Please include your system service tag and a description of the problem and troubleshooting done to try to resolve it.
You can also call Dell Technical Support. The phone number to contact our US Mobile Computing Hotline is 800-822-8965 for Corporate/Government Accounts or at 800-247-9252 for Direct accounts.
You will be connected to a Technical Specialist who will help you resolve the issue over the phone or arrange the appropriate service.
If you are outside of the United States, you will need to contact Dell in your global area.
That's exactly what I did, John. My replacement arrived yesterday. I've had it on almost constantly since and no lockups yet. Since my first machine was locking up right out of the gate, I find this new machine's behavior to be promising.
The only way I was ever able to resolve this was to hound tech support for a replacement. As objectionable as it may seem, my 11 day tirade paid off. This is clearly a problem that cannot be solved with the usual phone support and requires replacement of the machine.
I did not however call Customer Service as kchaudha suggested, but stayed with Tech Support instead. Nor did I escalate the problem. Despite my repeated demands to talk to a supervisor, I was never able to get one's ear. But I will agree with trececruz, "time and persistence are the only way to get results with dell."
Perhaps this problem has blindsided Dell. And they may be more receptive to quick resolution when they see this problem in the future.
Thanks John. I'm working with Tech support now to resolve this problem. I'm not a huge fan of re-installing all the software on my machines every time something doesn't work right. I'd rather know what the problem is so I can fix it with the least disruption and prevent it from recurring in the future. And returning the system for a replacement doesn't answer the question either. What if I have to return THAT one? And the next one?
I did have another freeze. This time I was monitoring the temps, the fans, CPU load, etc. And I wasn't here when it froze. The CPU load was 2%, the only active process was System Idle. It appears the temperature had just reached the point where the fan turns on at slow speed. It froze just after the fan should have turned on. And the fan speed reading was frozen at 0. But the fan was running at high speed when I found it. So it appears when it goes to switch the fan from off to slow, something happens and the system freezes. I don't know exactly when or why the fan goes high. Obviously after the system freezes, since the display shows it's off.
I've been using my replacement for about an hour now and so far, so good. I've not installed or uninstalled anything yet. (don't plan to for a few days either) The system is totally "right outta the box"
Can you provide details on the specification of your notebook? Is there any particular activity you do in Word or PowerPoint to cause the 'freezing' e.g. modifying graphical images? Are the video drivers up to date?
There appears to be different scenarios of freezing and it would be good to group the common ones.
Well, the replacement is freezing too. I've begun the Tech Support routine and will post progress.
BTW, the replacement is a refurbished unit and came with a Samsung CDRW/DVD where the original had a Hitachi. A bit off topic, but boy, is the Samsung noisy compare to the other one I had.
I finally decided I might as well try a clean install. You guys have convinced me I should hang on to the hardware I already have if I can possibly fix this. I re-partitioned/reformatted and installed an MSDN copy of WinXP Pro. I'm slowly adding back the drivers and I haven't had a freeze yet in over a day.
Strangely enough, I wasn't able to get the "Notebook System Software" to install. Setup tells me it can't continue on this machine but it doesn't say why. If I remember correctly, I was having USB trouble when I got the system. I can't recall if I had to re-install this to fix it, or if something wasn't enabled... I had a heck of a time getting a USB camera to work with this system without a fair bit of messing around.
Hello Rocketeer,
I have got an Inspiron 8200 and it freezes when I try to move any pictures or drawings in PowerPoint. But it has recently started to freeze even when I don't do anything!
you have to install the intel chipset drivers before you install this. I still attribute all this freezing to being normal problems encountered when you are running all sorts of programs at the same time. What programs do you guys have running? All of them, system tray programs, tasks, activley running programs, e.t.c.
i was not too surpirsed to find this super long post here :( i have an 8200 and my computer has been freezing, and crashing for several weeks now, i reformatted and reinstalled and it stilll did it, the funny thing is, my computer was problem free for almost a year (since i got it) then i updated some of my drivers from the dell site and bam, i haven't narrowed it down, but i just ran the fangui program mentioned earlier, my computer just cam back from a blue screen crash, and then i installed it, cpu temp was 61 when i loaded the fangui!! this makes sense since most of the time when i get a crash, the computer refuses to complete the bios for a few minutes, possibly for it to cool down. i don't know why the fans stopped running like they used to tho. possibly the speedstep update?
i dunno, but i was also getting wierd errors where it would say the system.ini file was corrupt, only to see it work fine a minute later, as well as the bios "losing" track of a chunk of memory, which seems to mean that the memory is getting hot, it is on the bottom of the system, where the desk keeps it hot. over the course of writting this msg, tho this neat fangui program has kept it cool, i like being able to make the fans work at maximum, since i don't mind the noise or energy ise while im plugged in. even if you don't have problems, its nice to have. hopefully this fixes it, i believe it may since at one point i grabbed and icepak from the freezer and set the laptop on it (with a towel) and it lasted as long as the pak was keeping it cool. ugh, this still doesn't change the fact that my cpu was working beutifly till i updated my stuff from dell, maybe something doesn't work like its supposed to?? good luck everyone who has problems
So far, I've re-partitioned, reformatted and reinstalled Windows XP Pro. Then I installed most of the drivers, including the NVidea stuff. I didn't do any Windows Updates or install any other software. It ran 24 hours with no freeze. Then I installed SP1a and by morning it had frozen (with fans on High). The fans seemed to operate "differently" when SP1a was installed, switching between Slow and High at regular intervals.
