computer trouble/excessive RAM usage and crashing

[Stuart]

Please don't try the HiJack This without having a tech look at it first. It's not a tool to play around with

 

[ronhalling]

I personally think you should try doing a system restore to the date the laptop was last working fine then take it from there.........................Ron

 

[Kitah]

Ok, no hijack thing then- i thought it must have been safe and easy to do.

Ron, since i got the computer it hasnt exacly run as quick as i thought it should, but it has suddenly become far worse is all. It has always been slower than my previous XPS model.

 

[Bart70]

If it's faulty Ram the laptop probably wouldn't boot at all. IMO.
This happened to my PC when one of the sticks was bad.

Quite to the contrary....it is possible to have faulty RAM and never really see it unless you run a tool like Memmtest86 etc....

A faulty RAM stick can do all sorts of random things - I have just recently had an issue with a PC that would run fine for days then do silly things. MemmTest86 diagnosed a faulty RAM stick - Replaced it and the PC is fine.

If you are PC savvy - download Memmtest86 and burn it to a CD - put the CD in the drive and it will auto boot to Memmtest. Let it run for 24hrs and see if it gives you any errors (it will run a series of tests continuously writing algorithms to your RAM until you stop it). It also works on machines that do not have an OS installed as it is self booting. It will often detect faulty RAM that has not started to cause noticeable PC problems.

Not saying it is a RAM issue....but Memmtest86 will allow you to discount it before moving onto another cause - has gotten me out of trouble a few times now.

 

[mad_at_arms]

Windows did recently do an upgrade ( i.e. 2days ago) and it significantly worsened the problem..

Thats been a long running problem with dell.
At one of my work places the I.T. guy always had to "fix" the pc's (dells) after any system update.(Immediately running slow)
He said it was do to with the fact it was a dell and they more or less revert to a default performance setting after any type of update.