Frequent blank screen crashes

R

raylaur

New Member
I am recently experiencing frequent crashes where the screen goes blank. The only way out is a hard reboot. This seems to be a common problem and I haven't found a clear solution (yet). Can anyone help?

Symptoms:

- sudden poor performance with mouse pointer sticking
- Mouse clicks don't work, Ctrl-Alt-Del don't work.

Sometimes after reboot I get a screen filled with !!! exclamation marks. Usually don't see the pre-Windows info on the screen (maybe due to monitor going to sleep)

- had to restore system a couple of times
- I tried upgrading my graphics card drivers (nVidia GEForce 8600 GT)
- Did virus/spyware scans with Zone Alarm and Spybot. Nothing detected by Zone Alarm and the usual Ad cookies detected by Spybot
 

My Computer

System One

Welcome

If you are experiencing the BSOD, follow these instructions

BSOD=Blue Screen of Death. Did your blank screen turn blue?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Thanks for your suggestions.

I ran malwarebytes and found Broken.OpenCommand threats in the system registry. Apparently this is harmless (from posts I've read).

I ran tests on memory and hard drive with no problem.

Then I did a video test and my system crashed. I was about to replace my graphics card with another one I have and noticed air vents on my PC completely blocked with dust. You did mention overheating and I now think this might be the real problem. I've been running the computer all day after cleaning the vents and so far the problem hasn't returned.
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
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