Computer freezes & USB devices stop working

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AngeliaK - Jun 9, 2010 at 03:42 AM
 decduke - Jan 6, 2011 at 08:49 AM
Hello,

I have a very new Dell Studio XPS... tried to get the top of the line with the best memory. Ever since I bought it, it freezes up on occasion...I'd say once or twice a day. I'm looking at email or looking on the internet or doing work...no particular reason...my mouse freezes, and my keyboard. Everything is still up on the screen; I just can't do anything. My other USB devices (camera, external hard drive, iphone) also stop working. I've called Dell several times; the last time, they sent a technician out to change the motherboard AND gave me a new NVIdia card, since THAT was also failing a lot. Right after the guy left, it did it again, and has continued to do so every day. I have no choice but to reboot by shutting the computer off and turning it back on. I haven't installed anything new; it happens at any time, not when I'm doing anything in particular. Most days, when I wake up in the morning, the computer has frozen sometime during the night too, so no sense in leaving it on. Any ideas?

Angelia

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3 responses

mrrigga Posts 196 Registration date Wednesday May 5, 2010 Status Contributor Last seen July 14, 2010 119
Jun 9, 2010 at 04:31 AM
Hi Angelia
There are many things you can try. However if your laptop is still under warranty then let Dell sought it as soon as you mess with it your warranty will be void.
As they have tried to fix it a number of times ask them to replace it.

Have you done a system restore by going back to when it was working ok?

You could use your recovery or installation disc to format or repair the hard drive.

These are a couple of ideas BUT get back to Dell first.

Here are a couple of things you can try now.
Make sure your anti-virus is up to date and run a full scan.
Download Malwarebytes ( https://ccm.net/downloads/security-and-maintenance/4621-malwarebytes-anti-malware/ ) and run a full scan with this tool and remove any infected objects it might find.
You may have some spyware/malware hidding in your computer
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Oh, no, it's not a laptop. It's a desktop. Antivirus is good. It runs every day and hasn't found anything. It started from day 1, so I can't really go back. I guess I'll make another call to Dell.
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mrrigga Posts 196 Registration date Wednesday May 5, 2010 Status Contributor Last seen July 14, 2010 119
Jun 9, 2010 at 05:54 AM
Hi Again
Sorry been dealing with laptops this morning. same thing with desktop anyway.
Try the malwarebytes that wont do any harm.
If its been like it from new, I would think the hard drive is corrupt., but give malwarebytes a whirl anyway. It finds different things than your anti-virus.
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My dell Studio laptop does this SAME THING. I've let it run System Tests, and they say all of my parts and pieces are running perfectly... Specifically for me, it happens any time certain screens load, like the sticky keys screen, or the PC TOOLS Anti-Virus "Infections Found" screen.... I'm going nuts.
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I had the same problem and I thought it was the wireless keyboard and mouse.

But it turns out that my Nvidia card driver that was the problem. I downloaded the new version and it seems to have fixed the problem - I did not uninstall the old version, which I may need to do since there is a registry problem with a .dll file missing now that came up on the boot. HOWEVER, no freezing problem as of yet, and the freezing happened within minutes.

I could always boot up in safe mode with networking and there was no freezing problem - so I determined it was not the wireless keyboard/mouse, but something else...

Good luck
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