I've had some time to examine this problem, and all I can say for now is
that it does NOT occur in SAFE MODE (SM). In normal mode it occurs every 12-20
minutes, even without launching any applications other than those from the
STARTUP queue.
I tried looking at the .DMP files, but you need a specific viewer. So I
downloaded the DMP viewer from Microsoft, only to discover that it only reads
.KDMP files in SM. If you try to read a DMP file it blows up. So, I shut it
down and I went cruising with WinXP for alternatives.
I found an interesting utility called Blue Screen of Death Viewer, which
appears to be quite powerful. It analyzes the DMP files and tells you what
caused the problem and why. Or at least that's what they claim. I doenloaded
the SETUP file and I'll make use of it later, tomorrow at the earliest.
I'm not going to try second guessing this problem, but Ken's suggestion
makes sense. I'm not at all certain as of the suitability of the Dell drivers
that were installed, and the Dell website isn't much help. I understand that
the 32-bit Vista drivers for the Dell 6400 should be used, but you cannot
download those and install them. Instead, they have their Drive Doctor utility
that you download, run, and then it downloads the drivers and installs them.
Everyone wants full control.
Yes, you may both be right about the drivers. But, I'm going to give this
Blue Screen of Death Viewer a try to see if it will help narrow things down.
At least it's not going way off into left field with the system idle
process taking over the CPU.
>
>> Okay, Win7 is up and running. Mostly. It periodically goes into
>>some error mode, shows the Blue Screen of Death, then restarts.
>
>Chris, Win7 is a pretty mature and solid OS. I've been using it for
>years with hardly a hiccup. All problems that I've had have been related
>to stuff I plugged in. MS tech support has always been there to help if
>needed...well mostly but for one person who caused some grief a while
>back. A few months ago they helped me with the "ghost printer" issue and
>showed me how to fix it if it popped its wack-a-mole head back up. I'd
>say that's pretty good service for an eight year old product that tries
>to run anything that people throw at it...unlike Brand-X with its
>vertically structured control-freek business model.
>
>Based upon the symptoms I'm pretty sure that your problems are hardware
>based. I'd run a memory stress test and double check all drivers. I
>don't know how to test the power supply system on a laptop but that can
>be a "sleeper" issue with a desk top at least. Pull and re-seat things
>that can be pulled to make sure connections aren't corroded, etc.
>
Chris Trask
N7ZWY / WDX3HLB
Senior Member IEEE
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~christrask/
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