Random freezing(white screen for 30-60secs) on 15R

Well I just bought my GF a Dell 15R. It came in 3 days ago. Worked good the first day but after that there has been several times of random freezing.
For example she will just be on youtube.com and then all of a sudden it will freeze and turn white. The bottom bar will still be visible but cannot click anything. It usually only last 30-60 seconds.
This laptop is really new.
I uninstalled McAfee and installed AVG Pro.
It seemed that the first few times it was freezing was when McAfee was trying to update.
I also did all the Windows 7 updates.

I'll appreciate any help!

Notebook specs:
Dell Inspiron 15R/M5010R with a AMD Athlon II Dual Core P320 2.1GHz, 3gb ram ddr3, 320gb HDD (5400rpm), and Windows 7 Premium 64-bit

 

Also I thought of calling Dell but I figured I would ask here first.
Maybe it a little fix.
I also dont want to wait on hold for a long time to get an answer from Dell.

 

Hi Billabong- Have you had any luck with this?

I've also recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 15r (N5010) for my gf and we're seeing the same issue where the laptop freezes. It generally becomes responsive again after 30 or so seconds but there have also have time she's had to restart.

Specs: i5-430M Processor 2.26 GHz, 4GB Ram, 1GB ATI MobRadeon HD 5470, 500GB Hard Disk

Thanks!

 

After uninstalling McAffe from the notebook and installing avg pro seems like it fixed it.

 

Hi Billabong. I took a look in Event Viewer and found what i think is a cause or symptom of the problem...

Source: iaStor
Event ID: 9
Level: Error

The device, \Device\Ide\iaStor0, did not respond within the timeout period.

I notice that the times associated with this event correspond with when I recall the computer hanging. It seems iaStor is Intel's Hard Disk controller, and when i looked this up on the net one suggestion was that the HD might be playing up (though Dell's diagnostics do not seem to suggest this). Some articles suggested it might be the type of controller (AHCI vs Sata) so I tried switching fron AHCI to SATA in bios but that just caused windows to fail to boot (switching it back fixed this). Anyway I finally reset the machine back to factory default and replaced McAfee with Kaperski...and i've noticed a few iaStor timeouts since (which is disappointing) but none of them lasted more than a few seconds.

How has the machine been running for you after ditching McAfee. Do you also see IaStor Error Events in Event Viewer?

 

I looked in my Event Viewer and no "IaStor" errors.
The machine has been running flawless since I ditched McAfee and installed AVG Pro.
PM me if you would like some information on how to get it.
I can hook you up.

 

Hi,

Sorry for the English, I'm French x)

I have the same problem ! My computer (INSPIRON 15R) is Freezing like 2 times a day... It is very annoying : /

I removed Mac Afee the 1st day and get Avast.

I will try with AVG (and without any antivirus) but I think it might be a hardware issue. Don't you think ? (Hard Drive or memory...)

 

I have not had the problem again since I removed Mcafee and installed AVG.
If that does not fix it you should probably just do a fresh install of windows.

 

Still freezing

It seems to freeze only on the battery... I will do diagnostic for battery in the bios (i already did all hard drive's tests.)

 

Hi Manu, my gf and I managed to get to the bottom of the issue that was causing lock-ups for our system (scroll up for system specs)

Dell replaced hd and formated as just one partition instead of the 3 the laptop comes with by default.

 

You're good dude !

I have the same Iastor0. People said it's because of RAID and multiple HD... I think you're right.

Then what is the solution ? system restauration can't do anything, should i do a total format of the hd ?

EDIT : Sorry, i didn't understood perfectly at the firth read x)

Dell came to your home and change HD ? Ok. But Dell said they can't do anything because Diagnostic didn't shows any problem : / What should I say to them ? : /

 

Sorry for the delayed response Manew.

The Dell engineer replaced the toshiba hd with a seagate and
-formatted the new hd as one big partition instead of the factory default of three partitions
-installed windows 7 from the recovery cd that came with the laptop but did NOT install any of the dell bloatware.

