Hi,

The memory chip issue could definitely be the cause of the system freezing, but probably not the cause of the battery issue.  You say the battery stopped working, in what way?  Do you get a message that the system does not recognize the battery type, or that it won't charge the system?  Or the system won't power on when the battery is inserted?

You may want to go into your System Setup (BIOS) and see if the system "sees" the battery in BIOS.  Once you get into the BIOS (System Setup) you should see categories about the hardware on your system.  ((Sorry, I don't have the BIOS for that system handy to find the exact location of the battery information)).   You should be able to see whether the system reads the make and model number of the battery correctly.   If not, first thing to try would be to reset the BIOS to factory defaults.  Again, there should be an option in the BIOS windows to do that.   

Updating the BIOS would be the next option.  Normally the updates won't run if you don't have an AC adapter plugged into the system (having that system power down during a BIOS update would be very, very bad for the system.  Essentially the system would be a useless brick at that point).  Did you mean it wouldn't complete because of a lack of AC adapter?

Try the BIOS reset option first and see if that helps.  If not, give me a better idea of what happens when you try to update to the latest BIOS, and we'll see what we can do to help with that.

The memory chip on the other hand, not really much you can do other than replace it, unfortunately.

Todd

Todd S,

Thanks for your response. I replaced the battery and memory chips. Both working properly. I re-ran the diagnostic tests, memory passed.

To answer your question about my battery not working--I was getting the ''does not recognize battery'' type message.

When I tried to do the recommended BIOS update I was running on AC, but it wouldn't complete. A small box appeared
and said something to the effect ''update won't complete due to, 1. No battery''.

Now that things are working well, is there any reason to do the recommended BIOS update?

I didn't mention this in my first post, but the DVD-RW Drive test couldn't run the OPU test, tray out test, or the spindle test. It said there was media in the drive or the tray was open. Neither was the case. On the Studio 1737 there isn't even a pull-out tray. I believe my CD player is working fine, so I guess it's just an odd test result, although it happened during both tests.

mrgrem

Now that things are working well, is there any reason to do the recommended BIOS update?

I'm a firm believe in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".   

Todd

Todd S,

It appears I spoke too soon. My computer froze again. I ran the diagnostic test again and the new memory modules passed the test.

My computer is a Dell Studio 1737 (late 2008). I've never updated any drivers or downloads from the Dell site. Might the recommended BIOS update fix the problem? How about the fan not working properly? As far as I know, it is working. At least I hear it running at times, could it be the fan motor running, but the fan sitting still? How to tell?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

mrgrem

Hi,

The BIOS update could help.   If you've never updated any drivers on the system the freezing could be a driver issue so you might want to go to our main Dell support site, input your service tag, click on Drivers & Download, and do the BIOS update.   

Does there seem to be any sort of correlation to the freezes?   Are you playing videos or watching movies?  Web surfing to a site that has flash content embedded in it?

When you hear the fan running you can put your fingers over the vent and check for airflow.  If there isn't any then the fan isn't moving air, either because it's broke or there is too much dust, etc., and it is blocking the airflow.

Todd

Todd S,

There are quite a few updates available, the most recent of them were updated March 2014. The BIOS update was last updated Nov 2011 and is to fix the Lojack malfunction issue. I don't know what that means, but I assume the update dates are when DELL made them available. Since those dates are quite a while ago I wonder if they'd have anything to do with my recent problem. I haven't done the BIOS update yet, what does Lojack malfunction mean?

No correlation that I've noticed. No videos or movies. Today it froze while I was at home depot's site, this evening it froze while I was at my car insurance site.

The fan--I probably shouldn't have, but we took the bottom panel off, then when we heard the fan turn on we tilted the laptop so we could see the fan, it was turning. When we changed the memory modules we removed a lot of dust, chunks of it. I think the fan is a bit more quiet now.

Any thoughts?

mrgrem

Lojack is a software application used to track stolen laptops so it doesn't apply to your situation.  

Since we can't determine what is causing the problems there is no way to determine which updates, if any, will resolve it.   I would recommend creating Restore Points on your system and then trying the various updates, primarily the BIOS and video, and see if any of them help.

Since you haven't done any updates in a long time it might even be useful to reinstall Windows on the system.  No idea how it might be configured at this point since you've been running it for 6 years. 

Todd

Todd S,

My laptop is just getting worse. It freezes 3 times an hour sometimes. Other times it goes a few hours without freezing.

What is the advisability of resetting a Studio 1737 running Vista sp2 back to factory defaults?

And if it is advisable how do I go about doing it.

Thanks.

mrgrem

I wrote the above, then reread your last post. When you say reinstall Windows, is that the same as what I'm asking about above?

And you say you don't know how it would be configured this 6 years later. Is that saying you don't know how I would have to do go about doing it?

I'd appreciate any knowledge or advice. Thanks.