Undiagnosed Problem, Please Advise

I've seen various forms of ad-ware and spy-ware bog down systems when they try to run a game.  Download Spybot S&D (www.download.com) and give it a run (it's free).  If you have Kazaa or a similar program it proably gummed up the works.  Oh, and make sure to go into the "online" section of Spybot and download any/all updates before you run the scan.

Next up would be to download and install any driver updates from Dell's site - go to the support section, enter your service tag, and it's pretty self-explanatory.

Also suggest running the Dell Diagnostic program - it's on a bootable CD that came with your machine.  That would check for a hardware issue.

Since you used to be able to play the games, either something has changed software-wise, or some hardware is breaking/broken.  Use the process of elimination.

P.S. I'm leaving for the day so hopefully someone else will chime in if you need more help.  Good luck!

Thanks for the help.  My suspicion is that something is breaking/broken, as I haven't gone online at all with the machine since purchasing it in order to bog it down with any software problems.  And now I'm kicking myself in the rear for not purchasing the warranty. 

If anyone else is listening, what - in your opinion - might it be that is breaking/broken?  I can watch DVDs just fine, which I assumed would be affected if the video card were the problem.

Thanks

Thanks for the reply, first of all.  This is frustrating.

So my machine is not exactly top of the line.  I am running a 2ghz with 512MB and the 64MB NVIDIA card that comes with Inspiron 8500.

The games referenced are Warcraft III and Rise of Nations, both of which I had played extensively on the same rig until the problem in question.  Sort of happened all of the sudden.

ANy ideas?

Your CPU SHOULD be at 100% when playing a game - don't you want to get all you paid for?

Please post some specs on your machine - "top of the line" means different things to different people.

Also, what specific games are you trying to play?

When in doubt always do a fresh format and a clean install, and your machine will be as good as new!

Could be an heat issue. Do you have I8KFanGUI installed?

Message Edited by w00ters on 01-02-2004 03:38 PM

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@jack500 wrote:
When in doubt always do a fresh format and a clean install, and your machine will be as good as new!

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Errr... yeah, unless it's a hardware problem.  In which case it will be as broken as before.

Run the DELL DIAGNOSTICS program from the supplies drivers CD's.

Put the CD in the driver and reboot then press F12 I think its it. Now run the DIAGNOSTIC software and run the ADVANCED test.

This will take about 2 hours and will test 99% of the components in your system. If they all pass then its software related. In that case I would personally just reinstall the OS and start again as its easier.

 

Once you have run the DIAG software post again and let me know your results so I can advise, if possible. =)

Also in the previous post KAZZA is a bugger for causing problems in games, make sure your close it before you play them.

Also in the i8kfangui program the DIMM sensor section is actually the VIDEO CARD temprature. Dunno what card you have but the core slowdown for the 5650 is 118 Degress C, if it is an overheating problem.

Thanks guys.  Will run the diag today.