Hi guys. Been having this problem with my aunts dell inspiron 1501. When i came here, laptop was full of crap etc etc, slow, non responsive and all. So I wiped everything out, reinstalled everything, with new driver updates from the dell website.
 
Now, occasionally the laptop seems to freeze for a couple of seconds. I can only move the mouse cursor, but windows and everything is all frozen. Then the screen blacks out and comes back on with all functionality restored. Even less occasionally when this happens (what i said above) the screen stays blacked out and doesnt come back on. It stays frozen like this, and so have to restart the system.
 
I have no clue as to why this is happening, any ideas? thanks

Hm...I doubt it, but run antivirus/anti spyware/anti adware just to check. There might be problems in your registry, so I'd recommend running a program called CCleaner that'll clear out all the useless entries in your registry that might be conflicting. Remember to back up first.

yup already did all that. lol i even went as far to havin the hard drive replaced.

hmm, reinstalled the drivers yet again and its working now. weird, oh well, alls well that ends well i say
 
 
EDIT: grrr came back...

Hm...like, clean install and new hard drive and it's still doing it?

yup everything new, hard drive, new installation, latest drivers. I emailed dell about it (only have 4 days left on warranty). Lets see what they say, I know its gonna be nothing new though :I

 
What OS are you running? Also, I would advise you to go to PCPitstop's website and download their 'Driver Update' software from that website. It could and most likely is that there are newer updates for your computer that have not been put on the Dell website that would fix this issue, and this program can help you find them or, if you pay for the program, find them for you itself. Personally, I am still using the 'trial' version which it allows you to run forever without paying, and it gives you good information on what driver revision you should be looking for, enough to find it yourself in almost all cases.
 
Does your aunt surf the internet and go to 'shifty' sites? If not, it is not likely a virus on her machine, but more a driver problem. To be safe, I would install IE7Pro on her computer. It's a new program that solves 99% of the problems in IE7 with viruses and stuff by not allowing ads on websites that you go to, which is where 99% of viruses come from.
 
I also agree with the person who said to run CCleaner to see if there is a problem, but an even better program is TweakNow Registry Cleaner Professional, which is a 'try before you buy' thing. I use that only my own computer to keep my registry clean, and it has done it's job well thus far, keeping my registry in Vista down to less than 20MB's while breaking nothing.
 
This could also be a 'memory problem'. If you have Vista, press F8 when the options come up and it will have a 'Memory Tester' option (not the actual name, I forget the actual name). Run that, and if there is a problem, it's time to order more memory or if your computer is still under warranty...... send it back to the manufacturer for a memory replacement or some of them will even send you the memory and you send them back the defective memory.
 
Run anti-spyware and anti-virus software as well. If you don't want to install it on your machine, to save memory, use Microsoft's OneCare Online Scanner..... it has caught some viruses that even Symantec's Norton Internet Security didn't catch, but the reverse is also true, Symantec's product has caught some that the Online Safety Scanner didn't.
I would advise keeping Spybot Search and Destroy, as well as Lavasoft Ad-Aware on your aunt's machine and telling her to update and run it at least once a week, solely as preventative maintenance.
 
Lastly, if none of these suggestions I have put here solve the problem....... Get a 'Vista Anytime Upgrade' disc or Windows XP disc, try installing that on your aunt's machine, without using the Dell backup discs, and see if you still have the problem. If you do not still have the problem..... there is a program that the Backup discs are installing (if you use the backup discs) and I would advise contacting Dell and asking them if anyone else has this problem.
 
If the problem STILL appears after doing a non-upgrade install of Vista or XP....... some component in your aunt's machine is failing, so GET IT TO WARRANTY FAST. Also, back up everything that she has that is important on the hard drive to DVD if her computer has a burner or to an external hard drive or other computer if you have one and can transfer files between the computers, including her IE7 bookmarks and Firefox bookmarks if she has them.

THanks for replying. the OS is XP (media edition, hate it but anyways). Registry, Viruses, etc are all clear (uses firefox). Did a complete install of everything also. I did contact dell, obviously they couldnt pin point the problem as it happens randomly. But, the problem seems to have pinpointed itself, its with the display adapter or something. I got this error message today, took a screen shot (actually remember this error msg came once before, but forgot).
 

 
I had a look at the ATI catalyst controller. I saw the 3d refresh rate overide, as shown in the image below.
 

 
It was set to disabled, I then set it to same as desktop. So im just fiddling around this a bit, though i really dont have a clue if this an issue.. Problem hasnt happened again right now, so just waiting to see.
 
I will download the drive update software you mentioned, as might just be a driver problem. But then again, if it was, why would it give problems after almost a year. Hope to solve something by tomorrow, as if the video adapter is faulty should get it replaced. Warranty expires in 3 days :I

argh!. Ok, so now I have ended up getting the HD, DVD drive, Keyboard(was broken), Motherboard replaced from Dell and the problem is still there. The only major things left are the cpu, lcd and Ram, but i dont see how those can be causing the problems. Or can it?