help! laptop still hangs

[ayster3]

ive done a complete reformat just to make sure there aren't any virus. and also check my disk for some errors/bad sectors. and it's clean. ive also removed the dust that is blocking the vents. but the fan is a bit noisy when windows starts,.

 

so is the fan the culprit or my graphics card because my graphics card is nvidia geforce 8600???

[mduren2445]

First welcome to neowin!!!! :rofl:

 

second we need to know the make and model of your laptop

Third ...can you carefully get into the laptop bios and see if it will tell you what the cpu temp is?

 

i suspect based on what you described   ive also removed the dust that is blocking the vents. but the fan is a bit noisy when windows starts,

that you are overheating.. if your cpu temp proves this then a temporary solution will be a laptop cooler pad which you set your laptop upon while working..Amazon has them around $20.....better solution is to get the fan replaced...hopefully heat has not damaged anything else

[(Account no longer active)]

'8600': what a disgrace.

 

Yes, it's most likely the graphics card. Potentially every 8600(M?)-based laptop (including those with high-end Quadros) will be affected. I suggest looking into getting another machine; one day your current one just won't boot.

 

The trouble doesn't stop there: certain 9600M-series ICs had the same issues, so I'd stay away from them also (if looking for a second hand machine).

 

Note also the repair services (commonly seen on eBay) are just temporary solutions. I sent in a 8600M-based MacBook Pro to have it's GPU replaced/resoldered. All they did was heat up the logic board in an oven to reflow the solder. The machine worked fine for a day or two, then problems started reoccurring. Even a new logic board from Apple wouldn't have solved the problem.

 

I am very frustrated about this having had two fairly high-spec laptops fail. The 8600M was a great chip; the last thing I would have expected is poor solder quality control from Nvidia. For a few years after, I went on a Nvidia strike.

[(Account no longer active)]

The noisy fan is either related to wear (perhaps it's bearings are starting to wear out) or an object (ie. a crumb) going through and getting stuck behind a vent at one stage.

 

Did you use an air compressor to dust out the vents, or just a compressed air can?

[T3X4S]

memtest wouldnt hurt, even though that model is problematic.

Word of advice - dont buy Inspirons period.  Stick with the Latitudes

 

 

Does it hang in Safe Mode ?

 

What OS are you running ?

[Roger H. Veteran]

Well first questions would be what does "hangs" mean?

 

Do you open Notepad and it freezes or you mean CS4 or something more large?

[ayster3]

First welcome to neowin!!!! :rofl:

 

second we need to know the make and model of your laptop

Third ...can you carefully get into the laptop bios and see if it will tell you what the cpu temp is?

 

i suspect based on what you described   ive also removed the dust that is blocking the vents. but the fan is a bit noisy when windows starts,

that you are overheating.. if your cpu temp proves this then a temporary solution will be a laptop cooler pad which you set your laptop upon while working..Amazon has them around $20.....better solution is to get the fan replaced...hopefully heat has not damaged anything else

 

thank you sir! : )

mine is benq s41 series.. about 2 years of age intel core 3 / 2.4ghz nvidia geforce 8600 4gb ram..

 

when on iddle its 44c and when i opened chrome, it becomes 51c and starts to get higher.. its 54 now after 5mins

 

 

[Raa]

If the 8600 isn't the culprit, i'd be surprised!

[ayster3]

memtest wouldnt hurt, even though that model is problematic.

Word of advice - dont buy Inspirons period.  Stick with the Latitudes

 

 

Does it hang in Safe Mode ?

 

What OS are you running ?

yeah it hangs in safe as well and its vista at that time and im using windows 7 and it still hangs even in safe mode

The noisy fan is either related to wear (perhaps it's bearings are starting to wear out) or an object (ie. a crumb) going through and getting stuck behind a vent at one stage.

 

Did you use an air compressor to dust out the vents, or just a compressed air can?

compressed air.. : ((

'8600': what a disgrace.

 

Yes, it's most likely the graphics card. Potentially every 8600(M?)-based laptop (including those with high-end Quadros) will be affected. I suggest looking into getting another machine; one day your current one just won't boot.

 

The trouble doesn't stop there: certain 9600M-series ICs had the same issues, so I'd stay away from them also (if looking for a second hand machine).

