Computer's going weird
I've had my computer for 2 1/2 years. It's a Dell laptop with Windows 8. I've taken especially good care of it with proper carrying case, no eating/drinking around the computer, virus protection and malware precautions. And I hardly download/play anything (Itunes, Sims 3 and Zoo Tycoon 2 are the only things). Plus I make sure to keep the files clean so it doesn't clog the computer.
But I'm running into some strange problems.
First, the audio jack won't work. No headphone or earbud I plug in will play music. Only through the speakers.
Then google chrome acted up. No chrome symbol; just a piece of paper with Chrome under. I can't access it on my desktop. I have to go through the main page of the windows to find the chrome button and use that.
After, I started getting booted from the internet signal every couple hours. I'd have to log back into my wifi account again just to get internet access and it always takes several minutes (it was quick before and no one else has this issue)
Now, the error messages. Every so often, the screen will freeze up and then a light blue error message appears, restarting my computer (and also kicking me off wifi). So annoying!
Nothing online helped me so far. I did some scans on the computer but there's nothing wrong with my computer.
I'd usually rely on the tech guys in my family to help me but I'm 2 hours from home (college). Not back until Thanksgiving break. And Best Buy is too far for me to reach (45 minute bus ride plus 20 minute hike)
Anyone able to help me? Even one problem solved would be wonderful!
But I'm running into some strange problems.
First, the audio jack won't work. No headphone or earbud I plug in will play music. Only through the speakers.
Then google chrome acted up. No chrome symbol; just a piece of paper with Chrome under. I can't access it on my desktop. I have to go through the main page of the windows to find the chrome button and use that.
After, I started getting booted from the internet signal every couple hours. I'd have to log back into my wifi account again just to get internet access and it always takes several minutes (it was quick before and no one else has this issue)
Now, the error messages. Every so often, the screen will freeze up and then a light blue error message appears, restarting my computer (and also kicking me off wifi). So annoying!
Nothing online helped me so far. I did some scans on the computer but there's nothing wrong with my computer.
I'd usually rely on the tech guys in my family to help me but I'm 2 hours from home (college). Not back until Thanksgiving break. And Best Buy is too far for me to reach (45 minute bus ride plus 20 minute hike)
Anyone able to help me? Even one problem solved would be wonderful!
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Open a elevated command prompt (Win+X, select command prompt (admin)
Type sfc /scannow, it'll search for corrupted system files and attempt to repair them.
Check Dell's product page for you laptop for driver updates and install them or reinstall your graphics, audio and network drivers, uninstall Chrome, and restart, reinstall it.
Run a disk check, command prompt, type chkdsk /x, it'll say can't lock volume and ask to schedule at restart, type yes or y, enter, then type exit, then restart and let it run the scan.
Run a memory test, either the Dell diagnostics, the built-in Windows or grab MemTest.
Take a look at the drive's SMART data using HD-Tune or similar
If you're still having issues I would suggest backing up your files and doing a factory restore or reinstall Windows.
Type sfc /scannow, it'll search for corrupted system files and attempt to repair them.
Check Dell's product page for you laptop for driver updates and install them or reinstall your graphics, audio and network drivers, uninstall Chrome, and restart, reinstall it.
Run a disk check, command prompt, type chkdsk /x, it'll say can't lock volume and ask to schedule at restart, type yes or y, enter, then type exit, then restart and let it run the scan.
Run a memory test, either the Dell diagnostics, the built-in Windows or grab MemTest.
Take a look at the drive's SMART data using HD-Tune or similar
If you're still having issues I would suggest backing up your files and doing a factory restore or reinstall Windows.
I'm going to put something forward here that explains all of your problems and is a lot more likely than failing hardware after two years.
You had an update go bad. It broke the links to shortcuts, fucked up your sound drivers, and is now throwing BSoD errors because of other subtle corruptions. People scanning the computer can't find anything because it's subtle and nothing is wrong with the hardware.
Fortunately it's windows 8 so you can press start, type 'refresh', and follow those instructions. See if that helps. If not you might have to reinstall the OS, but that's not difficult either.
It could be hardware, but rule out the easy stuff first.
You had an update go bad. It broke the links to shortcuts, fucked up your sound drivers, and is now throwing BSoD errors because of other subtle corruptions. People scanning the computer can't find anything because it's subtle and nothing is wrong with the hardware.
