Problem with Dell Vostro 400(vista)

Sorry for the lengthy post but I wanted to describe my problems in detail. I found this post via google when searching for a PC issue I'm having and this sounds just like the problem I'm having. I have a dell vostro 400 as well and started having this same exact problem about 2 weeks after I bought it. The problem however would go away for a bit then come back every few weeks and I didn't think much of it at the time cause it happened rarely. But as time has gone on (PC is about 6 months old now) it's gotten much worse. I've read alot of posts on the dell forums with similiar problems and alot of folks have said to completely uninstall all dell programs like auto tune up, driver helper etc. And some even said if you had an nvidia card which I do to disable the Nvcpl stuff in your start up. Neither has helped me, and the problems have gotten worse over time. Sometimes it won't do it for days but then others it'll do it several times back to back. And some days the PC is just not worth using and I power it down for the day cause it'll keep doing it repeatedly. Although recovery console usually will get it to work again for several hours at least even in those instances.

To clarify it almost solely happens in windows alot, not when Im playing a game. Only had it happen in a game once recently. When I first had the problem after I'd had the PC for 2 weeks it was doing it alot in games then suddenly stopped for the passed 5-6 months and anytime it happened it was when I was doing something in windows alone not a game. I did have it lock up in a game the other day for the first time in ages but that could have been a coincidence as it hasn't done it since and that was about a week ago. Anyways it started back again and would do this periodically like once every week or two, and now recently it's started to do it multiple times per day. I've also have not noted any strange sounds coming from the PC like the clicking noise that seems to be a typical warning sign of a hard drive failure. Nor have I gotten the dell imminent hard drive crash warning message.

All programs stop responding, and the light that shows when the PC is busy gets permanently stuck on not flashing. I can alt tab between the windows, but can't ctrl+alt+del. The keyboard lights for caps lock and num lock go off and on when I hit them so it's not hard locked. And the mouse seems to work fine unless I click the crap out of it for awhile in which case once in awhile it'll freeze and the keyboard lights won't work either. But thats rare. The few times it's done it when I had the process manager already open and I was able to sort by CPU useage I noted that nothing was using alot of cpu useage. I've also formatted 3 times, since I got the PC and had it happen with a basic Dell Reinstall XP CD install only not attached to a network or anything so I know it's not a virus or spyware. It'll be fine for a few days then start doing it again. Usually I have to just restart the PC as it never unlocks and I can't disable any open programs with ALT+F4 much less get to process manager with CTRL+ALT+DEL. So I just push the power button. I also would like to note that I have run all dell diagnostics, full system scans and it's not found anything hardware related that's an issue. And the Event Viewer shows no problems. I've also defragged, ran scandisk and chkdsk, I've also done the Fix MBR, Fix Boot etc.

Now occasionally when it hasn't done this in awhile and then suddenly does, it'll restart just fine and go back into windows. I also can reboot normally when it's not a lock up and I don't believe I get the AHCI Bios Not Installed message in that case. I also never switched to AHCI after installing windows which I've read can cause this problem to although it sounds to me like that usually causes blue screens which I haven't gotten if you switch to AHCI in the BIOS after windows is already installed. In my BIOS it's always been SATA, none of the options were ever changed and no one uses this PC but me. But when the problem gets bad every few days and it's doing it alot, or sometimes just randomly when it hasn't done it for awhile I'll get the dell logo screen and before the windows loading screen I'll get the AHCI Bios Not Installed flash for a second then it goes to a black screen with a _ only in the top left corner. At this point regardless of how many reboots I have to stick my XP CD in and load Recovery Console, and then for some reason once I repair the windows install and I get asked for the admin password, the correct one always drops me back to a C:\Windows prompt but doesn't load windows, and an invalid one reports it as invalid, this may be an unrelated issue, but it always seemed to load windows for me after that before. Anyways at this time, I type exit the PC reboots, and I hammer F8 and then select load windows or, load the last known good configuration to get back into windows. Usually then it'll run perfectly fine for few hours or sometimes a few days.

