I’m stuck with a Dell laptop that now fails to boot after just two weeks of normal use. I can accept the fact that I will probably fight with Dell technical support for six months before they do anything to help. What I can’t accept is that I can’t figure out what is wrong with this box.
Quite simply, using the laptop for an extended period results in incredibly slow performance, which leads to a lockup or blue screen, which leads to Windows no longer booting on the next cold restart. The ensuing error messages are varied and too numerous to list. After a clean install of Windows, every single diagnostic from the Dell CD comes back perfect. Memtest86 returns no errors.
I’ve swapped out hard drives and CD drives. But after two weeks, the result is exactly the same: no boot. I’ve tried other “unsupported operating systems” (read: Ubuntu), but they crash and burn just the same. If a Dell technician tells me to reinstall XP Home one more time, I may go postal!
This sounds like a classic case of overheating. Perhaps an errant factory worker didn’t put enough thermal paste on the heat pipe and CPU. You should also see if anything is obstructing the laptop’s exhaust port. Regardless of the reason for the overheating, you should continue to work with Dell to replace the notebook since it is still under warranty and there is no reason this problem should be occurring.
You definitely shouldn’t attempt to repair the computer yourself. While a thermal paste issue is relatively easy to fix on a desktop machine, trying to pop the bits and pieces out of your laptop to access the processor area is quite a task—and it would void your warranty. If you don’t feel like talking to Dell’s customer service, try going to www.support.dell.com and using the online chat service—you might get better results.
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SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION Are flames shooting out of the back of your rig? First, grab a fire extinguisher and douse the flames. Once the pyrotechnic display has fizzled, email the doctor at doctor@maximumpc.com for advice on how to solve your technological woes. |
Comments are closed on this article
jorgeleyva
August 21, 2008 at 8:56am
I have been using an HP Pavilion DV 5000 series laptop for the past coupla years and no issues of any kind regarding hardware. We all have our favorites, but after reading so many comments about the Toshiba overheating and Dell having issues of this kind (and some other kind too) I decided to try HP. My second option was going to be a Mac so considering the price tag I'm a happy camper =)
dwr50
July 29, 2008 at 8:43am
include some fx with smoke coming out, should get some attention.
Acer Aspire 5610z,Vista HP, No problems with Vista... so far, but I'm learning Linux, just in case.
Acer Aspire 5315-2153, $348 Walmart Special,Mandriva Linux 2008.1 Spring Edition,VirtualBox 1.6.0
dethdeks
July 28, 2008 at 4:33pm
dude if u want your laptop to be replaced you gotta say one sentence, my laptop is toohot to touch and it burnt me while i was using it . i use to work for dell and ifsome one said that we had to replace it no matter what the past historywas on it. any ways if that dont work then just tell them they eitherreplace it or your sending it back to them and will be expectinga full refund that usly jerks there eyes open.
noobtotech
July 29, 2008 at 10:46am
Dell just released a BIOS update for most of their notebook
lines, Vostro, Latitude and XPS lines. It looks like there is a
"weak die packaging material set" for the GPU causing it to overheat,
and eventually failure. The BIOS update is only a temporary or semi
preventative measure. Dell suggest to user affected to contact them, but
more than likely, you will need to send them the notebook, since the
only fix after the fact is to replace the damaged motherboard/GPU.
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