I think it's the reformatting as one partition that solved it. As you mention, I have seen many posts attributing this issue to multiple HDs being managed as a RAID array.

Re:

Don't let them fob you off with that silly excuse! You have the IA store log to prove it, or ask to speak to Pradeep VK - He was the very helpful manager who assisted me with resolving the IA store issue.

 

Thank you very much for the answer I will call them on wednesday ! I hope I can convince them...

"But I'm telling you that my American friend had his computer repared by DELL !!!"

x)

 

We're based in the UK actually, so you may even be getting through to the same call centre as me...

 

I called DELL... ... ... They doesn't want to listen to me. She said :"You doesn"t have a hard drive Toshiba, it is a "xxxx"."

But when she says that, I watched on my computer : "Toshiba"...

She said I will have my windows 7 dvd today (I ordered it a month ago....it would be a chance that I receive it TODAY !!!!)

And finally she said they can't do anything at all because it is not hardware but software problem...

I hope reinstall of win7 will work, and I hope I will receive it today Because i'm really desperate -__-

 

Hi all, I also have the same problem with my Inspiron 15R. It keeps freezing 30sec~1min time period per switch-on session. I have read that some people solved the problem upto some extent by uninstalling McAfee suit, but I have not installed that on my system.

The other important point is; the HDD of my 15R failed within 03 months of the purchase of the laptop. Actually it was happened after freezing the system severely, but I don't know whether there is a connection between that HDD failure with the problem that I (looks like many 15R users) have now.....

 

Hi,

I also have the same problem: my 15R will freeze randomly for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
My hard drive is a Toshiba MK5065GSX, I have multiple partitions. I'm running Windows 7 x64, with all latest drivers.
I have ditched the Dell bloatware too. We do not use McAfee antivirus.

I don't understand the RAID / multi-partition thing you guys are discussing here.

Can you elaborate?

 

I also have the \Device\Ìde\iaStor0 error in the event log.

Could it be that the hard drive doesn't like AHCI mode?

My SATA configuration is AHCI in my BIOS.

Which SATA operational mode are you guys using - ATA or AHCI?

 

To Inspiwrong: changing SATA mode (AHCI or ATA) after the system has been installed is not supported - Windows won't boot if you change things after the fact. This is expected, normal behavior.

AHCI vs. ATA mode in the BIOS is a choice you make before you install your OS.

 

Hi guys.

I had the same problem !

I you don't want to have to freeze anymore, you must reinstall windows with the windows 7 dvd an then, don't install the driver : Intel Rapid Technology.

BUT !

After I do that, my inspiron 15R started to "click" sometimes... I talked to DELL about this but without Error code, no technical service...

Now, 5 months after all this problems, my computer is really dead. And the diagnostic finally gave me error code.

So, if you want your computer to be repaired as soon as possible give them these error code:

0F00:1344

0F00:075D

0F00:0244

0F00:1A44

These codes refers to a defective block on the hard drive.

I will call them today, i hope this method will work

 

I have tried replacing the Intel Rapid Storage driver (iastor.sys) with Windows 7 default AHCI driver ("Standard AHCI1.0 Serial ATA Controller" in device manager).

This doesn't solve the problem.

Making this problem a hardware failure.

 

Note that with the Windows 7 AHCI driver, there are no warnings/errors in the system event viewer.

The last thing I could possibly try would be to reinstall the whole system in IDE mode, not AHCI.
I am not sure if this will solve the issue.

Another way to mitigate the problem could be to lower the timeout period, the time after which the Intel driver gives up the I/O operation, and re-issues one.

 

Does your hard disk make any weird sound sometimes ? ¤click¤

You said you are in AHCI ?

It's weird because mine is ATA and can't be change to AHCI : /

 

When I got the computer in October last year, I noticed a few times the clicking noise you mention. This did worry me, but it turned out to be pretty rare.

 

Some people said that it's sort of a standby mode of the hard disk. Others that it's a real material issue

 

If it was a hard disk issue related to standby mode, there would a firmware upgrade, and Toshiba would experience the problem with other hard drives.