I've tried to identify programs running when these lock ups occur but to no avail. Sometimes I'll have nothing but normal windows stuff loaded after a format, and I haven't touched the PC in several hours and the minute I open something it'll do it other times I'll use the PC for 5-30 minutes and it'll randomly do it. Sometimes it's when Im using firefox or IE, sometimes when Im using Pidgin, sometimes when Im just minimizing explorer or any other program I have running. But it's always when Im using the PC. Strange thing is I can have downloads going for hours and it will never lock up, nor does it really do it when Im gaming, it's always when Im just using normal windows to do stuff. And I've never been able to find a pattern for what causes the lock ups. It seems to be nearly anything in windows. I have noticed it does tend to do it alot when Im watching videos with VLC, but imbedded videos on sites like youtube never seem to cause it. I've tried several different media players as well. Granted it does it quite a good bit when Im not doing much but maybe writing a text file or messaging someone as well, more so then the videos. I also until just recently didn't run AIM or Pidgin on the PC cause it seemed that anytime I'd loaded any of those even if I closed them that soon after the PC would do one of these hangs. And yet now the passed week or so I've ran it fine with only 2 lock ups in a week. Which is very unusual. Usually anytime since it first started even if I loaded windows, opened AIM or Pidgin and closed them immediately sometime soon after that I'd get a lock up. Could be a total coincidence as I'm looking so hard for stuff that causes it. And it's done it plenty of times after a format when none of the above listed programs had been installed on the PC after the format yet.

Passed 2 times I formatted I installed nothing but windows and then Steam and Team Fortress 2 on this PC, and after those 2 formats the problem will go away for a week or two then come back. First time I formatted it I didn't install anything besides windows and left the PC on, and it was fine for a week or two then started this again. I'd say it's a heat issue if it wasn't for the fact that the PC itself isn't running hot, and it's done it quite a few times within 2-3 minutes of being powered on after being off for 12+ hours. And other times the PC is on for 2-3 days and I'm playing games like Crysis that I imagine would cause the PC to heat up more than just about anything else.

I assume this problem is more or less what the guy who originally made this post was having and I noticed someone said to reset the CMOS and I was just wondering why you suggested that prior to attempting it myself as I'd love to know the root of the problem regardless if for no better reason then future reference.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me, it's been infuriating, especially with a brand new PC. And sorry for the length of the message, just wanted to make sure you all understood the exact nature of the problem I'm having without leaving anything out.

***Edit***

Sorry forgot to add the system specs ...

Dell Vostro 400
Intel Core 2 Quad CPU
Q6600 @ 2.40 ghz
1.58 ghz 2.00 GB RAM
Samsung HD501LJ 500g Hard Drive
Nvidia Geforce 8800 GT Graphics Card
Realtek soundcard (Forget the exact model but can find out if it's necessary).

Nope never installed anything extra in this PC. Case has never been opened but to blow it out with an air duster since I bought it hehe.

I actually was told by a friend that he had done some researching and found a similiar post about the bad batch of Samsung HDD's and said mine was the right model for that. Only thing is I have never heard the clicking sound I've always heard when HDD's are going dead. And I've not gotten the imminent failure notification you spoke of. I don't doubt that it may be the HDD though with all the issues I've had it does make sense. I just haven't had any of the problems. When my friend showed me the post about those HDD's being dead the post said dell was good about replacing them, but each person who was saying they had the problem had the clicking you spoke of. Which is what worries me it might be something else.

I'll give them a call though and see what they have to say. I appreciate the help. Oh and as to the other question why would resetting the CMOS possibly help? I saw that in an earlier post and was wondering why they would have recommended that.

Thanks again for the comments. I'll post again soon as I get up with Dell and see what they have to say.

Yeah had dell come out a few weeks back and they replaced the motherboard and hard drive (tried to tell them it was just a hard drive issue but they insisted on replacing the motherboard I guess to ensure they didn't have to come out again, so I figured what the heck) This was about a month and a half ago and I've had 0 problems since. No locks up and thankfully no AHCI Bios Not Installed.

I appreciate all the help you all gave me.