Need Some Computer Help - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

RH77 · 08-22-2008, 12:28 AM

Hey all...

I have a Dell Inspiron 1520 (XP/SP2, Core2 Duo T7500, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 8400M GS)

It travels as much as I do. I'm not "hard" on it, but it takes some "road bumps" from time to time.

Latest problem: the AC adapter. Course of events in order...

AC Adapter fails
Dell sends a new (refurbished) adapter
I keep getting an error message that the adapter cannot be determined -- processor cores run at 1/2 speed and it's sluggish
Back with Dell, they offer to ship a motherboard to save time and offered a technician if I needed one (not part of my warranty)
Installed the board without a problem (no tech involved -- the online instructions were exact)
Plugged the darn thing back in and the same deal

We updated the BIOS version, tried other 90W adapters and nothing. Now, they wanted the laptop back to work on it. I convinced them to send a new AC adapter to try (the downtime is lengthy to ship out). They agree and one is on its way.

So any idea that this will fix the problem? It seems like the "simple fix" rule. I'd test the output with a multimeter, but it's load-dependent.

Thanks

RH77

NeilBlanchard · 08-22-2008, 08:21 AM

Hi,

How old is the battery?

RH77 · 08-22-2008, 01:47 PM

Well, the new adapter arrived today and the same issue exists.

The battery is original (bought in November/December of last year), and performs well.

They're going to send me a new computer. I'm hoping for an upgrade, but I have to backup everything on the HDD. They may redeem themselves if I get an upgrade.

I have no idea what this could be, and they don't either -- so it's probably going to get the re-furb or parted-out.

We'll see.

Thanks for the insight...

-RH77

RH77 · 08-30-2008, 01:35 AM

Dell was nice enough to send a refurb'd XPS model as a replacement, which has a few upgrades to what I had, including blasted VISTA!

This is the first time I've used it on my own stuff regularly. It was an unpleasant surprise. I ordered the original with XP specifically instead of Vista.

Any tips on cutting unnecessary processes or recommended sites with advice? "Deny and Allow" is driving me bonkers.

I have old OEM XP discs -- would a dual-boot answer some problems, or should I start clean and just put XP on there? I transferred my old files, but the organization isn't traditional. Does Vista have ANY advantages?

I have to figure this out fast to x-fer the files and return the old one in 10 days time or be charged for part.

Thanks!

RH77

ptsmith24 · 08-31-2008, 09:19 PM

Hey there,

First of all, you can turn the UAC (user account control) off by going to the Start Menu > Control Panel, double-click "User Accounts", click "Turn User Account Control on or off" (you'll have to go through that thing one more time

). Uncheck the box and click OK. Looks like you'll have to restart before it goes in effect. Hope that helps with that part.

I triple boot Ubuntu, Vista, and XP. I use GRUB as the main bootloader. When I select Windows, it uses the chainloader to allow me to select between XP or Vista. I find I spend 50/50 of my time in Vista and Ubuntu, so XP is just there just because.

Vista does have DX10, assuming you're a gamer. I really haven't had any issues.

Oh, another thing you can do is go to Start > Control Panel, double click "Programs and Features", then click "Turn Windows Features on or off". By default, tablet PC services are turned on. You probably don't need that (unless, of course, you actually have a tablet...don't believe that model is, but I'm not familiar with it). Also in the Control Panel, is "Performance Information and Tools". There are some useful things in there. Try playing around with that stuff and report back

Oh, one more thing: Make sure you're in "Classic View" in the control panel. You'll see that towards the top left of the Control Panel window once you open it. Then, the preceding instructions should make more sense.

Hope that helps.

RH77 · 09-01-2008, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptsmith24

Hey there,

First of all, you can turn the UAC (user account control) off by going to the Start Menu > Control Panel, double-click "User Accounts", click "Turn User Account Control on or off" (you'll have to go through that thing one more time

). Uncheck the box and click OK. Looks like you'll have to restart before it goes in effect. Hope that helps with that part.

I triple boot Ubuntu, Vista, and XP. I use GRUB as the main bootloader. When I select Windows, it uses the chainloader to allow me to select between XP or Vista. I find I spend 50/50 of my time in Vista and Ubuntu, so XP is just there just because.

Vista does have DX10, assuming you're a gamer. I really haven't had any issues.

Oh, another thing you can do is go to Start > Control Panel, double click "Programs and Features", then click "Turn Windows Features on or off". By default, tablet PC services are turned on. You probably don't need that (unless, of course, you actually have a tablet...don't believe that model is, but I'm not familiar with it). Also in the Control Panel, is "Performance Information and Tools". There are some useful things in there. Try playing around with that stuff and report back

Oh, one more thing: Make sure you're in "Classic View" in the control panel. You'll see that towards the top left of the Control Panel window once you open it. Then, the preceding instructions should make more sense.

Hope that helps.

Thanks! Definitely helps. It isn't a tablet, so I'll be disabling that feature.

I'm getting used to Vista -- it's just a frustrating learning curve after dealing with a system failure. My main 3 tasks on this system are Web, Office, and Gaming (aside from the Stanford Gene Folding Project).

I did notice that I could max-out the graphics settings in Flight Sim 9 and the frame rates were great. I still need to add-on the upgraded graphics packages to fully test it, but so far it's better than the other system. Much lighter too.

All files are now transferred and Firefox is installed and back to normal operation, so life is good.

I run Ubuntu some of my PCs in the "Folding Farm". DSLinux is a nice light OS that I've tried as well. I'm looking into a diskless setup for 5 of them (the 6th is a laptop with a failed screen). The other 3 are operable XP laptops with the final, 10th, as the Vista here (others: work laptop, DVD player/Media Server laptop, and my Wife's laptop makeup the roster). I take-in old computers and put them to work. When they finally die, they're off to the recycler or scavenge for parts. Vista just threw me for a loop

Thanks again for the help! Life is better already

RH77

ptsmith24 · 09-01-2008, 11:17 AM

Ah, glad I could help.

My laptop triple boots Ubuntu, XP, and Vista; Cheap desktop is Ubuntu; Awesome desktop is Vista.

You ought to set up a dual boot and go to Vista when you game and Ubuntu (or other Linux flavor of your choice) for web/productivity. Even a virtual machine would work if you didn't want to reboot between systems. You can also use Wine to run Windows applications through Linux. I haven't personally used it, but I've read good things.