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Agamemnon · 03-24-2010, 03:45 PM

Looking for some advice... I think I've got a good idea of what to do, but I'm not that computer-savvy.

I bought an XPS 8100 Studio Desktop from Dell, upgraded to the ATI Radeon 5750 Video Card.

The computer crashes somewhat frequently (2-3 times/night), and it seems to be at random, sometimes watching a movie, sometimes surfing the net, sometimes I'll just leave it on all night and it will have crashed at some point.

I talked to Dell, they came out and replaced the Video Card, Motherboard, & CPU Fan. The comp worked fine for about 16 hours (left on overnight) but then crashed again. The crash is a freezing of the machine, it 'blue-screens', emits a buzzing sound from the speakers, and requires a hard re-boot.

Since the VCard & MBoard have been replaced, I'm getting a bit stuck on what the problem could be. I'm running Windows 7 and dual-monitoring to the TV. Is there a chance the ATI Radeon Driver just doesn't work that well with Windows 7? Is it the dual-monitor aspect?

I'm going to have to call Dell again and see what to do next... I suppose I could re-install Windows 7 and all the drivers first just to be sure the crash I experienced this morning wasn't a hangover from the current setup.

Some friends have advised I just go to Windows XP, as this would probably solve any Driver/Windows conflicts as XP is a lot more solid (obviously) than Windows 7.

Anyway, any ideas or trouble-shooting help would be much appreciated. I assume if I call Dell about the problem, they'll try to replace the Hard Drive this time... I've done a lot of diagnostics on it and it seems fine.

Ideas? Suggestions?

03-24-2010, 03:45 PM	#1
Agamemnon #1 Goaltender Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Calgary Exp:	Dell Computer Troubleshooting Looking for some advice... I think I've got a good idea of what to do, but I'm not that computer-savvy. I bought an XPS 8100 Studio Desktop from Dell, upgraded to the ATI Radeon 5750 Video Card. The computer crashes somewhat frequently (2-3 times/night), and it seems to be at random, sometimes watching a movie, sometimes surfing the net, sometimes I'll just leave it on all night and it will have crashed at some point. I talked to Dell, they came out and replaced the Video Card, Motherboard, & CPU Fan. The comp worked fine for about 16 hours (left on overnight) but then crashed again. The crash is a freezing of the machine, it 'blue-screens', emits a buzzing sound from the speakers, and requires a hard re-boot. Since the VCard & MBoard have been replaced, I'm getting a bit stuck on what the problem could be. I'm running Windows 7 and dual-monitoring to the TV. Is there a chance the ATI Radeon Driver just doesn't work that well with Windows 7? Is it the dual-monitor aspect? I'm going to have to call Dell again and see what to do next... I suppose I could re-install Windows 7 and all the drivers first just to be sure the crash I experienced this morning wasn't a hangover from the current setup. Some friends have advised I just go to Windows XP, as this would probably solve any Driver/Windows conflicts as XP is a lot more solid (obviously) than Windows 7. Anyway, any ideas or trouble-shooting help would be much appreciated. I assume if I call Dell about the problem, they'll try to replace the Hard Drive this time... I've done a lot of diagnostics on it and it seems fine. Ideas? Suggestions?