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Windows 8 and 8.1 freezes
I got my 8500 last February and it will freeze every month or two since I got it . I updated the end of November to 8.1 and it still did the same thing even though I have not added any hardware,software , disabled most everything on startup except what is really required , I have all drivers and Bios updated and below is the steps Dell has taken which has not resolved the issue . Dell's customer resolution department was in contact with me trying to resolve but when it did not happen for 30 days they closed the case . When it did happen after 30 days they wanted me to start the whole process over with tech support which I think is a waste of time because it did not help the first time and I was just spending time with them going through the same steps I had gone through before with them before they started dispatching repairs . I have also ran hardware diagnostics and it did not show any issues as well . The last time it froze before today was 10-17 and I even updated to 8.1 on11-29 and have not had any issues until today I would also have to run the sfc scannow routine in the admin cmd prompt and sometimes it could not repair the files and I had to run the "dism /online /clean-up-image /restorehealth" to rebuild the component library. Usually when it freezes the maintenance task running and I left it idle for a couple minutes and only the mouse will move but I have no functionality not even the alt/ctrl/delete keys and I have hard boot Anyone else had this same issues and if so was you able to find a fix or was Dell able to find what the problem was? Below is what I have done and Dell dispatched repairs in order of what was done in which the repair was found not to solve the problem. Any help or advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated
1 Repaired Windows with Microsoft tech support using the OEM disc that came with system
2 Dell replaced mother board
3 Dell replaced HD and reloaded OS
4 Dell replaced RAM and Video card
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
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January 19th, 2014 05:00
I would try loading Windows yourself as a clean install and not a repair.
For this you want a Dell Windows 8.0 or 8.1 (if you can get your hands on one) Reinstallation DVD which is untouched.
See Windows Reinstallation Guide/A Clean Install of Windows 8.1:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/
Note you may want to follow these additionally if you get Windows 8.1 media:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/a-clean-install-of-windows-8-1/microsoft-product-activation/
gator957
96 Posts
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January 19th, 2014 09:00
Hi Natakuc4
Thanks for getting back with !! Actually when Dell replaced the HD back the end of July it came preloaded with the image that came with my PC when I purchased it. . About 3 weeks later it froze again and then 2 months after that in October and the next time it took 3 months when it froze yesterday . One thing I noticed yesterday was when I cold booted it in the morning after it passed the Dell logo the next screen went to saying restarting with the circle of dots . Stayed like that for a minute or so before it said downloading updates or something like that then after it downloaded them it restarted the PC and installed the updates .I About 20 minutes later is when it froze and I had to hard restart it and then go through the SFC / Scannow routine to find out had some corrupt windows files and then had to rebuild the component library to fix that. The windows repair I described was before the HD install and replacing everything else they replaced . I updated to 8.1 the end of November and now I am doing the updates for 8.1 and I noticed it was 2 windows updates it downloaded yesterday the KB 2913270 and KB2917993 which maybe its just coincidence it froze 20 minutes after the update. I have never actually seen it update the way it did yesterday , usually when I see updates I will do the update and restart when I am ready to shut down ? Not sure if the updates were there and I did not see them and chose to shutdown instead and it updated when I started it up in the morning ?
gator957
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January 19th, 2014 10:00
Hi NATAKUC4
You bring up some interesting points ! When I first got the PC I would see a flash of gold or bronze on screen after the Dell logo before it went into Windows . When I received the replacement drive I did not see that and it seemed like it booted past the Dell logo into windows much smoother . If you are correct then I would think Dell should recognize this and replace my PC while it is still under warranty if everything else they tried has failed . Though I have reloaded many XP systems and I heard 8 is not as time consuming to reload but I really should not have to do that when I buy a new PC . Though it is more annoying than anything right now because it does happen so infrequently its the point its a brand new PC. I don't leave the PC on when I am not using it so maybe it would happen more if I did.. I think your assessment makes perfect sense and I wish Dell would recognize this as well . Thanks for your help!!
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
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January 19th, 2014 10:00
Yes that's the problem "the image that came with my PC". The last Dell system I came across Inspiron 7737 had multiple problems with the "Dell Factory Image". His system gave a black screen every minute it was left idle, his Windows key got jammed on the Start Screen and the performance was woeful, being outperformed by my 7 year Latitude on Windows 8.1.
My friend had called technical support on it and they had deemed it a hardware problem, they were going to replace all the parts probably similar to your case. He spoke to me before deciding on a replacement motherboard. The hardware was fully functional however just the Windows installation was terrible...
I clean installed Windows 8.1 on it directly and now the system is perfect. Given you have had so much hardware replaced to the extent that it is a "new computer" that exhibits the exact same problems I would say you have a bad OS install.
One way to quickly test would be to create a UBUNTU live USB and boot from it. This way you can run UBUNTU without installing it or interfering with your Windows installation. If the system does not crash after running for several hours, then the hardware is likely good and the Windows install/image bad. In this case what you want is a Windows 8 Reinstallation DVD from Dell or preferably an untouched Windows 8.1 .iso. Unfortunately you will need to get the Windows 8.1 .iso/DVD from another Windows license that you or a friend may have. Microsoft's licensing terms have made Dell unable to supply installation media for Windows 8.1 for a Windows 8.0 license. This is completely ridiculous as its a "free update" but unfortunately its the way things are.