Normally I'm able to figure out what's going on and fix a problem, but this one really has me stumped -- I need your guys' advice.
I have an Alienware laptop running Windows XP Pro, SP3. I've had it for over a year now.
The Problem:
Sometimes, my computer will crash with no warning. When I say "crash," I mean it simply turns off. The screen goes black, the components inside turn off, fan stops blowing, etc. I never receive ANY warnings or errors beforehand.
The only two "indications" I've noticed are as follows: First, if I am typing at the time, a second or two beforehand I will no longer be able to type. I can move my mouse around, but that seems to be about it. Second, sometimes the screen will flicker or seem to refresh. Normally when the screen refreshes (and your icons' images have to reload, and any folders you have open return to the "top") it happens quickly, but before a crash it seems to happen "slower" (the screen flickers black).
Only on two occasions has my computer BSOD'd following these crashes, and each time the screen shut off before I could see what it said.
Frequency and Other Stuff:
These crashes don't happen regularly, but seem to be connected to my use of the computer. Sometimes they're very infrequent -- once or twice a month. Other times, like lately, I experience it once a day or so.
What frustrates me is that I can't seem to trace it to any particular cause.
No particular program seems to cause it; however, from what I can tell, the more programs I run, the more likely it is to happen.
I don't think overheating is the cause, since these crashes occur when my computer doesn't feel very hot (and believe me I could fry eggs on the thing at times), when I'm using a cooling pad, and also in the dead of winter when my room is freezing.
And So...
That's what info I have. I HAVE contacted Alienware about this in the past, but they were completely stumped. (I would call again, but I believe my warranty has run out.) Because these crashes aren't always frequent, and because I can't seem to force them to happen, they had trouble determining the source.
If you guys think you know what it is, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Otherwise, I would like to know what else I can do to hopefully diagnose this problem. Are there any programs that I can run, that would catch the details of these crashes right before they happen? What should I look for in, say, the system Event Viewer?
