system keeps locking up / shutting down

[caterpillar roll]

Hello,

I have a Dell XPS435 (about 5 years old, I think) that is acting up. Sometimes on boot up,it will just freeze, forcing me to hard-boot. Lately, it just won't even boot up and if it does, it will just shut down sometime shortly thereafter (30 mins or so). I'm looking at speccy specs right now and the temp is pretty high, but I don't know what the median temp is (never had to before now ) I'm guessing the fan is going out?

the system specs are below:

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67GHz 144 °F
Bloomfield 45nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz (7-7-7-20)
Motherboard
DELL Inc. 0X501H (CPU 1) 115 °F
Graphics
SMS27A550H (1920x1080@60Hz)
E2242 (1920x1080@60Hz)
1792MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 (NVIDIA) 135 °F
Storage
596GB Western Digital WDC (SATA) 108 °F
1863GB Western Digital (SATA) 108 °F
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GH50N

If anyone can shed light on this I would really appreciate it. Or if there are specific things I can try to troubleshoot myself, also appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Cat Roll

 

[Darkbreeze]

You're CPU temp at 144°F is actually about 62°C, which is fine. That's about 20-25°C below the point where I'd be worried. NOW, if those are actually Celsius readings rather than Fahrenheit, I would say throw the whole thing in the trash and build a new system because it's beyond help now. I don't think that's the case though, or it probably wouldn't even be running.

Has your system EVER had a fresh Windows installation, or has it has whatever you upgraded from to Windows 10 on there for years and now you've also upgraded on top of that old installation? I'd probably start with doing a clean install according to the instructions outlined here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2784691/ditch-problematic-win10-upgrade-replace-clean-install.html


I'd focus first on making sure all your data is backed up. I'm thinking that considering the likely age of those drives, one or more of them could seriously be failing. I'd recommend running Seatools for DOS on all the connected drives to check drive health.

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-dos-master/


You might also want to consider that due to the age of the platform, you may potentially be looking at a faulty motherboard or power supply as well.

 

[caterpillar roll]

You're CPU temp at 144°F is actually about 62°C, which is fine. That's about 20-25°C below the point where I'd be worried. NOW, if those are actually Celsius readings rather than Fahrenheit, I would say throw the whole thing in the trash and build a new system because it's beyond help now. I don't think that's the case though, or it probably wouldn't even be running.

Has your system EVER had a fresh Windows installation, or has it has whatever you upgraded from to Windows 10 on there for years and now you've also upgraded on top of that old installation? I'd probably start with doing a clean install according to the instructions outlined here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2784691/ditch-problematic-win10-upgrade-replace-clean-install.html


I'd focus first on making sure all your data is backed up. I'm thinking that considering the likely age of those drives, one or more of them could seriously be failing. I'd recommend running Seatools for DOS on all the connected drives to check drive health.

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-dos-master/


You might also want to consider that due to the age of the platform, you may potentially be looking at a faulty motherboard or power supply as well.

thank you for your response. You know I first got the system w/Vista installed, with the promise of Windows 7 install discs as soon as they were available (So I guess this would be in 09, not 10). I wound up doing a fresh install of windows 7 when the discs finally arrived, but truth be told, I've had this random lock up on boot up problem since then. It only happens every now and then, but it's with more frequency in the past few days. The 2nd hard drive is only a year old, so I'm hoping it's still solid. But if it is a faulty motherboard, do I just start over w/the drives I have? yuck.

I'm going to burn the SeaTools disc and download the Win10 ISO. thanks for your insight it's much appreciated. I will keep you apprised of the situation.

Cat Roll

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, please do. We'll figure out what's going on one way or another. Glad to help, if I can.

Out of curiosity, is the operating system installed on the oldest drive, or the newer drive?

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'd also contact Dell with your express service tag number, that should be somewhere on the machine, or if you give it to me (Don't worry, there's no danger in posting that), then I'd be happy to check, to see if there is a bios update available for your motherboard. Having the bios up to date can often resolve some issues that may have been present since early on if it hasn't ever been updated.

 

[caterpillar roll]

Ok, please do. We'll figure out what's going on one way or another. Glad to help, if I can.

Out of curiosity, is the operating system installed on the oldest drive, or the newer drive?

the OS is installed on the older drive. I've downloaded the Win10 iso and SeaTools, so I'll get started with diagnostics as soon as I can. Thanks again for your insights; I will keep you posted!

Cat Roll

 

[caterpillar roll]

I'd also contact Dell with your express service tag number, that should be somewhere on the machine, or if you give it to me (Don't worry, there's no danger in posting that), then I'd be happy to check, to see if there is a bios update available for your motherboard. Having the bios up to date can often resolve some issues that may have been present since early on if it hasn't ever been updated.

that's a brilliant idea - never thought of that! I don't think I've ever updated bios on this system. I will contact Dell asap to check for an update.

I just ran the SeaTools on both drives (short long and acoustic) and they passed. the system froze up multiple times on last start, but it always turns on eventually, and stays on until I shutdown & reboot the next day. . .well, you get the picture.

I will add that occasionally (rarely) during this process i get a bsod, and the last one (about a month or so ago), I got the warning "Unexpected kernel mode trap", which I think points to hardware problems. I haven't seen it since then, so long story short this problem is intermittent at least.

I will let you know what I find out from Dell - thanks for that tip!

Cat Roll

 

[Darkbreeze]

No problem. You might also want to consider removing the motherboard CMOS battery for about five minutes, then reinstalling it and rebooting. Unplug power from the power supply while you remove the battery, then plug it back in after the battery is returned. This will rebuild the bios tables and in some cases entirely solves hardware issues. In any case it's a cheap, easy, quick remedy in cases where refreshing the hardware tables is all that's needed. Probably not the case here, but definitely worth trying.

 

[caterpillar roll]

this is another random piece to the puzzle, but lately, the computer has been okay. it randomly freezes up shortly after boot, and the only way I've found to make it come back is to disconnect my Bluetooth keyboard and connect an old, wired board that came with the system originally. then it re-boots just fine, I swap out the keyboards and all is well. now it sounds like I'm just making stuff up! I think I will wind up doing the clean install, and probably get a new drive. My bro bought almost the exact same config I did at around the same time, and his drive just bit it. so. . .that's where I am.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Now THAT sounds to me like the Bluetooth support on the USB system maybe be the problem, hence, an issue with the USB circuit on the motherboard. That could be a driver issue, which may or may not be resolvable given the age of the board and the lack of current driver support, or simply needing that BIOS update if there is one. While anything is possible, it wouldn't seem likely for a drive to affect or be affected by the USB system unless there is a failure on some shared rail in the PSU that is affecting both.

I'd check for updated USB and storage drivers, bios and it wouldn't surprise me at ALL if that rather low end OEM power supply was taking a powder on you.

 

[caterpillar roll]

that feels like the culprit to me, too (the power supply) along with something on the motherboard being hinky. It has ALWAYS had a kink since day one. I just find it odd that it only happens on startup; if I leave the system on it never (seriously -- never) freezes up once a successful boot has been achieved. Is it worth it to replace the motherboard and power supply, or should I just build a new system?

 

[Darkbreeze]

For now, I'd just replace the power supply, as you'll need one anyhow if you build a new system. Then if that doesn't solve the problem, you can make plans for a new build. I wouldn't recommend buying a prebuilt system as you're going to end up with less than desirable components again.