So I removed SP1a and it's been sitting here with very little fan noise and no freezes since this morning. We'll see how long it runs freeze-free in this configuration. My latest tech support email is conceding that it may need "service". The problem still seems fairly obscure to me. I'm reluctant to keep trying machines until I find one that happens to work. Especially if applying a service pack has that much effect on the hardware. What happens if the new machine develops some obscure freeze condition with SP2?
JohnM025
2 Intern
•
877 Posts
0
June 6th, 2003 19:00
This is only for the Inspiron 8500 users.
If your Inspiron 8500 is freezing or locking up you will need to contact Technical Support to get it service.
You can email Dell by Clicking Here for assistance.
Please include your system service tag and a description of the problem and troubleshooting done to try to resolve it.
You can also call Dell Technical Support. The phone number to contact our US Mobile Computing Hotline is 800-822-8965 for Corporate/Government Accounts or at 800-247-9252 for Direct accounts.
You will be connected to a Technical Specialist who will help you resolve the issue over the phone or arrange the appropriate service.
If you are outside of the United States, you will need to contact Dell in your global area.
Thank you for choosing Dell.
cadams9
16 Posts
0
June 6th, 2003 20:00
That's exactly what I did, John. My replacement arrived yesterday. I've had it on almost constantly since and no lockups yet. Since my first machine was locking up right out of the gate, I find this new machine's behavior to be promising.
The only way I was ever able to resolve this was to hound tech support for a replacement. As objectionable as it may seem, my 11 day tirade paid off. This is clearly a problem that cannot be solved with the usual phone support and requires replacement of the machine.
I did not however call Customer Service as kchaudha suggested, but stayed with Tech Support instead. Nor did I escalate the problem. Despite my repeated demands to talk to a supervisor, I was never able to get one's ear. But I will agree with trececruz, "time and persistence are the only way to get results with dell."
Perhaps this problem has blindsided Dell. And they may be more receptive to quick resolution when they see this problem in the future.
Karpy147
19 Posts
0
June 6th, 2003 20:00
Thanks John. I'm working with Tech support now to resolve this problem. I'm not a huge fan of re-installing all the software on my machines every time something doesn't work right. I'd rather know what the problem is so I can fix it with the least disruption and prevent it from recurring in the future. And returning the system for a replacement doesn't answer the question either. What if I have to return THAT one? And the next one?
I did have another freeze. This time I was monitoring the temps, the fans, CPU load, etc. And I wasn't here when it froze. The CPU load was 2%, the only active process was System Idle. It appears the temperature had just reached the point where the fan turns on at slow speed. It froze just after the fan should have turned on. And the fan speed reading was frozen at 0. But the fan was running at high speed when I found it. So it appears when it goes to switch the fan from off to slow, something happens and the system freezes. I don't know exactly when or why the fan goes high. Obviously after the system freezes, since the display shows it's off.
TimRad
12 Posts
0
June 6th, 2003 21:00
I've been using my replacement for about an hour now and so far, so good. I've not installed or uninstalled anything yet. (don't plan to for a few days either) The system is totally "right outta the box"
We keep you posted.
Tim
i8500 2.0 mhz
512 mb
40gb
Geforce 4200 go
EWOK2
2 Posts
0
June 7th, 2003 10:00
Hi,
I have also been having freezing problems when using PowerePoint or Word, my laptop is brand new!
kamster_2fd83b
11 Posts
0
June 7th, 2003 13:00
Karpy,
I experienced the same type of freeze..
Only difference was my temp was stuck at 41C and no fan running when i found it.
When I rebooted the machine temp came back as 58 C but still no fans.
--kamster
kamster_2fd83b
11 Posts
0
June 7th, 2003 13:00
Karpy,
I experienced the same type of freeze..
Only difference was my temp was stuck at 41C and no fan running when i found it.
When I rebooted the machine temp came back as 58 C but still no fans.
--kamster
kamster_2fd83b
11 Posts
0
June 7th, 2003 13:00
John,
I did the same thing and so far the replacement has been working fine.
--kamster
_________________
(2) Insiron 8500 2.4 Ghz / 60 gig HD / 512 Meg Memory / 64 Meg Nvidia
Message Edited by kamster on 06-07-2003 09:08 AM
Rocketeer
2 Posts
0
June 7th, 2003 14:00
EWOK2,
Can you provide details on the specification of your notebook? Is there any particular activity you do in Word or PowerPoint to cause the 'freezing' e.g. modifying graphical images? Are the video drivers up to date?
