Laptop won't work at home, won't fail in shop

[shamrin]

My customer has an older Dell Inspiron 17xx. It's running either XP or Vista, I've suddenly forgot. The computer came in with a failing hard drive which was cloned and replaced.

A few days went by after the repair and the customer called complaining that the machine was freezing (isn't everything this winter!). He had not used the computer immediately after picking it up but when he tried it a few days later it froze after only minutes of use. This was repeated a dozen times. I was surprised because I had used the machine extensively, including for a 3 hour defragmentation, some surfing and general testing.

As the title suggests, when he brought the laptop in, we could not get it to fail. I left him to play with it for 30 minutes here and it just wouldn't crash. He took it home, and could not get it it to work, he reports that it just keeps failing.

Customer brings the computer back, we set it up with his external mouse and his power supply, the exact configuration he uses at home. He plays with it for 30 minutes, no failure, we run a 2-hour Youtube video twice, no failure. I stress test it with Prime95, no failure, measure component temperatures, no problems, stress test the video with Furmark, no problem. Use both of the USB ports, no problem.

We're obviously missing something here. What is it?

 

[Maniaman]

Never really seen this issue with a laptop, but I've had desktops cause problems like that multiple times. Almost always comes down to being a power problem when dealing with desktops. If he uses the laptop at home on battery does it still freeze?

 

[wavey]

Is he using the laptop on his lap? On a cushion or his bed? Could be overheating if thats the case.

 

[BrentfromZulu]

Perhaps an unstable program that is crashing his computer?

 

[nlinecomputers]

If he is like many with laptops they really use it as a desktop. Could be a hardware fault with anything he is plugging into it. Mouse? Printer? USB hub? Camera? On premise wiring fault? Shorted Cat5 cable? etc....

 

[ohio_grad_06]

Nline jogged my memory. I worked on a desktop system once where they reported various things, fixed it, cleaned it all up, they picked up, then called me that the computer was acting funny and all mad how they just paid x amount etc etc. Seemed like they were snarky about things a little too. Get out there, started systematically by unplugging everything, then add one piece in at a time, mouse keyboard, etc. Got down to their printer, and it had some type of flash memory that was apparently failing, throwing up errors. Unplug printer, it was happy. I had told them I would not charge for that visit, and didn't, but one of those times since they were smart aleck type people to you, you wanted to laugh in their face and say I told you so.

But anyway, check what he's plugging into. Have him plug only one piece in at a time and see if the issue disappears until he plugs in an external hard drive, flash drive, printer, etc.

 

[Doctor Mouse]

So many devices

So many devices, so many problems. Like ohio_grad_06 said, check what he's plugging into.

 

[Rosco]

IT might be the outlet. Had this happen once or twice. I would check if it worked running just on battery. MAybe a bad cable like printer or something. I would go to the house to see it happen in real time. In the end it will probably be less time and headache.

 

['putertutor]

Overheating might be the first thing to check. Find out if he is using it on a pillow or something of that nature. Given the 'new' nature of this issue this may not be the cause though.

As noted above, hw at the house could have something to do with this. I have also seen this on a desktop where the customer had bad power and the pc would freeze or die several times throughout the day. At the shop, no issues. Once returned, issues. Is there something new one the circuit they are using, like a space heater? Those are real power hogs and they cycle on a regular basis. Could account for the regularity. Of course, that would also indicate an issue with the battery. Ought to check that out too.

Might be time for a visit to the house to check the setup.

 

[codegreen]

Is he using the laptop on his lap? On a cushion or his bed? Could be overheating if thats the case.

This seems the most likely culprit to me.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

I had one of those (laptop) a few years back, couldn't get to the bottom of it. I removed everything from the equation apart from the power source. It even worked fine at their neighbours house.

 

[shamrin]

If he uses the laptop at home on battery does it still freeze?

Yes, still freezes on battery.

Is he using the laptop on his lap? On a cushion or his bed? Could be overheating if thats the case.

