9400 crashes for no reason

Are you by chance overclocking that 7900GS? If not I would download memtest and run it overnight to test the memory...

Called troubleshooting.

Yeah, start with Memtest overnight to isolate the memory as an issue. The memory modules Dell ships these with are of rather questionable quality... Just a good place to start. Some of these 9400/E1705's have a strange issue that causes a Memory Parity BSOD, but since you are not getting the BSOD then we just have to take this one step at a time. Memtest will run in a pre-windows environment and will thoroughly test all aspects of your system RAM. Report back with your results and we can try other things.

Assuming you have a Nvidia GFX card, try to install the 92.91 drivers from:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/
if you haven't done already.

Regards,
-Mat

Prime95 is more of a "stability" testing utility for OCed systems, though it might work. Try Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/) which can be used from any bootable USB drive. You can use HP's USB drive utility to make any USB stick drive bootable.

Regards,

zakaluka2.

IS there a certain program you use right before it crashes or is it completely random?

keep a physical log of the programs and/or settings you are using when it freezes (assuming it's not a problem with your memory)

Before you reformat, go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer. See if any applications logged an error in any of the various logs available there. This might provide you a clue.

BTW, it is possible to screw up a Windows install so that it causes random hard freezes. I've done it many times. However, it is a little hard to do, esp. by accident.

I'm leaning more towards it being a hardware problem. One thing I recommend is turning off all Powermizer settings for the nVidia, ie, running it at full power all the time. Turning on any Powermizer settings caused massive instability on my system.

Regards,

zakaluka2.

Again you might want to keep a physical log (on paper) and record what program or services (like wirless for example) that your using when it crashes, before you reformat.

And if formatting your computer doesnt bother you at all you might as well go ahead and do that to eliminate the OS as a problem im future crashes.

I have a similar problem, and have reason to believe it has to do with a windows update. Probably in combination with some other software setting.

My 9400 also crashes at random. Might be while working, or while I'm away (in screensaver mode, but not in standby). Once every 5 or 6 crashes I do get a BSOD, mentioning something about an IRQ line.

I have ran Memtest86+ overnight, I think it did about 14 passes. Memory is OK.

Sometimes when it crashes the power on the USB is cut (the mouse light dies), and sometimes it doesn't.

But, and this I find interesting, I run 2 copies of WinXP on the 9400. The stock XP Home for games and a copy of XP Pro for work. I haven't been gaming for quite some time when I fired up the XP Home the other day. It downloaded a milion updates for windows which I didn't install right away. I played some games. The XP Home never crashed. After installing the updates and rebooting it crashed within the hour.

I haven't had time to figure out which update is cuasing this (or at least triggering the cause), but I do have a starting point for my search now.

It might be the same for your system, but then again, it might not... If you have time to spare it might be worth a shot to uninstall some updates (or run system restore) and see if the problem goes away.

Ooo I studied this (I go to a tech school and im in a computer trade).

I beleave the IRQ line or Interrupt request line is a connection the processor uses to communicate with other hardware devices each device has it's own line and if two devices are assigned to the same line that can cause a conflict, maybe thats your problem

I sugest reformating (if you know how and are willing to go through the hassle) then see if you still have the problem or see if you have it after an automatic update.

If you still have the problem after reformatting, that would sugest that you have a hardware problem, or a conflict possibly.