Vostro 1500 issue

Intermittently the pointer locks up then about 15 seconds later I get a lound tone thru the speakers. The keyboard is also locked as is all buttons. The only way to shut down is to pull the AC cord and the battery. I dont ever hear the fan throttle up, but it works, when I shut down normally it will throttle up for a few seconds. Any ideas?

 

My money would be on a failing hard drive. Run the diagnostics off of the drivers/utilities CD or download them here: http://support.dell.com/support/dow...peid=-1&formatid=-1&impid=-1&checkFormat=true

 

Ran that program. Everything check ok. Cant believe it didnt lock up in the 2+ hrs it took. I have noticed that during the fan test i felt the fan, but even while gaming It wont come on. Is there a easy way to force the fan on?

Dave

 

Try using i8kfangui. I'm pretty sure it still works on a Vostro 1500.

 

I would suggest using compressed air to clean out the vent/fan as well.

 

I did clean it first thing. Updated the BIOS, ect. i8kfangui does work, at least in manual mode. The fans do operate with it. I am starting to think it is a way for Dell to sell more computers. Can anyone tell me what the CPU temps of a Core2Duo T7250 2.0 GHz should run? When I get time I will run a game on it and see what happens.

Dave

 

Mine runs at about 70c or so during games. Rarely does it get higher.

 

To properly clean the vent requires the removal of the palm rest area and to blow compressed air at the heatsink fins which accumulate dust from the heatsink cooling fan underneath the laptop.

When done you'll notice more air volume coming out of the vent hole on the side of the laptop.