Solved! Alienware M17 Freezing

[Deleted member 322202]

I have an alienware m17 laptop the system specs are:
core 2 duo 2.26
4 gb ddr3 ram
250 gb hard drive seagate
dual ati 3870 video cards

Everything in the system seems to be fine but i get random lock ups to where the keyboard and mouse do nothing and it doesnt display a blue screen just freezes the
screen. im running vista home premium 64 bit i had problems just getting it to install. For some reason it will install xp, vista, and 7 32 bit version just fine with no
problems but if i try to install any of those that are 64 bit halfway through the expanding files it will freeze the system at the same spot 31% some reason it let me install
vista 64 bit when i put it into safe mode with networking but now whenever i go to install something it will lock up. it will run fine for hours surfing the web and all the
other things but once you try to install updates or big programs it will just lock up in the middle of an install. i have ran memtest86 no errors i did windows memory
diagnostics no errors and i did a disc check on the hard drive and no problems. i have all the drivers installed and up to date ive removed one of the video cards still the
same problem i even took one memory stick out swapped them and tried one at a time still i get random lock ups. i have checked the temp its not running hot at all
normal temps for everything. the last thing i can think of is the hard drive is faulty and isnt letting certain things be wrote on it. any help would be greatly apreciated.

bios are set to defaults and up to date too

 

[JDV28]

I would return it immediately instead of worrying about how to fix it.

 

[Deleted member 322202]

its gotta be something simple because it plays intense games with no problems

 

[JDV28]

Yea it sounds alot like a HDD problem. if its isnt the memory, and it wont let you install, and you are having OS problems, I also think that its you harddrive.

 

[Deleted member 322202]

we can eliminate the idea of it being the hard drive i just tested it on another pc and it work flawlessly its just strange that it freezes during the windows installs at the exact same spot no matter what disc i use it will do a total lock up mouse will stop and cd drive will stop reading disc i found it will install the OS if i install it in safe mode but then i just get lock ups when i get updates for windows ive narrowed it down to cpu or motherboard i find it hard to believe its the motherboard since it doesnt show any real signs of problems ive never had a cpu go bad before so im gonna try and find another cpu to sect in it see if it freezes still

 

[jooooalf]

Hi xscarypeople,

I have a Alienware m17 which has core 2 duo 2.53 | 4 G ram |dual ati 3870 video cards |160 G hard drive. And I have the exactly same problem that u have. My system got randomly lock ups, so I deside to upgrade it to win 7. I HAVE tried everything from update the BIOS, update the firmware of hard drive , change win 7 install disc, use a flash disk to do the install , but after all. I got system lock up at 52% during the expanding windows files section. I have also call alienware for a tech surporrt, but they just bullshit, and said since vista is ok, then they will charge me 70 dollars for upgrade to win 7.

After 11 times win 7 install trying, I give up. Hope u r more lucky than me . I was thinking the problems is caused by Motherboard or CUP, but it is hard to find out.

 

[Deleted member 322202]

had the cpu tested and it works fine so im down to a faulty motherboard im guessing its all i got left i ordered a replacement one ill update when i get it

 

[jooooalf]

u ordered it from Alienware? u r crazy. Dude, How much did they charge u? or U still have the warrenty.

 

[Alienwaresucks]

I have had the same issues as you both. After 11 months and memory, video card, cpu and hard drive replacements. Alienware is replacing the mother board. I have told them for the last 11 months that the hard drive controllers on the motherboard are bad. They are finally believing me. My issue came from file transfers of 13gig or greater.

Call alieware ASAP. I can tell you I will never ever buy one again.

 

[jooooalf]

About The hard drive controller on the motherboard , is it the hardware problem or the software problem? Do u know they replace the whole motherboard or they just modify the bois setting of the hard drive controller part?

 

[Alienwaresucks]

About The hard drive controller on the motherboard , is it the hardware problem or the software problem? Do u know they replace the whole motherboard or they just modify the bois setting of the hard drive controller part?

While bios editing may yield some results. In most cases the actual motherboard needs to be replaced. I did bios edits myself and with AlienWare support team. We even updated the bios to no avail.

