I've been experiencing a lot of system freezes with the Dell Inspiron
530 with the Intel E8200 CPU, 2 GB RAM, onboard Intel 3100 graphics,
and Vista Home Premium.
Here are the problems I've seen so far (and I've seen each problem
multiple times):
- If I open Chess Titans (a chess game included with Vista) and then
try to open IE, the system will freeze.
- If I open Chess Titans and then don't open IE, it will play fine,
unless I try to maximize the window, at which point the system will
freeze.
- If I try to play a DVD using WMP, it will play fine, unless I try to
watch the DVD in full screen mode, at which point the system will
freeze.
- A couple of times I have left the computer and then returned to see
the system frozen with the screen all black and the circular Vista
logo in the middle of the screen. I think that means the screen saver
was about to kick in.
All of these freezes suggest a video problem. I want to update to the
latest Intel drivers, and intel.com does have a more recent version.
However, Intel says the following:
"The software drivers provided on this page are generic versions, and
can be used for general purposes. However, computer original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) may have altered the features, incorporated
customizations, or made other changes to the software or software
packaging they provide. To avoid any potential installation
incompatibilities on your OEM system, Intel recommends that you check
with your OEM and use the software provided via your system
manufacturer."
So then I went to the Dell website, and they do not have the latest
drivers posted. In fact, the drivers that they have posted are even
older than the drivers that they shipped with the computer!
So now I want to know if it will be OK to use the generic Intel
drivers? Or do I need a Dell-specific version?
> - If I try to play a DVD using WMP, it will play fine, unless I try to
> watch the DVD in full screen mode, at which point the system will
> freeze.
Even the 810/815 chipsets of days gone by will do this. (I know--I was
watching a movie on a Compaq Deskpro EN tower last night with a DVD-ROM
attached to a USB 2.0 expansion card. It worked flawlessly.)
> "The software drivers provided on this page are generic versions, and
> can be used for general purposes. However, computer original equipment
> manufacturers (OEMs) may have altered the features, incorporated
> customizations, or made other changes to the software or software
> packaging they provide. To avoid any potential installation
> incompatibilities on your OEM system, Intel recommends that you check
> with your OEM and use the software provided via your system
> manufacturer."
I don't know why they say this, other than maybe to keep people from
bothering them if some little thing doesn't work or they screw up their
system trying. Personally, I can only remember a very few pieces of hardware
for which this was true. And by "very few" I mean no more than one hand's
worth of fingers would be required to count them.
Use the Intel drivers if you want. They should work fine.
If you still have lockups, test and check your system's memory. (I'm not
above blaming Vista either. Vista and "advanced" graphics applications were
a no-no on a system I have with VIA chipset-based video. The same apps work
under XP without incident...go figure.)
Go with the Intel latest. Uninstall the Dell first and delete the
appropriate files in "Program Files". Then install the Intel drivers.
<void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ab07924b-2438-480b-bb20-ed65bb2cb50b@56g2000hsm.googlegroups.com...
> I've been experiencing a lot of system freezes with the Dell Inspiron
> 530 with the Intel E8200 CPU, 2 GB RAM, onboard Intel 3100 graphics,
> and Vista Home Premium.
>
> Here are the problems I've seen so far (and I've seen each problem
> multiple times):
> - If I open Chess Titans (a chess game included with Vista) and then
> try to open IE, the system will freeze.
> - If I open Chess Titans and then don't open IE, it will play fine,
> unless I try to maximize the window, at which point the system will
> freeze.
> - If I try to play a DVD using WMP, it will play fine, unless I try to
> watch the DVD in full screen mode, at which point the system will
> freeze.
> - A couple of times I have left the computer and then returned to see
> the system frozen with the screen all black and the circular Vista
> logo in the middle of the screen. I think that means the screen saver
> was about to kick in.
>
> All of these freezes suggest a video problem. I want to update to the
> latest Intel drivers, and intel.com does have a more recent version.
> However, Intel says the following:
>
> "The software drivers provided on this page are generic versions, and
> can be used for general purposes. However, computer original equipment
> manufacturers (OEMs) may have altered the features, incorporated
> customizations, or made other changes to the software or software
> packaging they provide. To avoid any potential installation
> incompatibilities on your OEM system, Intel recommends that you check
> with your OEM and use the software provided via your system
> manufacturer."
>
> So then I went to the Dell website, and they do not have the latest
> drivers posted. In fact, the drivers that they have posted are even
> older than the drivers that they shipped with the computer!
>
> So now I want to know if it will be OK to use the generic Intel
> drivers? Or do I need a Dell-specific version?
<void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ab07924b-2438-480b-bb20-ed65bb2cb50b@56g2000hsm.googlegroups.com...
> I've been experiencing a lot of system freezes with the Dell Inspiron
> 530 with the Intel E8200 CPU, 2 GB RAM, onboard Intel 3100 graphics,
> and Vista Home Premium.