 

Note also the repair services (commonly seen on eBay) are just temporary solutions. I sent in a 8600M-based MacBook Pro to have it's GPU replaced/resoldered. All they did was heat up the logic board in an oven to reflow the solder. The machine worked fine for a day or two, then problems started reoccurring. Even a new logic board from Apple wouldn't have solved the problem.

 

I am very frustrated about this having had two fairly high-spec laptops fail. The 8600M was a great chip; the last thing I would have expected is poor solder quality control from Nvidia. For a few years after, I went on a Nvidia strike.

yeah.. im blaming myself now on why did i bought this cr@p

Well first questions would be what does "hangs" mean?

 

Do you open Notepad and it freezes or you mean CS4 or something more large?

nah.. i open chrome and after a few minutes it hangs..

 

i opened adobe before. and maybe (just my hypotheis) it triggers the hanging??

[(Account no longer active)]

Try booting without the Nvidia driver enabled (standard Windows VESA driver only). I think that stopped freezing on one of my laptops, however I was stuck at 640x480 without graphics acceleration.

 

+1 for Latitudes over Inspirons.

[ayster3]

Try booting without the Nvidia driver enabled (standard Windows VESA driver only). I think that stopped freezing on one of my laptops, however I was stuck at 640x480 without graphics acceleration.

 

+1 for Latitudes over Inspirons.

i was thinking, cn i disable/uninstall it and buy a new graphics card like amd or something? will it be okay for my laptop?

[(Account no longer active)]

compressed air.. : ((

yeah.. im blaming myself now on why did i bought this cr@p

I've found cans to not give enough pressure, plus there's a risk of liquid getting into the vents (if not held steady).

 

If you bought the laptop a few years ago, you shouldn't blame yourself. Just imagine Steve Jobs' reaction (and what he would have said to Nvidia's CEO) when he found out that every MacBook Pro sold at the time would eventually fail (Apple used ATI/AMD for a few years after that - now certain ATI/AMD chips are having issues :().

[(Account no longer active)]

i was thinking, cn i disable/uninstall it and buy a new graphics card like amd or something? will it be okay for my laptop?

No, the GPU is soldered directly to the logic board in 99.9% of laptops. I'd suggest uninstalling the Nvidia drivers for now, and seeing how that goes.

 

And while your laptop is working, perform a backup (if possible). It crashing when you run Chrome is most likely due to graphics acceleration (in Chrome/Flash content).

[ayster3]

Try booting without the Nvidia driver enabled (standard Windows VESA driver only). I think that stopped freezing on one of my laptops, however I was stuck at 640x480 without graphics acceleration.

 

+1 for Latitudes over Inspirons.

yow bro.. how cn i disable it? also.. i dont have any files in my laptop so do i have to back it up?

[T3X4S]

Oh, and welcome to neowin, & especially Hardware Hangout.  Neowin has a pretty diverse group of members.  I cant speak for the rest of the site, but I can tell you Hardware Hangout has some pretty smart people who are regulars & always eager to help out a fellow member.

 

If you have a problem, we can figure it out for sure. ;)

[(Account no longer active)]

yow bro.. how cn i disable it? 

Do you know how to get into Device Manager? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows/open-device-manager Have you used Device Manager before?

 

I'd also uninstall all programs with 'Nvidia' in their name (you can download them again through Dell's support site later).

[T3X4S]

yow bro.. how cn i disable it? also.. i dont have any files in my laptop so do i have to back it up?

dont have to back up -- nothing to preserve.

To disable , if you can get into Device Manager, then display adapter it should be one of the top listings.

You can rt. click, then select uninstall - it will default to the standard VGA.

However, next time you boot it will try to reload the nVidia....

[ayster3]

Oh, and welcome to neowin, & especially Hardware Hangout.  Neowin has a pretty diverse group of members.  I cant speak for the rest of the site, but I can tell you Hardware Hangout has some pretty smart people who are regulars & always eager to help out a fellow member.

 

If you have a problem, we can figure it out for sure. ;)

yeah.. this site is great, thanks by the way

[ayster3]

dont have to back up -- nothing to preserve.

