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chrisevans25

13 Posts

24979

December 27th, 2004 17:00

Wireless card causes system to lock up

I have a wireless card that causes my Inspiron 5100 to lock up about once a day.  I have tried 3 different types of cards (Netgear, Microsoft, Dell) all with the same result.  I have a laptop cooler because I thought that the heat might be causing the problem - not the case.  If I leave the wireless card out the lockup does not happen.  What could be the cause and is there a solution?
 
On a side note...I have tried to update the BIOS on my computer.  When I download what seems to be the appropriate file, it tells me that I don't have the appropriate file.  What am I doing wrong and where can I find the correct file?

NemesisDB

7.9K Posts

December 27th, 2004 20:00

you asked several different questions so I'm going to make a couple of points that may or may not apply, as well as ask you some questions.
 
1) what do you mean by lock up?  I've rarely seen XP completely lock up.  Does your computer turn off?  Do you get a bluescreen?  If there are specific error messages please list them
 
2) Have you reinstalled windows recently?  did you install the chipset drivers if you did?
 
3) Laptop coolers don't lower temps much (a few degrees max on my i5100).  Get fanGUI http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html and give us your temps if you think it might be a heat issue.  While wireless cards do create heat they usually heat up the hard-drive more than anything else given there location.  Note that you will need a recent bios for fanGUI to run properly.
 
4) What bios revision do you have?  If you have below A22 you will need to first flash to A22 before going to anything higher.  I recommend you flash to A31 (and not A32).  You will need a CD burner or floppy drive to flash to A22.
 
5) Try updating the firmware and or drivers for the cards in question.  Also, please consider upgrading to SP2 and uninstalling any utilities that came with your wireless card -- just let SP2 manage them
 
6) Just to make sure other factors aren't to blame, please check for both spyware and virures.  Spybot SD ( www.spybot.info), ad-aware ( www.lavasoftusa.com) and AVG are good, free programs in this regard -- please scan with all of them.  If malware needed an internet connection and caused a crash it might only happen when your card was in and thus lead you to blame the card

NemesisDB

7.9K Posts

December 27th, 2004 21:00

click start, run, and typing msinfo32 will tell you the bios revision -- along with lots of other things

chrisevans25

13 Posts

December 27th, 2004 21:00

1)  When I say lock up, I mean that it stops working.  The desktop screen is still there but no applications will open and the ones that are open (such as Outlook) won't do anything.  I get "the operation failed" message from outlook when I try to check my email.  I can't even shut the computer down except to hold down the power button.  If I actually get the start menu to come up and click "turn off computer" it brings up the screen with "switch user" and "logoff".

2)  No I have not reinstalled windows recently.

4)  Where do I find the bios revision?

5)  SP 2 is installed and WIndows does manage the card settings.

6)  I have the most recent Mcafee virus and spyware products and have run them.

Thanks for the help!

chrisevans25

13 Posts

December 27th, 2004 22:00

Ok...the bios says Phoenix Technologies, Ltd. A04 3/28/2003

Message Edited by chrisevans25 on 12-27-2004 06:34 PM

NemesisDB

7.9K Posts

December 27th, 2004 23:00

then if you want to update you'll need to go to a22 first ...   i doubt the will solve your problems though

NemesisDB

7.9K Posts

December 27th, 2004 23:00

not really, given that nothing seems to specifically trigger it.  the fact that it's happening with multiple brands of cards is a bit interesting -- if everythings coming up clean scan-wise i suppose you could always try reinstalling windows (followed by all the dell drivers)  ...   if you are able to flash to A22 and then to A31 i would be interested in seeing what fanGUI says your temps are -- I don't think that's the reason for your problems and flash's aren't risk free so I'll leave that up to you though.  also, please note that the flash to A22 cannot be undone...

chrisevans25

13 Posts

December 27th, 2004 23:00

Ok.  Any thoughts on the wireless card (other than what you've already said)?

johnallg

7.3K Posts

December 28th, 2004 01:00

Probably the 5100/5150 dust /cooling problem.  Get i8kfangui as NemesisDB recommended and also read the cooling experiences in the 5100/5150 overheating link in my sig area below.

chrisevans25

13 Posts

December 28th, 2004 01:00

OK...I updated the BIOS and installed the fan temp monitor.  It says the CPU is around 60 deg. Celcius when the CPU was operating at 100%.  It immediatley dropped to around 48 deg. Celcius as the processor was working less.   I also had seen the article about the dust problem and while I haven't had a problem with the computer shutting down on its own, I had followed the instructions previously.  It didn't seem to help the problem, but I'll try it again.

Message Edited by chrisevans25 on 12-27-2004 09:37 PM

chrisevans25

13 Posts

December 28th, 2004 02:00

OK...so apparently it isn't the temperature.  I have no clue what else could be causing it to lock up the system.  All I know is that without the wireless card I have no problems.

NemesisDB

7.9K Posts

December 28th, 2004 02:00

if you go into safe mode with networking support can you get the card to load/run?  if so, see if it locks up windows there.

NemesisDB

7.9K Posts

December 28th, 2004 02:00

just for reference i have a p4 2.4ghz 5100.  i've had my cpu at 100% for about a week or two straight now -- the temp will spike to a maximum of 62 at which point the fans will rev up a notch and bring it down to 58 (cycle will then repeat as fans go back to a slower speed).  on idle temps are in the mid 30s.  your temps sound perfectly normal. 

johnallg

7.3K Posts

December 28th, 2004 04:00

Good suggestion.

chrisevans25

13 Posts

December 28th, 2004 13:00

Ok, I'll try that. 

Some more details about the problem:

I left it on all night.  This morning, everything looked fine except the screen saver was not on.   The fan temps were changing in the tray and the taskbar came up, but anything I tried to open I got an "insufficient system resources exist" message.  The hard drive was not even spinninng as far as I can tell (no lights).  The task manager wouldn't come up either.  I finally had to hold down the power button to turn it off.

NemesisDB

7.9K Posts

December 28th, 2004 16:00

just to repeat: have you done a full scan with ad-aware, spybot, and an AV program of your choice with recent definitions?  do you have anything "weird" installed?

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