Weird windows freeze

Hi all.

I have an alienware m17x R4 with windows 7 64bit, lately i've been having weird windows freezes, first, whatever application i have running stops responding, i try to open task manager but nothing happens, i press start and it opens, then it too along with the start bar freeze, i try right click on the desktop to refresh, desktop also freezes.

this happened a couple of times so far, and both times i've left the laptop enough time to sort itself out but it didn't, so both times i had to shut it down by holding down the power button.

at one time, it asked me "Windows has stopped responding" and gave me the options "end process" or "cancel".

now here's the catch, my power adapter has been acting odd lately (doing a ticking noise) so i ordered a new one cuz this one seems to be faulty/dying, could this windows freeze be a result of a faulty power supply??

note: nothing is overheating and everything is well maintained.

 

Definitely the power supply can cause the issue. You are supplying unclean power to the unit, this can freeze anything from the memory to the CPU to the GPU etc.. Also this can damage components so until the new brick use it to charge the battery only, even that can be a risk.

Edit, the ticking is usually arching between either the caps or within the transformer itself so do not use it unattended and place it where if it did catch fire and or melt there can be no damage.

 

I do have a fire extinguisher next to me ever since i diagnosed the problem.

There are a couple of questions i want to ask though:

I looked around a bit more and everyone in this thread ( https://social.technet.microsoft.co...-not-responding-end-process?forum=w7itproperf ) are describing my problem exactly and more than one persons have said that after disabling desktop window manager the problem went away, could this also be the cause?

The second question is, my battery stopped charging long ago, but i have it on my laptop at the moment just incase the power block fails completely so the battery can be a buffer zone and not cause any hardware problems incase of a surge, is that sound logic or am i doing it wrong??

 

Yes, of course. The problems you're describing point to software, rather than hardware issues. The latter tend to result in either bsod's (or equivalent) or unexpected shutdowns. Use 'Administrative Tools > Services' and disable DWM to test that hypothesis.

That will not avail you. If the battery no longer holds a charge then its circuit would be bypassed; power would go straight from the power brick (=transformer) to the board. And, really, nothing but the brick would be of any (and limited) use in case of a power surge. That being said; the mb itself has several fuses, but these require soldering to replace. Might as well ditch the battery and deploy a surge protector, it's what they're designed for.

 

I do have a surge protector, but i meamt surges that result from the PSU going haywire, not a surge from the power in the wall socket.

As for the issue described in the link, i will try its solutions, but if that doesn't work, would the possibility be the power adapter??

 

Disabling the DWM will usually also disable Aero. This would stop the system from changing over from 2D to 3D GPU memory settings. Without using the 3D the system may become stable enough not too lock. This could point to the brick or even now the GPU is having issues as well. This could well be too as since the battery is toast you are running unclean power from the brick for quite some time. So it is not a software issue but a hardware one not being able to function within its designed limits.

What I am saying here is even with a new brick you either may still have issues or they may again crop up sooner rather than later. in the end the system may now be on its way out. As you see now high powered gaming laptops are not meant to be without their batteries, essentially that battery can act as a huge capacitor.

Edit; with the battery being toast it may already be too late. My recommendation is shut it down until the new brick and cross your fingers that there is no permanent damage.

 

The battery is not completely dead, it still has charge in it, it just won't charge anymore and/or doesnt charge beyond 8%

 

if it states it is only charging to 8% capacity then it is not catching any of the spikes SHUT IT DOWN! that is all I can tell you to try and help for now.

 

Ok will do, thanks for the replies guys.