To disable , if you can get into Device Manager, then display adapter it should be one of the top listings.

You can rt. click, then select uninstall - it will default to the standard VGA.

However, next time you boot it will try to reload the nVidia....

 

Do you know how to get into Device Manager? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows/open-device-manager Have you used Device Manager before?

 

I'd also uninstall all programs with 'Nvidia' in their name (you can download them again through Dell's support

dudes.. under my display adapter.. is only the VGA ...... what now?

[ayster3]

and just now.. if i press the power on button. after 5 mins.. the screen is still black.. so i suggest it hangs ryt? i tried again and it boot up well.. is there something wrong now with the mobo?

[T3X4S]

and just now.. if i press the power on button. after 5 mins.. the screen is still black.. so i suggest it hangs ryt? i tried again and it boot up well.. is there something wrong now with the mobo?

To determine if it is hanging when there is no image, do you see the HDD activity light blinking randomly ? 

I remember in the older Inspirons, they actually made the mobo a tiny bit too big which created the slightest amount of flex, which cuased the RAM to have a couple contacts not touch the mobo - the result would be what you are explaining. 

Also, the fact your video card only shows the standard VGA adapter, is another big red flag it might not be working and is the problem.  Try going back into Device Manager and getting it to take the nVidia driver.

I think this comes down to 1 of 3 things:

bad vga

bad mobo

flaky RAM Have you run memtest ?  (just to rule it out)

If you go into BIOS, and stay there, maybe even let it run some of those Dell diagnostics options - does it ever go black on you ?

[(Account no longer active)]

Can you still get to the Desktop via safe mode?

 

So in Device Manager, the display adapter was listed as (something like) 'generic VGA adapter'? It should have stated 'Nvidia ...'.

[(Account no longer active)]

Try pressing the key combination to switch between the inbuilt display and an external display when the screen is blank. Can you still adjust the (inbuilt) display's brightness (usually fn + up arrow/down arrow on Dells)?

 

Removing a driver won't cause the screen stay blank. If you can't even see the BIOS POST (ie. Dell logo) screen (after pressing the power button), it's not software/drivers, but instead the GPU or logic board itself.

 

As I stated previously, 8600M-series are like Sony timers. One day, the machine won't turn on. At least it wasn't a 17" MacBook Pro you paid Apple $3,000+ for.

[ayster3]

To determine if it is hanging when there is no image, do you see the HDD activity light blinking randomly ? 

I remember in the older Inspirons, they actually made the mobo a tiny bit too big which created the slightest amount of flex, which cuased the RAM to have a couple contacts not touch the mobo - the result would be what you are explaining. 

Also, the fact your video card only shows the standard VGA adapter, is another big red flag it might not be working and is the problem.  Try going back into Device Manager and getting it to take the nVidia driver.

I think this comes down to 1 of 3 things:

bad vga

bad mobo

flaky RAM Have you run memtest ?  (just to rule it out)

If you go into BIOS, and stay there, maybe even let it run some of those Dell diagnostics options - does it ever go black on you ?

bro.. there is no blinking light, the hard disk indicator light is off

 

is memtest built in in windows? or i have to download one in the net?

Try pressing the key combination to switch between the inbuilt display and an external display when the screen is blank. Can you still adjust the (inbuilt) display's brightness (usually fn + up arrow/down arrow on Dells)?

 

Removing a driver won't cause the screen stay blank. If you can't even see the BIOS POST (ie. Dell logo) screen (after pressing the power button), it's not software/drivers, but instead the GPU or logic board itself.

 

As I stated previously, 8600M-series are like Sony timers. One day, the machine won't turn on. At least it wasn't a 17" MacBook Pro you paid Apple $3,000+ for.

yeah.. after it turned it on., its black.. no logo

 

 

could it be that due to overheating, some parts of the board is fried/toast??

because overheating is my first issue and it always shut downs back then, so i bought a cooling pad and it is running smooth at that time

[T3X4S]

Here:

http://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

You can mount the ISO on a CD, or via a USB drive.

When you boot up, start hitting F12 - this will pull up a boot menu

Select CD, or USB (whichever you choose to create)

And then just let it run for an hour

If you dont see any red - you're good and its not RAM