My best friend calls me up and says she is getting BSODs. I asked her did she do any updates recently. She says yes. I assume that was the cause of it. She is really good about not downloading malware all over the "friendly internets." Safe mode worked. I tried a system restore. That took forever and a day. Like 1hr. So I said bump that. I'll back up her stuff and swipe HD and Re-Install windows. I tried installing vista home premium and In the installation I got BSOD like 5 times. So I tried installing a Dell version of XP. It installed but it took almost 24hrs... What the heck? So now I am installing vista as an upgrade and it's already been like 14hrs. Has anyone heard of this before. I suspect it could be the hard drive or Optical Drive. If this is familiar to anyone please let me know.
Yes, that does sound a bit off. I had an e521 and vista/w7(rc) installs took at the most an hour or so. I would assume that it could be a number of issues: bad memory, burnt out processor, faulty HD, or a bad CD/DVD drive. Something is hampering the system. The best method do diagnose the issue would be to swap the stuff out and see if it helps. If you happen to have any old parts lying around, give it ago. Unless of course the machine is still under warranty. If so, give Dell a call and see what they say.