It is most likely a Dell hardware issue.

I would still consider reinstalling the whole OS with IDE compatibility mode set in the BIOS first. This may very well cure the problem.

 

And this annoying noise 'click' will disapear ? Teach me please. x)

 

I have been trying to fix this problem on a 15R (core i5) with 640gb Toshiba hd for months. Now it seems to have finally gone away (no iastor errors since my latest changes).
The main things I did was:
Upgrade the bios (Ver A12 released 1/27/2011)
Reinstall latest intel chipset drivers (run intel inf update utility with /overall argument)
Might also have reinstalled the Turbo Boost Technology driver and Intel Management Engine Interface driver (all from dell download website under "Chipset")

Going to keep my fingers crossed that it is finally fixed. It is really annoying that a computer would arrive brand new with such a problem.

 

I'm also keeping my fingers crossed. I would recommend to everybody to upgrade to the latest Intel Rapid Storage driver and see if it solves the problem.

I don't remember having experienced a freeze in the last two weeks or so.

I'm using BIOS A10.

 

Is it possible that uninstallation of intel rapid storage drivers causes the Hard drive noise (click) ? I will try to reinstall the drivers finger crossed !

 

I have the same issue. My laptop n5010 freezes randomly for 30sec to 1 min. I have noticed that specificallly when I am on battery, the Windows login freezes. Problem is that it doesn`t get fixed until I restart the laptop. Otherwise, the laptop freezes randomly during the day but it doesn`t give me a white screen, just unable to click on anything. I have a 300 gb hd

 

Same problem with me. Even installing the latest drivers and the latest bios firmware from dell website, the problem went on. My last attempt was to uninstall the SATA controller and leave Windows 7 install a similar driver automatically. So far, so good: no freezing problem up to now

 

Yikes, it was going too well... Freezing came back yesterday.
And probably because I have the default driver, the error message logged in Event Viewer regarding an error in \Device\Ide\IdePort0 controller.

So, any hope is it a hardware problem ? My hard disk is a Seagate ST9500325AS

Thanks

 

It is very unlikely a hard disk issue. Your disk is a Seagate, mine is a Toshiba.

I too had problems with the Windows 7 default driver.

I have less problems with the latest Intel Rapid Storage Driver. In fact I haven't had any problem in 3 weeks. I always use my laptop plugged in.

I recommend you upgrade to the latest Intel Rapid Storage Driver and see if this helps. First with the laptop plugged in, then on battery.

 

hi everyone. i too have an inspiron n5010 with the same issue. my problem has an added dimension, as i am a musician and use the laptop to play backing tracks. whenever the freeze happens my track stops playing and i'm left standing onstage in silence with a dance floor full of people staring at me. this is causing me an enormous amount of stress. i have read all the above comments with great interest and was wondering if any of you guys have had any success? i have tried everything! updated the bios to A12, installed all the intel drivers, i've tried 32 and 64 bit windows 7, etc. most recently i've installed the intel rapid storage utility, but i'll have to wait and see if it happens again. has anyone tried changing the hard drive mode in bios from AHCI to ATA and reinstalling windows? any other successes? please help! i'm DESPERATE!

 

I tried but it gave me Blue screen of death. The DELL technician told me my hard disk doesn't support it.

It is a compatibility problem between Hard disk and Windows. : /

 

Let me join the club. So what`s the update for the problem? I am experiencing this freezing average 1 time per day or two days for the past 10 months! At first when I bought n5010 i experienced clicking HDD sounds those sounds were a lot more frequent than this freezing. I even created thread in dell forums. Clicking sound problem disappeared after dell service changed HDD to TOSHIBA_MK6465GSX. But those hickups started. I can live with this problem, because it happens pretty rarely, but if somebody knows a fix it would be better not to have this problem.
Things i have done so far:

• Updated BIOS to A15
• Tweaked registry following this article

* Event viewer shows: The device, \Device\Ide\iaStor0, did not respond within the timeout period.

 

This helped me! Thank you! No more problem for almost a month!