Inspiron 7500 - sudden shutdowns

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Inspiron 7500, originally NT4.0, now currently-updated W2000.

Once every 2 or 3 weeks, it will suddenly and completely power off,
including disk and display, though the power LED remains lit. I hold
the power button for 5 seconds or so, and the power LED goes out. I
hit power again and it boots, gets as far as the first Win2000 splash
screen then powers off again, this time with the power LED out. I
reboot again, and it's back to normal (for another couple of weeks).

This sudden power off behavior *always* occurs upon clicking a random
hyperlink in IE.

This behavior has persisted for a year or two at least, through W2000
upgrades and a recent clean reinstall of W2000 on a brand new HDD. I
don't recall it happening under NT4.0.

There's nothing exotic installed, HW or SW. AV is McAfee VirusScan
Enterprise 7.1.0, but the same behavior was there on a previous
version of McAfee.

Google Usenet finds nothing similar. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions...
--
Dan Drake

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

In article <drnor01akue2ma4t9h815getep7anst9e2@4ax.com>,
ddrake@comcast.notthis.net says...

> Inspiron 7500, originally NT4.0, now currently-updated W2000.
>
> Once every 2 or 3 weeks, it will suddenly and completely power off,
> including disk and display, though the power LED remains lit. I hold
> the power button for 5 seconds or so, and the power LED goes out. I
> hit power again and it boots, gets as far as the first Win2000 splash
> screen then powers off again, this time with the power LED out. I
> reboot again, and it's back to normal (for another couple of weeks).

<snippety>

I had an Inspiron 3500 here with nearly identical symptoms. The
difference is that, once powered down, it would rarely power up again
correctly, and it would constantly do a total freeze at random
intervals.

I tried the usual tricks (reseating the memory, hard reset, etc.)
and nothing worked. I also tried replacing the DC/DC board. That helped
a bit, but the symptoms came back fairly quickly.

Finally, I got fed up, bought a replacement motherboard off Ebay
for about $45 (shipping included), and swapped it in. I've not had any
trouble since.

Keep the peace(es).


--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 07:54:20 -0800, Dr. Anton T. Squeegee
<SpammersAreVermin@dev.null> wrote:

>In article <drnor01akue2ma4t9h815getep7anst9e2@4ax.com>,
>ddrake@comcast.notthis.net says...
>
>> Inspiron 7500, originally NT4.0, now currently-updated W2000.
>>
>> Once every 2 or 3 weeks, it will suddenly and completely power off,

> Finally, I got fed up, bought a replacement motherboard off Ebay
>for about $45 (shipping included), and swapped it in. I've not had any
>trouble since.

I figure it's probably a motherboard or associated problem. All
memory, connectors, etc. are snug and tight. I was hoping that
someone would recognize the problem and tell me of a simple,
preferably free, fix for it. Ha ha!! Ever the optimist...
--
Dan Drake

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Dan Drake wrote:
> I figure it's probably a motherboard or associated problem. All
> memory, connectors, etc. are snug and tight. I was hoping that
> someone would recognize the problem and tell me of a simple,
> preferably free, fix for it. Ha ha!! Ever the optimist...

Are you monitoring the internal temperatures?

I would also try another browser, like Firefox.

Ed