M17 randomly shuts off !!!!!!!!

Yeah ,,, so i'm just surfing the net ,,,, and my M17 just shuts Off ( crashes ) ,,,,,,,, i restart it again ,,, it restarts but after a few minutes it crashes again.......

I've also had BSOD a few days back , and also some high CPU usage but i thought that was because of overheating as I had kept the system on a non-hard surface , ,, so i changed to a hard surface,,, but still random problems such as these just happen ,,,,,, ,,,,

Please help on this issue

If this is an overheating issue ,,, then kindly advise on what should i do.....

 

Heat issue ? try cleaning out the vent of dusts.

 

Be warned... it shouldnt happen, but it is possible to cause permanent damage from overheating...You may on the other hand, simply have a hard drive issue or a driver issue. Have you tried rolling windows back to a previous date?

 

yes ,,, after BSOD a few days back ,,, some windows error recovery tool used system restore but that has not helped much ,,,,,,
and I've also cleaned the vents for dust .................

 

Download and install 3D Mark Vanage if you do not have it installed. Turn off the computer and let it sit for about 2 hours or so, at least until it is cold to the touch (should be COLD not just cool as the alloy they use to make the chasis are really adept and heat absorbtion). Then turn it on and imediatly run a benchmark with everything turned up in the settings so you can see if stressing the system makes it shut down. If that works then I suggest checking the heat sink and thermal paste on the video card. JMO...

 

download hwinfo32 and monitor the temps... if they keep climbing up you got overheating problem.
if it's not the temps, then there's a faulty hardware part, but 99% it's temp related.

 

^^ What he said. Check the temps first.

 

Like already said you NEED to use a temperature monitoring tool to check those temperatures. It's most likely overheating, but you need to make sure of it.

 

As stated earlier, it's possible that you've caused permanent heat damage to something. If you can verify that the system is operating inside the normal temperature range and it's still crashing, you're probably going to need to start eliminating possibilities. The RAM is one component that's fairly easy to check, just download something like Memtest86+ and make a bootable ISO. Let it run for a while and see if any of the tests fail.

Otherwise, if you're getting BSODs, another good idea is to "disable automatic restart on system failure", which can be done from the pre-boot OS menu (or by going into the System properties in Windows, then "Advanced" and "Startup and Recovery" and unchecking "Automatically restart)." Doing this should make the system halt on the BSOD and it could cite a driver module, thereby revealing the point of failure.

 

Good moot point.... I mean point m00t...

 

It could also be that you need a technician to change your mobo or graphic card as this can also happen because of some power failure(defect electronic etc.) in certain components on your hardware(hence the computer is closing itself down in order to prevent it from damaging itself). If you are still within warranty then I would call Dell and ask them to send a tech as soon as possible. This is not always solved by updating drivers etc. Even though it is temp related then this should not happen as the system should be able to cool itself down with the fan and the heat sink on the mobo as well as the gfx(at least on a hard surface like a table etc.). BSOD related to hardware failure several times at day means tech needs to repair your laptop. Call tech and save some time

 

sorry for replying so late ,, Was Out............

OKay,,,,,,,,,, soo i ,

DID A CLEAN WIN 7 install , still got BSOD ,, so caLLED up AW, they asked for the mini dump file ,, but file was not present , so they asked if i had seen the error code at the time of BSOD , i told them that i had taken a picture of it, mailed AW the pic ,,,, they looked at the error code and told me that the BSOD was caused by a Processor issue ( relating to bad chipset drivers or smthn ) ,,, so he asked me to backup all data and call back AW nd dat I would have to format my HDD and all partitions and then do a clean OS install and i would be assisted by the agent...........

BUT when i asked the agent wether he was sure dat it is a driver issue ,,, he replied dat he is still not sure about it nd dat it can still be a hardware issue..............

So, now I have backed up my data and was thinking bout calling AW for the fresh install BUT i'm not sure wether it would be of any use ,,,,,, as i seriously feel it is a hardware issue................

What are your thoughts..............................

 

If you've already performed the backup, you might as well play ball. Technical support makes you do these things so they can correctly diagnose the issue. I know a lot of forum members have posted support nightmares, but if you're going to deal with the correct channels to get this problem resolved, you might as well do what they ask.

I say do what they want you to do. If it doesn't resolve the issue, hopefully the technician is competent enough to come to the proper conclusion. If it drags on, well.. then you have cause to complain.. but until then, let them drive the bus.

 

if you feel froggy, re-seat the CPU & GPU(S) its really easy on the M17,use some decent thermal paste. then do a clean install and follow the install order that is in the m17 thread. that will tell you if its a driver issue. otherwise just do what they tell you.

