Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Laptop freezing when not on highest power settings

  • 22-08-2010 1:10am
    #1
    pwd
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,284 ✭✭✭


    This is almost certainly a hardware issue because it continued to happen after reinstalling Windows 7.
    It is almost certainly not a motherboard issue because it happened after getting the motherboard replaced twice [by Dell]. They don't use new motherboards in repairs for laptops however.
    It is very unlikely to be a hard disc issue, I think. It was happening after the hard disc was replaced. They do use new hard discs in repairs. I ran all the diagnostics on the new hard disc [most of them multiple times] and it does not show any errors, even with a full disc scan. It does make a strange noise sometimes, but I think that might be characteristic of the drive...It is not the same clicking noise as when there are read fails etc.
    When it is run on balanced power settings, it frequently, and randomly freezes for up to a minute or two. The cursor does move, and it does continue to play streamed audio [from channel 4] but not video...it does not respond to inputs other than moving the cursor. It doesn't respond to ctrl-alt-delete. If task manager is open, the processor activity is shown to dip to almost nothing when this happens. When it returns, the processor activity spikes to 100%, and it responds to inputs that occurred while it was frozen. It happens while just using windows explorer, as well as when executing more resource-intensive tasks.
    I changed the power settings to the highest several days ago, and it has not occurred once since then. Before it had been occurring on average every 15 minutes I would say.
    So there must be a problem with the processor, I would think?
    It is an xps m1530; Intel Core Duo 2.4GHz.
    Can anyone confirm it is a processor issue, or suggest what else the source of the problem could be?


Comments

  • #2
    Voodu Child
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,706 ✭✭✭Voodu Child


    Could be absolutely anything at all. Although I doubt very much it is a physical problem with the CPU.

    Check the Windows power settings (under processor power management) for a start. It might explain the different behaviour under balanced and high-power.

    Also try to narrow down if it is a software issue. Use different apps - if you are using Firefox use Chrome instead for a period, see if the problem still happens. Get rid of adobe flash, or in the very least make sure you have the latest one. Clean the system and inspect startup apps with CCleaner. Scan with a good AV (MSSE is excellent and very lightweight).

    Also use paragraphs in future.


  • #3
    pwd
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,284 ✭✭✭pwd


    Voodu Child wrote: »
    Could be absolutely anything at all. Although I doubt very much it is a physical problem with the CPU.

    Check the Windows power settings (under processor power management) for a start. It might explain the different behaviour under balanced and high-power.

    Also try to narrow down if it is a software issue. Use different apps - if you are using Firefox use Chrome instead for a period, see if the problem still happens. Get rid of adobe flash, or in the very least make sure you have the latest one. Clean the system and inspect startup apps with CCleaner. Scan with a good AV (MSSE is excellent and very lightweight).

    Also use paragraphs in future.
    I did use paragraphs; I just didn't put gaps between them.
    As I said above, it happened when any program is in use, and even when nothing was open except windows explorer, and continued to happen after a clean install of Windows. So your sugggestions don't really make sense.


Advertisement