Posted 07/28/08 at 03:12:13 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

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!

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4

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overheating, laptop, dell, BSOD, ask the doctor

Posted 10/31/07 at 04:08:37 PM by Maximum PC Doctor

The Doctor is in! Is my rig running too hot? Did I make a mistake buying a widescreen LCD?

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1

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widescreen, overheating, ask the doctor