 

Firstly...please don't bung a ton of random commas and full stops in there, it's really annoying to read. Reading,,,,,,,text like this.........is annoying.

Secondly, I'd definetely think it's either a heat issue, or a problem with one of the components being damaged. It's very unlikely a driver issue if a clean format and install didn't fix it.

 

A few ideas is try Older Drivers to see if the issue fix. Point out the programs that had the error for the bsod.

 

I just noticed it TODAY , that the BSOD's and High CPU usage are completely different issues. The Issue of the system abruptly shutting itself down randomly is a different problem to which I discovered the cause today.

IF THE SYSTEM IS RUNNING ON BATTERY AND I SWITCH ON AND OFF AC POWER 2-3 times continuosly , the screen goes black and the computer abruptly shuts itself down ,
What about this??????

 

sound like a mobo issue to me

 

Yeah, mobo for sure.

 

Alienware have finally called back my system for repairs, they say it can be anything from faulty graphics cArd , processor , to even the mobo, So finAlly some relief..

Thanks everybody for your replies

 

As I said from the beginning And you are most welcome

 

Ok , so the reason I'm bringing this thread back from dead is because I received news on my system that I had shipped to AW for repairs.

So, the day AW received the system , just 2-3 days after that it was shipped back and is still on it's way back.

So when I called up AW asking what had been done with it, they replied nothing.
The tech. said that their team did not find any problems with any of the hardware and that they have deduced it to be a problem with the AC adaptor ( which by the way I had not shipped ).
They said that they had included a new power adaptor with the return shipment which I'll get in a day or so, but that's not the problem.

The thing thats bugging me is
" how does blue screen crashes and high CPU usage "
connnect with a faulty power adaptor........

So, Does it make sense, is it possible that the problem is with the power adaptor and nothing else…

 

Your problem may be a corrupted registry. The symptoms of corrupt registry are:

Frequent error messages,
Slow start-ups and shutdowns,
Sluggishness,
Crash,
Freezes,
Declining performance,
System stalls,
Severe degradation in operating speed,
Unstable and frequent application errors and crashes, and,
At times, even an inability to start Windows.

A registry becomes corrupted when you frequently install and uninstall applications including trial downloads. Some programs are never really completely uninstalled leaving hard-to-find traces in your Windows registry. Or you may have embedded spyware, adware or other components (such as DLLs or programmes that revive themselves on every start up. Or you have unused but undeleted drivers within your system. Perhaps it is time to buy a new SSD and reinstall your operating system. I have mixed feelings about registry cleaners. They usually work well but often they remove Dll’s that are essential. Than a month later you open particular software and than find it corrupted. Roxio has known issues with registry cleaners. I am not sure about PowerDvd. Most hard core gamers will reinstall their operating system like clockwork every 6 months to keep system running smoothly.

I think sending a new charger is a good idea in theory. Whether it works or not is another question. In theory I agree with others that it could also be a host of other hardware failing. Check the flag in the taskbar in the lower right hand corner for issues that the computer has logged.

 

Hey falcon , don't u think that registry Issues would be resolved on clean OS installs even on formatted hdd as I've already done that twice.
And even if it was an issue with a registry , don't u think alienware techs would have found it when they inspected the system…

 

hey.. by crash you mean blue screens? im having the same problem with my new laptop.. and its always got smth to do with minidump or temp files @_@

 

Hi Pandat23

In theory yes but in reality I have found often not. In the factory during the original install the operating system and drivers are about the same age. On a home reinstall the operating system is often out of date and this requires lots of windows updates in order to bring your operating system on disk up to date.

I had a problem with Norton, Roxio, and a Dell XPS that I worked on for a week and spent many hours over the phone with all three companies and did several installs. In the end we couldn't get it to work and I had to get rid of norton. Have you added any 3rd party software that could be running in the background that could be causing a conflict?

Next time your blue screen occurs I would take a digital photograph of it as proof that it is occuring for the Dell tech. Usually when you do get a BSOD it usually means that the GPU or driver are faulty. Check to make sure the cards are seated right. If this were hardware related I would think that you could easily see the BSOD by benchmarking. Perhaps run a really low benchmark for an hour and see what happens. Than run full resolution for one cycle.


Here is an article that describes a problem with a factory install vs reinstall.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10452064-245.html

No I don't think a Dell tech would not have a clue whether your registry was corrupted.

 

pandat23,
As Falcon had mentioned, third party software can cause blue screen and I personally went through this ordeal trying to figure out what was wrong with my computer. More specifically, it was ZoneAlarm Extreme Security that gave me problems (after many diagnostics and system restore). There are a few after market internet security programs that do this. Anyway, I made a small editing and the blue screen completely stopped.
Let me know if you have after market internet security program installed and interested in the steps and I'll retrace the steps I did and post it.