Simply put..... THe M17's never should have been put into production. According to a tech I spoke to the M17 has the highest rate of issues that alienware has ever experienced. If you have the warranty use it. If you dont have it.... then hopefully you logged the issue before your warranty expired with Alienware. If you did log it they are required by law to fix that issue.

 

[jooooalf]

While bios editing may yield some results. In most cases the actual motherboard needs to be replaced. I did bios edits myself and with AlienWare support team. We even updated the bios to no avail.

Simply put..... THe M17's never should have been put into production. According to a tech I spoke to the M17 has the highest rate of issues that alienware has ever experienced. If you have the warranty use it. If you dont have it.... then hopefully you logged the issue before your warranty expired with Alienware. If you did log it they are required by law to fix that issue.

Great idea for the "log the issue" part. I did log that issue before for god sake. and I am going to use it since my warranty expired a week ago.


Thanks for ur information Alienwaresuck.

 

[Alienwaresucks]

Great idea for the "log the issue" part. I did log that issue before for god sake. and I am going to use it since my warranty expired a week ago.


Thanks for ur information Alienwaresuck.

Keep me posted on what alienware says. If they try to screw you I can tell you how to nail them. Good luck

 

[Guest]

Okay so im running an alienware M17 intel core 2 quad extreme processor 3gb ddr3 2x512 mb ati mobility radeon 3870 graphics card sounds pretty elite right? for a laptop, well i keep getting blue screen errors such as a clock process has been interupted in the 2nd processor or ones that say you should unistall or remove any hardware youve recently installed on your computer. . not only that but multi tasking ive tried to just browse the internet and my computer gets super sluggish sometimes like where the mouse is slow to respond and if music is playing it gets all choppy like a scratched cd.. I figured maybe its a virus so i tried putting my comp back a few times nothing improved so i was down to just reformating entirely, so ive reformated and i installed anti virus scanned 3 times on the first day installed my drivers etc, im still ahving same problem.. my comp only started acting up about 3 weeks to a month after my warranty expired wit alienware, now i call them to ask the most simple questions as to what can i do or what do you think it is, and the always reply sorry i can not help you it cost 60$ WTF anyways any help here?

 

[Deleted member 322202]

alienware m17-r1 laptop

Ok so its been awhile since ive replied to this but i finally got my problem narrowed down my laptop had a bad slave video card which was causing it to crash during games

and the motherboard itself has a fault in it and i figured out what was causing the system freeze up when i would let the computer sit there for a bit and go idle i put the

computer on high performance power option never froze once for a month changed the power plan back to balanced and it froze after i let it sit the for about 15 min so i

went into the power advanced options and started to mess with the settings and i discovered that as long as my laptops processor is always running at 100% in the power

settings it will never freeze i tested the processor and its perfectly fine so whatever chip that controls the processor when it runs on lower power is bad on the

motherboard anyone know what chip it is? i got a second motherboard that has a different problem so if i can figure out what chip controls the cpu power ill swap them out.

 

[jooooalf]

alienware m17-r1 laptop

Ok so its been awhile since ive replied to this but i finally got my problem narrowed down my laptop had a bad slave video card which was causing it to crash during games

and the motherboard itself has a fault in it and i figured out what was causing the system freeze up when i would let the computer sit there for a bit and go idle i put the

computer on high performance power option never froze once for a month changed the power plan back to balanced and it froze after i let it sit the for about 15 min so i

went into the power advanced options and started to mess with the settings and i discovered that as long as my laptops processor is always running at 100% in the power

settings it will never freeze i tested the processor and its perfectly fine so whatever chip that controls the processor when it runs on lower power is bad on the

motherboard anyone know what chip it is? i got a second motherboard that has a different problem so if i can figure out what chip controls the cpu power ill swap them out.

Have u upgrade ur os to win 7 eventually? Have u succeed to install the win 7 with High performance power option ?

 

[Deleted member 322202]

im pretty much just throwing that board in the trash i got a replacement and it works just fine now really sure what made that other board do that stuff gotta be something minor on it

 

[mkaluski]

Keep me posted on what alienware says. If they try to screw you I can tell you how to nail them. Good luck

How do you nail them? I've got the halting "freezing" problems too. I'm trying to get a new M17x out of them. I have a long list of problems.

Anyhow, how do you naiil them?? LOL

thanks!

MK