Apparently he uses on the arm of his chair, balanced. I've got him running it only on a flat table now, but he reports that it still fails.

Could be a hardware fault with anything he is plugging into it. Mouse? Printer? USB hub? Camera? On premise wiring fault? Shorted Cat5 cable? etc....

The only thing plugged in is his mouse, no printer. We ran it here for hours with his mouse, no problems.

Got down to their printer, and it had some type of flash memory that was apparently failing, throwing up errors. Unplug printer, it was happy.

It's almost always the printer, but in this case it's a network printer (or so he says) and not plugged directly into the computer.

I'm down to crazy things now. I've had him disable the WiFi and plug into his router with an Ethernet cable. I've told him he has to test it while it's on a flat surface just to eliminate that. Then...I don't know what.

Whenever we figure this out, I guarantee you it's going to be a forehead-slapper.

 

[BrentfromZulu]

You know, wifi seems logical. I would guess most techs just toss in a ethernet cable and use that. Perhaps it needs a new wifi driver, or he is using a demanding application that requires low latency internet connection, or he is on channel 1 frequency, same as neighbors, and next to a microwave, and everytime he makes popcorn it freezes..... might be a stretch but who knows.

Or a program crashes and eats memory, and he says his whole computer is slow, when in reality it is just some program that is corrupt....

 

[nlinecomputers]

What exactly is he doing? Is there a certain website he visits or a program running? Could be driver issue with wifi or something else. Check event logs for clues.

 

[Mr.Mike]

On premise wiring fault?

This sort of problem popped up at a client's house where his outlets on one circuit were delivering sub-standard voltages (87v - 90v) If he tries different outlets, does he get any stability? He can have his power company check his lines.

Good luck!

 

[mr m]

You said it also freezes while on the battery so it probably isn't AC power related. If you already ruled out external peripherals and bypassed wireless issues by having him use his cable modem direct it must be some type of environmental anomaly.

It might pay to disable the laptop's wireless radio in case it's malfunctioning.

At this point it would pay to go to his house, do some detective work and see what's what.

One advantage I have by making house calls is that you can see the computers environment for yourself. I've found issues caused by baby monitors, arc welders, two-way radios etc.

 

[isavecomputers]

Had similar issue and it was related to printer. Unhooked it from computer work perfect.

 

[ThanatosOfOne]

I have had TWO of these recently. One was the wifi card itself. Worked great at the office, died when client got home. Replaced card onsite and all was well. The second one was a desktop that ran fantastic at the office, and would run OK for a bit and then die at the clients site. In that case it was actually a network printer (HP) and the HP software that polls the network for printers was the culprit.

 

[shamrin]

I have had TWO of these recently. One was the wifi card itself. Worked great at the office, died when client got home. Replaced card onsite and all was well. The second one was a desktop that ran fantastic at the office, and would run OK for a bit and then die at the clients site. In that case it was actually a network printer (HP) and the HP software that polls the network for printers was the culprit.

Ding, ding, ding. YOU COULD BE A WINNER!

The HP network software is an interesting idea, have you noticed how their (IMO crappy) software causes machines in the shop to slow down every 10 seconds or so during the poll? Whether they found a printer or not could surely impact the operation of the computer.

However, this might just be something weirder. Customer reports that the unit DOES NOT FREEZE when he disables the WiFi and connects with the Ethernet as I asked him to do. He says that it does crash if he leaves the WiFi on and connects the Ethernet.

I don't see how this could be a WiFi driver or hardware issue per se because we ran the machine extensively with the WiFi here but maybe there is some interaction with his router or printer that's killing it.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I don't see how this could be a WiFi driver or hardware issue per se because we ran the machine extensively with the WiFi here but maybe there is some interaction with his router or printer that's killing it.

Ive seen the opposite happen when an atheros wifi card was close enough to a router it downed the network. I havent seen a system freeze because of wifi but i think its certainly a possibility.