Inspiron 5675 (Gaming Desktop), Random lockups

Hi-

First of all let me thank you and others for taking the time to read my posts and make suggestions. I go back to the days of CPM when you would run everything from a C: prompt.

Over time I have been comfortable going inside the computer and installing a new drive,changing a power supply,upgrading and installing ram,installing cards,upgrading the video card,etc.

My knowledge and comfort level with starting from scratch with a Nuke and Pave sounds good but I feel that it is somewhat above my level of expertise.

My computer has windows 10 home(x64) Version 1709(build 16299.309)

Servicing Branch: Current Branch(CB)

Boot Mode: UEFI with Secure Boot disabled

I think if I tried your suggestion, I might turn the computer into a boat anchor.

I wish Dell would come up with a solution.

I also wish my comfort level with a clean reinstall of Windows was a bit higher.

Powering the computer off and restarting it works fine but it is getting to be a PIA.

I think everyone gave you some great advice but there were a couple things i didn't see mentioned.  Pesky malware can believe it or not do some unexpected rude things.  I use crapcleaner (aka ccleaner) (free) superantispyware (free version) and malwarebytes ADW cleaner (free) for all that junk that installs sneek onto your system because you didn't check the box to stop it, i.e. toolbars etc. Between these three guys I can get most of the sneak **bleep** off my machine no issues.

As far as I know there is no EASY way to permanently shut off the cortana ho which to me is inexcusable.  it used to be there but the switch was taken out a few releases ago now if you want to do it you have to perform registry surgery and you can probably count that she'll be back the next major update you install for windows.   Many people call windows ten a privacy nightmare it literally reports everything you do in some cases.  

i don't know where you live, I don't know what sort of environment your machine lives in but if you live someplace like florida you quickly learn about corrosion.  if I was having issues like yours I'd be pulling components out for a spritz of crc electrical component cleaner spray and a firm push back into the socket.  you might also have a marginal memory stick, i.e it passes tests until something hits that one borderline memory address...graphics intensive games are probably one of the best ways to stress test your hardware.  Dell puts a crappy little 400 power supply in here have you added spinner drives that might be overstressing that poor undersized power supply?   I've got a corsair 650 in a box on the shelf that may end up in here soon always put bigger than you need it will run cooler and last longer than if the power supply is just too small to meet demand.  

Good Morning-

Thank you for your reply and suggestions.

I run Norton and Malwarebytes every day on my computer when I turn it on. So far, they have kept my machines clean and running. The problems I have encountered have only started since I purchased a new Inspiron 5675 about 2 months ago.

I do have a can of CRC 2-26 cleaner as a matter of fact. Have used it on my amateur radios and scanners. Seems to work well. I am not located in a warm humid climate so that is not the problem.

Dell Data Collector seems to be the issue causing most of the problems. I am working on a solution at the moment that I came up with last night. If the reliability check shows no issues in the upcoming days I will post what I have done. It's too soon to tell right now so I don't want to jump the gun. So far since I turned on the computer this morning everything is working fine.

The computer is only 2 months old and under warranty till next year so I don't want to NUKE IT unless that is the only thing that will solve my problem. I need to read up on the procedure before I try it. I will also post any questions that I have in regards to the Nuke It procedure ahead of time so I don't screw it up.

I still have a brand new 800w Seasonic power supply in the box that I never used because I was going to try to built my own machine back a few years ago but never did. If power became an issue I could try to install that in my machine.

Again- thanks for your suggestions.

p.s. I go back to the days when Peter Norton owned the Norton Utilities. When I took computer Science in collage we use to have to use punch cards in the lab for the big IBM mainframe. Boy have things changed over time. With that being said, a Happy Easter to all!

ERROR DETAILS:  appcrash explorer.exe exception code c0000374 - When explorer.exe is used to access network drives I receive error "Windows Explorer has stopped working" and explorer.exe restarts.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name:  APPCRASH
Application Name:  Explorer.exe
Application Version:  6.0.6002.18005
Application timestamp:  49e02ale
Exception Code  c0000374
Exception Offset  00000000000aef37

Hi-

Thanks for the link to support for unresolved problems. I sent them a post and I await a reply.

I see a v1.3.7 BIOS update, but only load it while talking to support (in case it bricks motherboard).

http://downloads.dell.com/published/pages/inspiron-5675-gaming-desktop.html

I'm reading some troubling reports about SmartByte. While updating it might help, I would be inclined to just uninstall it completely.

Drivers (especially AMD ChipSet) should be latest. Still say a full wipe and clean-install is your best bet ... or best foundation for a starting point toward a 100% stable machine.

Hi-

Thanks for the update. I'm still on 1.3.6 BIOS. I will follow up with support to update the BIOS.

I have been holding off on updating the community because I did something and wanted to see if it resolved my issues. I want to give it a few more days, however I will tell you that I am going on day 5 without any crashes or hangups or issues. I run the reliability monitor several time a day and it has been clean going on day 5 today. No Application, Windows or Misc. failures.

I think they were all being caused by Dell Data Vault Collector Service. I'm hoping that that was the culprit that was causing all the problems. We shall see.

I'm still keeping an open mind on your suggestion to Nuke and Repave if necessary.

Dell also got back to me and gave me some support contacts to call, but I have not done so, so far as I want to see if I solved the problem on my own.

Thanks again to all!