>
> Here are the problems I've seen so far (and I've seen each problem
> multiple times):
> - If I open Chess Titans (a chess game included with Vista) and then
> try to open IE, the system will freeze.
> - If I open Chess Titans and then don't open IE, it will play fine,
> unless I try to maximize the window, at which point the system will
> freeze.
> - If I try to play a DVD using WMP, it will play fine, unless I try to
> watch the DVD in full screen mode, at which point the system will
> freeze.
> - A couple of times I have left the computer and then returned to see
> the system frozen with the screen all black and the circular Vista
> logo in the middle of the screen. I think that means the screen saver
> was about to kick in.
>
> All of these freezes suggest a video problem. I want to update to the
> latest Intel drivers, and intel.com does have a more recent version.
> However, Intel says the following:
>
> "The software drivers provided on this page are generic versions, and
> can be used for general purposes. However, computer original equipment
> manufacturers (OEMs) may have altered the features, incorporated
> customizations, or made other changes to the software or software
> packaging they provide. To avoid any potential installation
> incompatibilities on your OEM system, Intel recommends that you check
> with your OEM and use the software provided via your system
> manufacturer."
>
> So then I went to the Dell website, and they do not have the latest
> drivers posted. In fact, the drivers that they have posted are even
> older than the drivers that they shipped with the computer!
>
> So now I want to know if it will be OK to use the generic Intel
> drivers? Or do I need a Dell-specific version?
i don't necessarily disagree with the advice you have been given so far, but
what was your original motivation for installing the latest intel drivers in
place of the dell drivers that came pre-installed with the machine? if you
did not have a problem before, and were just trying to be proactive, then i
suggest that you roll back the driver to restore the dell provided one. if
the system then proves to be stable you know which driver you should use.
keep us posted.
On May 17, 9:19*pm, "Christoper Muto" <m...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> <void.no.spam....@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:ab07924b-2438-480b-bb20-ed65bb2cb50b@56g2000hsm.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
>
>
> > I've been experiencing a lot of system freezes with the Dell Inspiron
> > 530 with the Intel E8200 CPU, 2 GB RAM, onboard Intel 3100 graphics,
> > and Vista Home Premium.
>
> > Here are the problems I've seen so far (and I've seen each problem
> > multiple times):
> > - If I open Chess Titans (a chess game included with Vista) and then
> > try to open IE, the system will freeze.
> > - If I open Chess Titans and then don't open IE, it will play fine,
> > unless I try to maximize the window, at which point the system will
> > freeze.
> > - If I try to play a DVD using WMP, it will play fine, unless I try to
> > watch the DVD in full screen mode, at which point the system will
> > freeze.
> > - A couple of times I have left the computer and then returned to see
> > the system frozen with the screen all black and the circular Vista
> > logo in the middle of the screen. *I think that means the screen saver
> > was about to kick in.
>
> > All of these freezes suggest a video problem. *I want to update to the
> > latest Intel drivers, and intel.com does have a more recent version.
> > However, Intel says the following:
>
> > "The software drivers provided on this page are generic versions, and
> > can be used for general purposes. However, computer original equipment
> > manufacturers (OEMs) may have altered the features, incorporated
> > customizations, or made other changes to the software or software
> > packaging they provide. To avoid any potential installation
> > incompatibilities on your OEM system, Intel recommends that you check
> > with your OEM and use the software provided via your system
> > manufacturer."
>
> > So then I went to the Dell website, and they do not have the latest
> > drivers posted. *In fact, the drivers that they have posted are even
> > older than the drivers that they shipped with the computer!
>
> > So now I want to know if it will be OK to use the generic Intel
> > drivers? *Or do I need a Dell-specific version?
>
> i don't necessarily disagree with the advice you have been given so far, but
> what was your original motivation for installing the latest intel drivers in
> place of the dell drivers that came pre-installed with the machine? *if you
> did not have a problem before, and were just trying to be proactive, then i
> suggest that you roll back the driver to restore the dell provided one. *if
> the system then proves to be stable you know which driver you should use.
> keep us posted.
Actually I haven't installed the latest Intel drivers yet, I was
wondering if I should. But I just tried disabling Aero and suddenly
the problems are gone. I opened IE while Chess Titans was already
open, and the system didn't freeze. I opened Chess Titans and
maximized the window, and the system didn't freeze. I played a DVD in
full screen mode and the system didn't freeze.
So it seems like the onboard Intel graphics chip was pushed pretty
close to the limit with Aero, and doing some things that required
additional graphics resources just pushed it over the edge and caused
the system to freeze. Even with Aero disabled, the Intel chip can
still struggle. When you first launch that Chess Titans game, it
spins the board 180 degrees before it lets you play. If the Chess
Titans window is not maximized, then the spinning motion looks pretty
smooth. But if the Chess Titans window is maximized, then the
spinning motion is very jerky.
Maybe it's because I'm running in 1920x1200 resolution, and that's too
much for the Intel chip to handle? I will definitely be upgrading to
an actual video card.
Graphics driver question 
Linear Mode
