivirus up to date and your hard drive scanned? Go to Windows Update and make sure to get all the patches and fixes.

Ad -aware is good free utility, so is Spy-bot Search and Destroy. You can google for them.

FishyBusiness

7 Posts

March 31st, 2006 22:00

Thank you for your time.
 
I tried a fresh install of windows on a new hard drive. Even though I received the same problem, I reinstalled windows and then updated it. Still had the same problem. It's definitely a hardware problem, but I doubt the HDD is the problem.
 
After my last post, I ran Memtest86+. This time, I ran 12 passes. I did not receive any errors.

glsmas

51 Posts

April 1st, 2006 00:00

What software are you running, and what are you doing on your laptop just before it crashes? Any system-intensive tasks? Also how much RAM are you running?
 
Have you scanned the drive for errors? If not click Start>right click My Computer>click Open>right click Local Disk C>click Properties>click the Tools tab>click Check Now under Error Checking>check both boxes>click Start>click Yes when it asks to restart>then manually restart your system. Windows will check for errors and fix any if there. When it's done it'll boot into your desktop.
 
 

FishyBusiness

7 Posts

April 1st, 2006 01:00

It doesn't seem to matter what I am doing when it crashes. It happens when I watch a DVD, type with MS word, visit websites, or have everything closed (except for the systray) and letting the system idle. With the new install of Windows on a second HDD, the same thing happens. Also, I am using 1GB Corsair Value Select (512x2) RAM
 
I have tested the HDD with Spinrite. It doesn't show anything abnormal. I don't receive any weird amount of errors. Spinrite doesn't show any bad sectors. Dynastat never runs.
 
I am still at a loss. My personal belief is that some hardware inside the computer is having some trouble. But who knows? For three years and 2 months, the laptop has worked great with no problems.

Message Edited by FishyBusiness on 03-31-2006 07:46 PM

FishyBusiness

7 Posts

May 2nd, 2006 22:00

I forgot to post back. The problem is either the modem or the motherboard. I took the modem out and all of the problems stopped. I have yet to replace the modem. I don't use it that often, so I might not replace it.

Message Edited by FishyBusiness on 05-02-200604:07 PM

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