---

@floridafuzzwrote:

Hi-

1. I'm still on 1.3.6 BIOS. I will follow up with support to update the BIOS ... I will tell you that I am going on day 5 without any crashes or hangups or issues. I run the reliability monitor several time a day and it has been clean going on day 5 today. No Application, Windows or Misc. failures.

2. I think they were all being caused by Dell Data Vault Collector Service. I'm hoping that that was the culprit that was causing all the problems. We shall see.

 

1. Oh really ?! :Cool: In that case, I would be tempted not to mess with it (don't fix what's not broken). I just wanted to make sure you got some help ... new machine and all.

2. Yes, according to your prior posts ... it did seem to be related to that. Good work.

Hi-

Thanks for checking up to see how I did and make additional suggestions. I am keeping my fingers crossed that what I did solved the problems I was having. The jury is still out and not returned with a final verdict. I want to see some more error free days

I will read up on the bios update and follow up with Dell to see if I should update my BIOS. I have Smart Byte turned off now. You know what was a little weird, when I searched Smart Byte (windows key and S) it said it was turned on but I did not have an internet connection?? All 3 things that it monitors showed 0%. However, I have a home network set up, FIOS setup, everything hard wired with CAT5E or CAT6E runs. Using a Ubiquti AP AC Pro for my WIFI. It works great. WiFi shut off in the Dell as well as Bluetooth shut off in the Dell.

Again- thanks for all the suggestions. I will keep the community informed so maybe it will help someone else with a similar problem.

Hi-

Hear are a couple of options that they emailed me to contact them for help:

We request you to contact our Technical Support Department at 1-800-624-9896. (For 24/7 Support).

You can Email them at: http://www.dell.com/support/incidents/Email/Emailtagentry (Mon-Fri, 9am to 6pm CST)

                                                                                   (Or)

You can also chat live with a Tech Support representative by clicking on the following link:

http://www.dell.com/support/incidents/Chat/Chattagentry (Mon-Fri, 10am to 10pm CST)

Visit us 24/7 at

•        www.dell.com/ordersupport for online support for many of your requests.

•        www.dell.com/supporthistory to follow the progress of your Service Request

•        www.dell.com/orderstatus to view your current order status.

I had 5 good days with no issues on the reliability monitor then Cortana crashed a couple of times and also DellSupportAssistRemedationService.exe crashed a couple of times but I am not experiencing any lockups, blank screens, or need to reboot as of the moment.

I will continue to monitor.

I am having the same issue since I bought the computer in November. I tried many fixes, including the ones mentioned on this thread (removing all Dell apps) but nothing seems to work. My PC hangs intermittently.....mostly at night times. Power button light goes off but internal case lights are on when this happens. I normally need to cold boot it two times to get it back online. I really don't want to ship it back to Dell support.

---

@emiteshwrote:

I am having the same issue since I bought the computer in November. I tried many fixes, including the ones mentioned on this thread (removing all Dell apps) but nothing seems to work. My PC hangs intermittently.....mostly at night times. Power button light goes off but internal case lights are on when this happens. I normally need to cold boot it two times to get it back online. I really don't want to ship it back to Dell support.

---

I hate repeating myself (but in case you didn't read page-2 of this thread ...)

If it was my machine (or if I or my guys were tasked with fixing it), I would Nuke-and-Pave it right about now. That will remove all the Dell software (and any OEM customization to Windows-10) all at once.

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General/fixed/td-p/5627124

That will get you running perfect/lean Windows-10 real quick-like.
Just use the drivers that Microsoft tosses-you. I bet they will even give you a working AMD video driver. No Dell drivers, no Intel-RST ... keep it super-lean. Test that your hardware is good and doesn't have to be sent-back.

So here is what I did. TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Open File Explorer from the taskbar.

Select View > Options > Change folder and search options.

Select the View tab and, in Advanced settings,select Show hidden files,folders,and drives and OK.

This will let you see all the files and folders on your computer.

Click on this PC.

Find Dell

Click Dell and find the Dell Data Vault Files.

I did not delete them, I renamed them all by putting an X in front of the name of each file.

I think you right click on each file one at a time and select rename.

I think there are 6 or 8 files in total.

You must click the administrator approval button each time when you rename them.

So you would end up with something like this:

XDellDatavaultCollector.exe

Then exit out when you are done.

I had 5 good days without any red X's at all in the reliability monitor.

 The last couple of days Cortana shows stopping and also Dell\SARemediation\agent\DellSupportAssistRemedationService.exe.

But- so far my computer has NOT FROZEN, STOPPED, OR REQUIRED A REBOOT.

I do agree with Tesla though that this should not be happening with a new computer and a NUKE and REPAVE  is the way that I will probably go soon.

Also: forgot to say: Under settings, Power and Sleep, set Screen to NEVER and Sleep to NEVER.

---

@floridafuzzwrote:

 

Also: forgot to say: Under settings, Power and Sleep, set Screen to NEVER and Sleep to NEVER.

---

Good idea. Yeah, many machines have trouble with Sleep/Wake. It's usually newer machines with drivers and firmware that might still need a bit of tweaking.

Obviously, this is just a work-around, but it eliminates the potential Sleep/Wake problems and removes it from "the stability equation" temporarily. 

It's not even that hard to live-with for a while. You boot-up the machine when you need to use it, and shut-it-down at the end-of-the-day. With a SSD-boot, you hardly notice it.