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    XPS M140 Problem (Inspiron 630m)

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by E1505Guy, Jan 7, 2006.

  1. E1505Guy

    E1505Guy Notebook Consultant

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    Not a major problem but more of an annoyance...

    Occassionally, when working on my XPS M140 the system will...for lack of a better word: stutter. For example, I'll be typing along and it will freeze for a split second then display the 2-3 letters I just typed. This also happens on the graphical test at www.pcpitstop.com where the graphic will freeze (the U.S. Constitution one for those who use it) for a second then continue.

    It's really annoying and I hope it's not the beginning of something bad. Any ideas?

    Specs:
    Dell XPS M140
    Pentium M 1.86GHz/533 MHz FSB
    2GB RAM (Dual Channel)
    CD-RW/DVD-/+RW (Dual Layer)
    80 GB 5400 RPM HD
    14.1 inch WXGA w/TrueLife
    Intel 2200BG Wireless
     
    E1505Guy, Jan 7, 2006
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  2. Crazy_Person

    Crazy_Person Notebook Consultant

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    When such "Stutterings" happen, does the "HDD" light blinks, or is it on?
     
    Crazy_Person, Jan 7, 2006
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  3. drumfu

    drumfu super modfu

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    what else are you doing? virus scan? bittorrent? anything?
     
    drumfu, Jan 7, 2006
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  4. E1505Guy

    E1505Guy Notebook Consultant

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    Just Norton Internet Security in the systemtray (not running a virus scan). I know it isn't a resource issue because it doesn't happen on my old machine (Dimension 4100, PIII, 512 MB RAM) which also has NIS plus my m140 has 2 GB ram. Even disabled it to see if it were the culprit...no dice.

    Also happens during games...(it happened in Red Alert 2...an OLD game!)
     
    E1505Guy, Jan 7, 2006
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  5. E1505Guy

    E1505Guy Notebook Consultant

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    Sometimes yes it does...others no. It's confusing.
     
    E1505Guy, Jan 7, 2006
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  6. jeffw123

    jeffw123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    try to run the computer with no other applications or virus scan etc and see if it happens. then slowly add your apps back on and see when it starts again
     
    jeffw123, Jan 8, 2006
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  7. E1505Guy

    E1505Guy Notebook Consultant

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    Through msconfig?
     
    E1505Guy, Jan 8, 2006
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  8. jeffw123

    jeffw123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    you can try that, or just go to the taskbar and turn everything off
     
    jeffw123, Jan 8, 2006
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  9. booger

    booger Notebook Consultant

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    That would probably be the best way to do it.
     
    booger, Jan 8, 2006
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  10. E1505Guy

    E1505Guy Notebook Consultant

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    Ok, I'll give it a shot when I get home from work.
     
    E1505Guy, Jan 8, 2006
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  11. E1505Guy

    E1505Guy Notebook Consultant

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    Ok, I disabled everything in the startup area of msconfig therefore nothing was in the systemtray. I rebooted and...it still does it! Grrrrrrr........even with nothing being loaded on startup. What else could it be...I noticed in the task manager that I still had 37 running processes with startup programs disabled. Could it be something in there?
     
    E1505Guy, Jan 8, 2006
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  12. Ninefoot3

    Ninefoot3 Notebook Geek

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    could it be a heat issue? driver conflicts? (2 versions of same device driver arguing over who's the boss)
     
    Ninefoot3, Jan 8, 2006
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  13. jeffw123

    jeffw123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    try formatting, if it still happens after that. must be hardware related. then call dell
     
    jeffw123, Jan 9, 2006
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  14. Ninefoot3

    Ninefoot3 Notebook Geek

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    so, xpsguy... nothing new here? can you update us?
     
    Ninefoot3, Jan 9, 2006
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  15. E1505Guy

    E1505Guy Notebook Consultant

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    Well, to touch on the format idea...it was doing this as I got it out of the box. I reformatted but it was still there after. I guess I should call dell...great, get to send it in probably (mail in warranty)
     
    E1505Guy, Jan 10, 2006
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  16. E1505Guy

    E1505Guy Notebook Consultant

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    Since I probably will be sending it in should I take out the new memory sticks I put in and replace them with the hynix memory that came with the laptop for the warranty work?
     
    E1505Guy, Jan 12, 2006
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  17. Crazy_Person

    Crazy_Person Notebook Consultant

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    Crazy_Person, Jan 12, 2006
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  18. E1505Guy

    E1505Guy Notebook Consultant

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    Tried that...it's clear. Thanks for the suggestion though. I think the last thing I have to do before calling is run good ol'Dell Diagnostics and see what turns up.
     
    E1505Guy, Jan 12, 2006
    #18