Have I damaged my dells hardware?

_tom_

_tom_

_tom_

Associate
Joined
26 Mar 2008
Posts
161
Location
Leicester & Northants, UK
My old laptop (Dell Inspiron 6000) was running really slow so I formatted it and installed a fresh copy of xp pro. However its still running really slow. Reckon I've nackered the hardware on it or is it fixable?

I used to play a lot of CS:S on it and do some video editing and photoshop stuff on it as well, which wasnt really recommended for the spec but it used to run things ok, was just quite slow at opening photoshop and premiere pro.

Any ideas?
 
I highly doubt you have broken anything, you need to install the drivers for the notebook from Dell's website.
This is especially true for the video drivers, when you scroll does it jerk?
 
Dont think so, its just really sluggish, takes ages to startup, open programs and things like that. I thought it'd just got bogged down with all the crap that I'd had on it but its still really slow even with a fresh install :(
 
how old is it? It could be that dust has built up inside - this can stop it from getting rid of heat buildup and thus cause it to throttle the processor.
 
It's a few years old (had it since xmas of '05 I think), I guess it needs properly cleaning out as it can get quite hot. I've hoovered the vents before which cooled it down a bit but it builds up quickly. Reckon I should take it apart to get inside and properly clean it out, or take it to a shop to get done?
 
Its not hard to do, jsut pop the keyboard off and you should have access to the Heatsink.

All at your own risk of course.
 
Rather than rushing into taking it to pieces, why not use some software tools to see how the hardware is running/performing. Check processor speed under load, cpu and hd temps etc. As a previous poster has already stated, making sure you have all the relevant and up to date drivers is your first port of call after a reinstall.
 
Yeah, I have my desktop as a main computer so if it goes **** up I always have this to fall back on :p
 
_tom_ said:
've hoovered the vents before
Click to expand...

not the best idea, you can damage the fans that way as they spin too fast (and they can send power down to the mobo which can mess things up too).

Take apart and blast with compressed air cannister after putting a finger onto a blade of the fan (or if the holes are too small, stopping the fan with something).
 
Benchmark the hdd with hdtune to see if it is running properly... I have found a lot of computers running slow because the hdd is not properly configured. Windows can on purpose slow it down after a few crashes or if windows was not shut down properly a few times.
 
Last edited:
Also, just check to see what the power settings are on the laptop at the minute (eg max battery, always on etc. as this will quite happily underclock your CPU, provided this feature is supported, and has cracked me up in the past)
 
Also consider how full your HDD is. I found that reducing mine from 85% to 50% seemed to make a huge difference to performance.
 
crazyswede said:
Benchmark the hdd with hdtune to see if it is running properly... I have found a lot of computers running slow because the hdd is not properly configured. Windows can on purpose slow it down after a few crashes or if windows was not shut down properly a few times.
Click to expand...

How do I tell if its running properly? Have just downloaded it now but I dont really know how to use it haha.

I think the HD does sometimes make clicking/other odd noises so perhaps it is on its way out.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom