Dell Woes. I might be ready for a change! Apple PC? 1

[Nohjekim]

Hi everyone.

First:

I have bought Dell computers forever but my Dell XPS is the most unstable computer I have owned in years. Several reinstalls of Windows XP Media Center Addition have failed to have any effect. I named my computer HCS Titanic because it crashed the first time I turned it on.

Shortly after I set it up brand new out of the box, (I had just finished registration and not yet installed any software) I got the blue screen and I couldn’t even get to the DVD drive or prompt. I spent almost 12 hours on the phone reinstalling everything from scratch, disk prep and partitioning on both drives and the works I had to listen to this Indian guy on the phone reading me code and type it in, for an hour, what a pain).


I ran the same software (about everything that Adobe makes from Photoshop CS2, and InDesign CS2 to Premiere) on my old Dell without problems but my new computer freezes and random times in all sorts of programs.

I don’t mean that this happens constantly, just enough to make sure I save a lot. But on my old Dell these programs never froze up.

Internet Explorer won’t run at all it freezes any time I try and use it.

I use FireFox anyway so this is no big deal but it’s strange. Microsoft recommends a lot of things that don’t seem to relate to the problem, like my video drivers, (all up to date Nvidia 7800gtx).

I have run diagnostics on my Ram etc. Everything always checks out Ok.

I wonder if changing from running Windows XP Home to Media Center Addition when I got my new computer had anything to do with this.

One last note: This computer runs games fantastically; it never freezes in Oblivion, or NWN2 etc. I get high frame rates and great graphics. Only in my everyday programs, sometimes it even freezes in task manager.


Second:

I read in Newsweek Magazine a while back that now that Apple is using Intel processors that they were going to start building a Mac PC that runs Windows.

I looked at their web site and I don't see any indication that this is true.

Does anyone know anything about this?

I’m not really in the Market for a new computer right now but I am open to the idea of buying an Apple PC in the future. I’m about the only graphic designer who works on a PC anyway but I have thousands of dollars in software that I don’t want to replace and I am also a gamer.

If anyone has any idea why I get these strange random freezes or what I could try to correct them let me know.

If you want more info let me know what and I will post it.

Mike

 

[BadBigBen]

About Apple Building Intel PC's, yep... at present their NoteBooks are very compatible...

about your other problems...

if the GAMES play without a hitch, then it sounds more like your APPLICATIONS can not handle the MC version of XP... I would revert either back to XP HOME or go for gold and install XP PRO...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[Nohjekim]

Thanks for the input.

I have had a feeling that you are right about “Media Center Addition” for quite a while.
I have wished that I had not made that decision ever since I got this computer.

I was thinking about an upgrade to Windows Vista when it comes out to see if that would be an improvement. But I won't be in any hurry to do it; I’ll wait and see how people react to it when they start using it.

I think that I have a copy of Window pro around here someplace that's never been installed. I got it by accident through my wife’s teacher discount; I thought they were going to send me a copy of MS Office Pro.

Do you know if I can install that with out removing MC (as an upgrade) or do I have to format and everything to switch that will mean reinstalling all my software again?

Do you know if Apple is going to build a power house desktop that runs Windows?

Mike

 

[wahnula]

I was thinking about an upgrade to Windows Vista when it comes out to see if that would be an improvement

My opinion is an emphatic NO. I always say let the early-adopters work out the bugs, the curse of the first-born.

Windows MCE is nice for a Home Theater PC (If you don't use satellite services) but it is a dumbed-down OS in general. WinXPPro SP2 is the only way to go, especially with all your past problems. It is robust and mature. Yes, you should be able to do an upgrade, but I am of the mindset that a clean install exorcises all the demons of your current install. There will still be lots of registry 'hooks' leftover from MCE, but in-place upgrade is worth a shot.

It is only a matter of time until Windows and OSX go head-to-head on the same gear. Apple's dominance in the media market has emboldened it to challenge the mighty Windoze when it is ready.

Do you know if Apple is going to build a power house desktop that runs Windows?

I think the better question is when will Apple allow OSX be able to run on current PC hardware? Stay tuned...

 

[Sympology]

I think the better question is when will Apple allow OSX be able to run on current PC hardware? Stay tuned..."

I'd say very unlikley. They did this in the 90's when others were allowed to make Apple compatible pc's. They lost so much money, because everyone else did it better and cheaper.
Apple put huge markups on the hardware and this loss of revenue would hit them hard. People won't want to pay for an "unknown" OS . Add to that all the problems of support millions of bits of kit (as Microsoft have to do), then it becomes a very expensive business. The reasoning behind moving to Intel was a simple cost saving one.
I think apple are happy where they are thankyou very much please.






Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[cdogg]

Nohjekim,
I feel your pain! Having that happen to you right out of the box is unfortunate.

However, I think you should be careful turning your PC experience into the larger issue of PC vs Mac. First of all, you have a Dell. While many Dell models are great designs, the company still has a blunder from time to time. The hardest kind for Dell or HP to get right are models that have the Pentium D processor. The dual-core runs extremely hot sucking 130 Watts. I'm not sure if this is what you have, but the point is that your model could have some kind of design flaw. Or perhaps, there is just a hardware defect in one of your components. When it doesn't work out of the box, Dell should replace it.

Newer Intel processors that use the Core Duo or Core 2 Duo are quite a bit more stable/cool running at a maximum 65 Watts. There's no advantage in terms of performance by buying one of these from Apple, than there is to build one yourself or buy from Dell/HP. In fact, buying from Apple is still a bit of a disadvantage because of some of the proprietary hardware they still like to use in the PC case. If you ever need to replace a part or upgrade one of their "fancy" designs, good luck. You'll find yourself with limited options in many situations depending on the part. Chances are, you'll have to buy/upgrade going the more expensive route through Apple.


But again, let's try to focus on your issue instead of the larger debate for now.
Start by giving us your specs...

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[Nelviticus]

If the PC runs fine when playing CPU-intensive games like Oblivion and NWN2 I doubt very much that processor heat is the problem.

I am also sure that Windows Media Centre Edition is not the problem either - firstly, all three editions of Windows XP (Home, Pro and MCE) are virtually identical as far as applications are concerned. Secondly, if an application won't work on a particular edition it will tell you this when you try to install it. Thirdly, Nohjekim said that Internet Explorer is one of the apps that crashes and that certainly works on all editions!

I suspect faulty hardware. Probably a component other than the CPU, graphics card or memory, because those are the three that gaming hits the hardest and Nohjekim says that gaming works fine. The PC is new so invoke your warranty and return it to Dell for repair or replacement.

If you want to do a little of your own diagnostics first then right-click 'My Computer', select 'Properties' then click on the 'Advanced' tab. Click the 'Startup and Recovery' button and un-tick the box that says 'Automatically reboot'. Now, when your system crashes you'll get a blue screen with loads of info on it. Write this all down and if you're lucky it may contain enough info to tell you what's causing the crash - post the details here if you need help interpreting them.

Nelviticus

 

[cdogg]

[blue]Nohjekim said that Internet Explorer is one of the apps that crashes and that certainly works on all editions![/blue]
Excellent point, Nelviticus!
have a star...

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[Nohjekim]

Hi everyone

Thanks for the information.

I didn't mean to imply that the computer is brand new, I have had it for a year and it works fine most of the time.

I have gotten used to the random freezes, so I save a lot when I'm working and I seldom get caught. But my old Dell 8200 never just froze while I was working for no apparent reason, as this one does. Usually I can just open task manager and stop the application that is running and restart it and I’m ok. Some times though it will stop Task Manager dead too, then I have to manually reboot the computer to get everything going again.

Right now I'm just going to live with it, Dell hasn't been much help, and if I get another crash that forces me to reinstall Windows or I feel like spending several days reinstalling all my software, I will switch to XP Pro and see if that makes any difference.

In the mean time I removed Internet Explorer and haven't reinstalled it yet. I'm feeling like I'm having fewer problems since I did that. Maybe it’s just my imagination; I don’t really keep track of how often it happens. I’ll reinstall and see if it works again one of theses days.

I tried to go to “Black Viper” and get the set up for Media Center Addition but his site is closed right now so I’ll do that when he is back in operation.

I had carefully set up my 8200 according to his specs, closing many processes that load at startup, so maybe that has something to do with how well it ran.

Thanks again…

Mike

 

[cdogg]

Nohjekim,
After second thoughts and re-reading your description of the problem, I think you should focus on a clean install at this point.

I believe you are missing the point that "Media Center Edition" is not your problem. Like Nelviticus said, all 3 editions of XP (home, pro, media center) are all virtually identical to your applications. All three are NT 5.1 after all. Tweaking Windows (Black Viper), surfing the web, installing 3rd-party apps, etc., could be what's wrong with your PC instead. We can't rule out a hardware problem either.

Therefore, the best path would be to get a spare hard drive if you don't already have one. Disconnect all other hard drives leaving the spare all by itself. Do a fresh install of Windows and only install crucial drivers and applications. See if the lockups reoccur. If so, then we can be confident it's a hardware issue. If not, then there's some kind of modification or infection on your old drive that's the problem.

The advantage of doing it this way should be clear - you still have your old drive with Windows on it so you can go back anytime.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[orypecos]

I liked the comment
"When it doesn't work out of the box, Dell should replace it."
But then U said that U have had it for about a year. Did it always have these problems? I was planning on getting a Dell when I upgrade, but if Dell has that many problems right out of the box, then maybe Apple is the answer. Their support is always rated much better than anyone else. As is their reliability.

I also like cdogg ideas to try and see if the problems are hardware related.

 

[Nohjekim]

Hi

I had the initial crash right out of the box.
I had just finished registering it and was about to start installing software.

I started to run defrag on drive C (I have 2 hard drives) and it crashed to the blue screen. When I tried to reboot it wouldn't. I tried to get it to boot from the windows CD and it wouldn't do that either.

I found out later the reason I couldn't get it to boot to the CD was that the Windows CD was a DVD and the computer did not come configured to boot to the DVD drive. So no matter which of the drives I put the disk in it wouldn’t recognize it.

I spent hours on the phone with Dell before we figured this out. By then everything was so screwed up I had to reformat, partition and reinstall everything.

The computer then worked fine for a while until one day it stopped recognizing the second drive, couldn’t make it see it no matter what I did. Unplugged it plugged it back in etc. This made Windows take like 30 minutes to boot, I guess because it was trying to read from the drive all the time. Unplugging the drive made windows boot normally.

More hours on the phone with Dell, trying to get my data back. Unfortunately I had to reformat the second drive and lost all the data in it. Fortunately I also have an external hard drive that I had most of my stuff backed up on.

It was about then that I started getting those random freezes. Maybe I botched something in the reinstall?

Anyway as I mentioned above Internet explorer would freeze all the time.
I could open it and it looked fine but within a few minutes of starting to browse it would just freeze up. I use Firefox all the time anyway so I didn’t worry about it.

So a few days ago I removed it through the Windows add remove programs window.

As I said above I noticed that my computer seemed to be working better. Since then I have gone back and reinstalled it, and believe it or not my computer has not frozen up for the last couple of days. Even when I open and run Internet Explorer it works fine.
It also seems to be running better then it was before in other respects, faster, and I think it boots a little faster.

Anyway I created a restore point names “Everything is working” and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

This has not been my typical experience with Dell Computers. I have had many, I have a XPS and an XPS laptop right now. This computer has had a lot more problems then any of the other (less expensive) ones that I have owned.

I'll let you know in a few days if the problem is really gone.

Mike