XPS M1530 randomly shut off

I just received my brand spanking new M1530 and have reinstalled Vista 32bit. Everything seems to be going good except for a few minor annoyances. Then, today I was playing Half-Life 2 with everything on high for approximately 15 min or so then my laptop randomly shuts off immediately and reboots all by itself.

What the heck is going on here? My graphics card(8600m gt) should handle this 4 year old game easily right? Did the system overheat maybe? I have all the latest driver updates from Dell but the problem could be so many things I think.

Any help appreciated.

 

There is possibility of driver signing or automatic reboot option being selected on your computer setting. I use xp - but in vista itshouldn't be a problem finding those options
System properties > Advanced (tab) > Startup and Recovery > Setting > deselect 'Automaticaally restart' - you can also select for small memory dump

System properties > Hardware (tab) > Driver Signing > select 'ignore' or 'ward'

Also make sure you have 'Restore point' enabled

Cheers

 

I just deselected 'Automatically restart' as you said but it only is supposed to automatically restart when a system failure occurs. That is exactly what I'm trying to find out what happened.

As for the driver signing, in the hardware tab it only had Windows update driver settings. And I think that my restore point is enabled as it should be on default when I reinstalled vista.

 

Try monitoring your temperatures. I have noticed that whenever my GPU temp reaches ~85 the lappy reboots. So, either get a cooler or try to put the laptop in an inclined position such that the lid is up and keybopard is angled downwards. This will reduce the temps by 4-5 degrees

Do tell us what happens\

MnVn

 

:s reboots at 85, that sucks. Is it a setting or a failure?

 

Ok thanks for your advice msankadi. I downloaded and installed a program called speedfan and will see how hot my laptop gets. Also, what do you recommend putting underneath the laptop besides a cooler or laptop raiser that I would have to purchase?

 

r3volver: if you problem started after doing some windows update then go to the windows add/remove thingy from your settings and then then check under's updates what has been installed. You'll also find a link with each patch- go there and read those info and decide whether you want it or not. In my case it worked after removing/ignoring some stupid patches (windows updates). BE CAREFUL about it though.. it can go other way round! So if you do then make you've backed up your data beforehand!

Also if u haven't already, try rolling back to a previous restore point.

As for raising my quite old laptop (inspiron 8600, 4+ yrs), i use one of my hardbound textbooks at the back. it does the job pretty well

cheers

 

Just stack a few game or dvd cases underneath it and that should work fine.

 

I had a similar problem. I just bought a new Gateway FX 173X running Vista Ultimate x64. When trying to run any of the steam applications my notebook would shut off within 5 – 10 minutes of play. At first I suspected heat except I have felt how warm this notebook can get while playing games. I also play C&C3 and WOW on here with no problems. It was not warm to the touch when this would happen which I found odd so it made me doubt that it was a temperature issue. Finally I discovered that you can run apps in compatibility mode. This fixed my problem. Just go to the directory you have Steam installed in and right click on the Steam executable. Go to Properties and select the Compatibility tab. You can select to run the game in XP SP2 compatibility mode. This solved the problem for me and I can now run the game just fine with everything maxed. Just thought I would share this in case someone else is experiencing the problem and has not found a solution yet.

 

85 degrees is not too bad, though its getting close to the edge. Half Life 2 really isn't as graphics intensive as you'd think and should have no problems maxing it out even on WUXGA resolution.

 

Just something I noticed, 32-bit Vista with 4gb ram? Either that's a mistake and your system is actually at 3gb-3.5gb ram.. or you modded it. I'm new to this, but the A09 BIOS is supposed to help wit heat issues. Also on some programs, it allows you to adjust fanspeeds. Max them out if you don't mind the noise and maybe it'll decrease the temps a little. Raising the back is always an easy and safe option too. Good luck.

 

Vista SP1 reports 4GB but can still only use 3-3.5GB.... microsoft changed it (before Sp1, vista reported 3-3.5).... probably because of people complaining someone shorted them of 0.5GB ram when they bought a computer with 4GB

 

I HAVE THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM!!!!!!!! i thought i was the only one. its not the temperature. I have played on this laptop with the air conditioner on and it still does it. it only happens with half life 2 deathmatch. has anyone else experienced this?