would this be hardware or software related?

[kami790]

I have a problem with my laptop. It is a dell xps m1530 with windows vista home premium and whenever i try to put it on standby, shutdown, reset, etc, there is a chance that it will crash. But it will only have that chance if I have it plugged into the power supply. It might possibly be hardware related because after it crashes and restarts, my fan and network connections refuse to work so I have to manually shut the computer down to get it back in working order. Has anyone else had this problem before? It's not urgent since i can turn it off by unplugging from a power source and running on battery but it can be inconvenient.

[MikeyM]

Hardware pretty sure. unless a program is causing the crash

[compywiz]

Hardware pretty sure. unless a program is causing the crash

lol @ this answer....

Define crash. It could be your drivers, have you tried getting the latest versions from Dell?

[splitLip]

Is that the original battery? If NOT, trying running on AC only and see if you crash.

-- split

[kami790]

Yes I have all the lastest drivers and the original battery since the computer was shipped from a dell factory (ordered online). I've only had it for almost a year.

[Ventrilo Host]

If you can, check in Control Panel > System > Advanced > Startup and Recovery > and see if you have enabled "Automatically restart" when there is a system failure. Disable if you have, and ok your way out.

However, if this is happening, it points to a system failure of some sort. Some causes of this are -
1. Virus, eg. msblast.exe. If you do not use an updated Anti-virus program, then you'll have to identify the worm or virus to fix it specifically by googling for the fix. Sometimes, running msconfig.exe from the command line or in Safe Mode and looking at the Startup section will identify the culprit (if you are familiar with your PC and what is allowed to start up wheneven you bootup). You'll then have to use another PC and go to Symantec, McAfee or wherever, to download their free removal tool to get rid of it; or
2. A power supply problem - lack of juice to power your installed periphereals (too many harddisks?, etc) can cause the PC to re-start. Upgrade to a good quality >350watt Power Supply;
3. What was the last thing you installed or updated just before this problem? Generally, if things were fine before, and you did nothing to get infected with a virus, or the power supply is lacking, then it could be a case of the last previous thing you did to your PC to cause this - a bad installation/driver update of hardware or software, etc.
In such case, an uninstall/re-install/use XP Restore Point/use Bootup with Last Good Configuration/Restore Disk Image will usually solve the problem.

[kami790]

This is an extremely late reply but I just wanted to say that I find to get around this I just have to make sure the battery is not currently charging when i attempt to standby/reset/etc.

I don't have automatically restart enabled so it is probably definitely a hardware problem. I'm starting to think that maybe it stops receiving power for a split second before it shuts down and restarts.

Don't know how to fix it but not worth sending to factory since it's easy to get around now.

[marie pavie]

Both, probably. I remember Vista shipped with weird settings for the ACPI states. You found a fix anyway, though...

http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=420&pgno=3