Fortunately it's windows 8 so you can press start, type 'refresh', and follow those instructions. See if that helps. If not you might have to reinstall the OS, but that's not difficult either.
It could be hardware, but rule out the easy stuff first.
A number of possible issues that you could be facing with your computer:
1. It's possible that the audio jack is broken.
2. Freezing issue could either be the hard drive, failing RAM stick or the CPU heat sink that is full of dust that is causing the CPU to overheat.
What brand is your hard drive? If it's a Seagate, then you might not be so lucky since those hard drives only have a 70% to 75% survival rate in a span of three years.
Things that you can do to try to fix it:
1. Use a hard disk checking utility such as SpeedFan or HDTune to determine the current conditions of your hard drive.
2. Run Memtest86 via a DVD-ROM drive to determine what could be causing the RAM to fail.
I hope that this helps. The computer that I have is a custom built and it's designed to last much longer than laptops.
1. It's possible that the audio jack is broken.
2. Freezing issue could either be the hard drive, failing RAM stick or the CPU heat sink that is full of dust that is causing the CPU to overheat.
What brand is your hard drive? If it's a Seagate, then you might not be so lucky since those hard drives only have a 70% to 75% survival rate in a span of three years.
Things that you can do to try to fix it:
1. Use a hard disk checking utility such as SpeedFan or HDTune to determine the current conditions of your hard drive.
2. Run Memtest86 via a DVD-ROM drive to determine what could be causing the RAM to fail.
I hope that this helps. The computer that I have is a custom built and it's designed to last much longer than laptops.
Sounds like a number of different issues. Your audio jack sounds like it is possibly broken. The freezing issue is probably the had drive. However the freezing issue could also be a failing ram stick or a CPU heat sink that is full of dust that is making the CPU overheat.
Only someone who actually looks through the computer thoroughly will know what the issues actually are. It is best to backup your important files in case you lose them.
This sounds like the beginning of a hard drive failure right off the bat. Although it could be a number of different things. I would check with the Dell Diagnostic program by rapidly pressing F12 before the computer starts up and selecting Diagnostics.
It may take a few tries to get the pre-boot menu to appear.
It may take a few tries to get the pre-boot menu to appear.
I got it and it took awhile but tests were run. According to the results, everything's fine.
But I never knew I could do that. Have to keep the f12 in mind in the future. Thank you for that little info!
But I never knew I could do that. Have to keep the f12 in mind in the future. Thank you for that little info!
One of the reasons I like Dell is that they have that built into every computer they manufacture. I always like to run it first to make sure there's nothing wrong with the hardware.
As for your current problem. First off, I can say that the Google Chrome thing is that the shortcut on the desktop is corrupted. You can simply make a new shortcut.
The audio jacks, I would take a look at the device manager in your control panel to make sure the driver's installed properly. Even if it is, you can try uninstalling it and then restarting the computer.
Now the WiFi thing's a bit tricky. There's three commands you can try running in the command prompt, but first make sure to open the command prompt as an administrator by right clicking on the icon first. The first thing is to reset the Winsock by typing "netsh winsock reset". Also make sure to flush the DNS resolver cache by typing in "ipconfig /flushdns". Now this next part's going to take a bit of time, so after typing the command give it some time to run. You'll want to run a system file checker (sfc) scan to check for data corruption. For this you'll type "sfc /scannow". Restart the computer when all is said and done.
As for your current problem. First off, I can say that the Google Chrome thing is that the shortcut on the desktop is corrupted. You can simply make a new shortcut.
The audio jacks, I would take a look at the device manager in your control panel to make sure the driver's installed properly. Even if it is, you can try uninstalling it and then restarting the computer.
Now the WiFi thing's a bit tricky. There's three commands you can try running in the command prompt, but first make sure to open the command prompt as an administrator by right clicking on the icon first. The first thing is to reset the Winsock by typing "netsh winsock reset". Also make sure to flush the DNS resolver cache by typing in "ipconfig /flushdns". Now this next part's going to take a bit of time, so after typing the command give it some time to run. You'll want to run a system file checker (sfc) scan to check for data corruption. For this you'll type "sfc /scannow". Restart the computer when all is said and done.