There appears to be different scenarios of freezing and it would be good to group the common ones.
TimRad
12 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 18:00
Well, the replacement is freezing too. I've begun the Tech Support routine and will post progress.
BTW, the replacement is a refurbished unit and came with a Samsung CDRW/DVD where the original had a Hitachi. A bit off topic, but boy, is the Samsung noisy compare to the other one I had.
Tim
Liquid Crystal Display, WUXGA, NO-SPWG, 15.4, SHARP
Processor, 80532, 2.0GHZ, 512K, Pentium 4, UPGA
Battery, MDS, 11.1V, 9C, Lithium, SANYO
Hard Drive, 40GB, IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics), 9.5MM, 5.4K, HIT-EUCL
Dual In-Line Memory Module, 512, 266, 64X64, 8K, 200
Keyboard, 87, United States, England/English, Dual Pointing, D-FMLY, R2
Assembly, CDRW/DVD, Small Form Factor, Samsung, DMOD
Assembly, Card (Circuit), GRPHC, 64M, NV28, 64B
Card (Circuit), Wireless, Mini PCI Card, BROADCOM CORPORATION, 2.4GHZ
Karpy147
19 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 20:00
I finally decided I might as well try a clean install. You guys have convinced me I should hang on to the hardware I already have if I can possibly fix this. I re-partitioned/reformatted and installed an MSDN copy of WinXP Pro. I'm slowly adding back the drivers and I haven't had a freeze yet in over a day.
Strangely enough, I wasn't able to get the "Notebook System Software" to install. Setup tells me it can't continue on this machine but it doesn't say why. If I remember correctly, I was having USB trouble when I got the system. I can't recall if I had to re-install this to fix it, or if something wasn't enabled... I had a heck of a time getting a USB camera to work with this system without a fair bit of messing around.
EWOK2
2 Posts
0
June 9th, 2003 06:00
I have got an Inspiron 8200 and it freezes when I try to move any pictures or drawings in PowerPoint. But it has recently started to freeze even when I don't do anything!
Nerdtalker
276 Posts
0
June 10th, 2003 00:00
you have to install the intel chipset drivers before you install this. I still attribute all this freezing to being normal problems encountered when you are running all sorts of programs at the same time. What programs do you guys have running? All of them, system tray programs, tasks, activley running programs, e.t.c.
TurnedintoaNewt
1 Message
0
June 10th, 2003 01:00
i was not too surpirsed to find this super long post here :( i have an 8200 and my computer has been freezing, and crashing for several weeks now, i reformatted and reinstalled and it stilll did it, the funny thing is, my computer was problem free for almost a year (since i got it) then i updated some of my drivers from the dell site and bam, i haven't narrowed it down, but i just ran the fangui program mentioned earlier, my computer just cam back from a blue screen crash, and then i installed it, cpu temp was 61 when i loaded the fangui!! this makes sense since most of the time when i get a crash, the computer refuses to complete the bios for a few minutes, possibly for it to cool down. i don't know why the fans stopped running like they used to tho. possibly the speedstep update?
i dunno, but i was also getting wierd errors where it would say the system.ini file was corrupt, only to see it work fine a minute later, as well as the bios "losing" track of a chunk of memory, which seems to mean that the memory is getting hot, it is on the bottom of the system, where the desk keeps it hot. over the course of writting this msg, tho this neat fangui program has kept it cool, i like being able to make the fans work at maximum, since i don't mind the noise or energy ise while im plugged in. even if you don't have problems, its nice to have. hopefully this fixes it, i believe it may since at one point i grabbed and icepak from the freezer and set the laptop on it (with a towel) and it lasted as long as the pak was keeping it cool. ugh, this still doesn't change the fact that my cpu was working beutifly till i updated my stuff from dell, maybe something doesn't work like its supposed to?? good luck everyone who has problems
Karpy147
19 Posts
0
June 10th, 2003 01:00
So far, I've re-partitioned, reformatted and reinstalled Windows XP Pro. Then I installed most of the drivers, including the NVidea stuff. I didn't do any Windows Updates or install any other software. It ran 24 hours with no freeze. Then I installed SP1a and by morning it had frozen (with fans on High). The fans seemed to operate "differently" when SP1a was installed, switching between Slow and High at regular intervals.
So I removed SP1a and it's been sitting here with very little fan noise and no freezes since this morning. We'll see how long it runs freeze-free in this configuration. My latest tech support email is conceding that it may need "service". The problem still seems fairly obscure to me. I'm reluctant to keep trying machines until I find one that happens to work. Especially if applying a service pack has that much effect on the hardware. What happens if the new machine develops some obscure freeze condition with SP2?