Dell laptop keeps crashing +won't restart

[willp2003]

i've got a 2-3ish year old dell inspiron 1501, running vista basic. it's been fine up until a few weeks ago.
I've only noticed the problem while browsing the internet using ie8, but it crashed while no programs were running the other day, and tonight when only powerpoint was open.
sometimes a get a white screen with vertical lines, others it just hangs (mouse disappears, and none of the buttons repsond). the only thing to do is hold the power button down. If i try and restart it straight away it tries to boot for a second and then nothing - but the power light stays on and the dvd drive light is on.
if i leave it for a while it eventually boots up with the normal "windows didn't close properly" start in normal mode etc....
nothing obvious in the event manager, so any clues?

it can crash after 10 mins, or 2 hours or not at all.

[burner1]

Could possibly be a heat related issue with the cpu mate, or perhaps a loose component like a ram chip.

The more work a cpu does, the quicker it can get hot so just turning it on and not really opening apps etc. may well let it work for a longer time than turning it on and opening borwsers/apps etc.

Do you have a temp monitor in bios? worth turning lappy on and watching this if you have.

[willp2003]

it does run very hot - but has done for ages. I'm just wondering if it's the ram that i upgraded (but that was when i first got it) might invest in some decent RAM

[Over Carl]

Download Speedfan.

It shows you temps of your cpu, hd and from any other sensors it can pick up.

You can set it to log temps, so you should be able to see what the last temp the lappy was on before it crashes.

Sods law it probably won't crash once you've installed it so install something to get the cpu working hard

[willp2003]

i'm guessing the little flames aren't good news

[TotallyRandom]

System locking and hanging can be a number of things
CPU/HDD/RAM/Graphics and software.

Download dell 32bit diags and burn to a disk

http://support.euro.dell.com/support...&fileid=265259


After burnt Power on system Press F12 > Select CD Rom

Then do a Custom Test
Select non user interactive and then click Run all test

this will fully test your system if you get any errors let me know and i will let you know what they mean.

[burner1]

i'm guessing the little flames aren't good news

I'd look at cleaning out the air intake and CPU cooler fins mate.

[willp2003]

After burnt Power on system Press F12 > Select CD Rom

Then do a Custom Test
Select non user interactive and then click Run all test

this will fully test your system if you get any errors let me know and i will let you know what they mean.

cheers - can you tell me what it means if it switched off half way through

it errored on a system timer thing but continued, then it went through the screen colour tests then did some fan tests and then just shut off!

edit: got a bit further second time - was doing a read test on the hard drive before it shut off again. Will try it in the morning when it's cooled down a bit.

[littlebilly1]

I'd look at cleaning out the air intake and CPU cooler fins mate.

i took my desktop apart yesterday to clean it out (very dusty) took everything apart and then realised i'd got no thermal paste for the cpu what a i am

[willp2003]

i ran the tests again but only did the "quick tests" and non intrusive. passed them all.

ran speedfan after it had been switched off for a few hours, and the core went straught to 50 degrees.

I'll have a go at pulling it apart tonight, and seeing what i can clean.

[TotallyRandom]

Looking at the symptoms and the results of speed fan i would say its heat related of some sort

some chip creep or getting too hot locking up.

So i would do as you said Strip system down
Get some good thermal paste on the heat sink, Clean the fan and vents
Reseat RAM and hard drive.

here is the service manual for you system so you don't have that extra screw left over
Service Manual View Download

[willp2003]

cheers - i found the manuals this morning, but i'll download them, they're handy to have.

there was a thin layer of dust covering the inlet but the fan looked ok. if that doesn't work i'll try the heat sink.

when it's on - its the RAM area that gets really hot. i've ordered some new chips anyway to be on the safe side.

[TotallyRandom]

when it's on - its the RAM area that gets really hot. i've ordered some new chips anyway to be on the safe side.

sounds like chip creep expanding and contracting of the board/ram when board due to the excessive heat.

[Jaffster]

I use the below software on my Dell machine:

http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html

Once the PC has booted, set your CPU fan to high speed, make sure the air flow isn't blocked by anything (like a laptop docking bay?) and see if that fixes the problem. If it doesn't crash then I'd definately take it to bits, clean it out and apply some new thermal paste.

[Over Carl]

I use the below software on my Dell machine:

http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html

One thing I've always found annoying, on any dell I've tried, speedfan will pick up temps but not control fan speeds. Must give this a shot.

[Jaffster]

One thing I've always found annoying, on any dell I've tried, speedfan will pick up temps but not control fan speeds. Must give this a shot.

It's a good program, just set it to auto-run and you'll have your CPU temperature displayed on your taskbar at all times.

When playing games on my Dell I just force the fans to high speed, you can hear them firing up and temperature stays pretty cool. Good program

[willp2003]

well, fingers crossed it seems to be behaving now.
replaced the RAM and the thermal paste, and although it's still pretty hot, the temps have come down according to speedfan. it's been on for an hour this morning and about an hour now and no crashes (touch wood).

Thanks for everyone's input.

[willp2003]

well this is still fooked.

there is a bios upgrade available, and i could replace the HDD. any opinions?
also, if i do get a new HDD i've noticed there are sata ii, 150 and 300 versions - how do i know which one i've got, or does it not make a difference?

[TotallyRandom]

System locking and hanging can be a number of things
CPU/HDD/RAM/Graphics and software.

Download dell 32bit diags and burn to a disk

http://support.euro.dell.com/support...&fileid=265259


After burnt Power on system Press F12 > Select CD Rom

Then do a Custom Test
Select non user interactive and then click Run all test

this will fully test your system if you get any errors let me know and i will let you know what they mean.

Did you do this if so any errors?

Don't rush out and buy loads of stuff the now.
Have you even tried to reinstall windows on it yet?

[willp2003]

ran the test again and the system timer fails:

i put the error code in google and found this:

4C00-041A system.mdm
Timer Functionality Test

The interrupt routine is not being called. Channel 0 (mode 0) is not generating interrupts. It might not be counting properly or the interrupt mechanism is not working.

Motherboard