I'm having problems with my m7700 computer. Just last week, it started giving me the dreaded "Operating System not Found" message, and one of my HD's was also offline. I rebuilt the array but continued to have problems. Sometimes, it detects nothing and I get OS not found, sometimes it hangs on the "Scanning IDE Drives" area, and sometimes it loads up normally.
Problem is, when it loads up, it randomly locks up after about 20 minutes or so. The computer shows the HD working light then just freezes. I've left it like that for hours, to see if it would unfreeze, with no luck. I tried disabling the card reader, no luck. I tried running fans into it, no luck. I did once get a BSoD that said something about a "Kernel page error" but I didn't write it down (hard to write legibly when you're raging). Now, I'm starting to get "unexpected end of memory" issues in Windoze, too, though they don't crash me out of Windoze, just out of my program.
I have an even bigger problem, though. I bought my laptop off of eBay, and Alienware won't offer me any support, even when I try to pay them. They told me they don't support their product unless the owner is the original purchaser. I have no way of contacting the original owner, neither.
I've been unemployed for 5 months now and I don't have a lot of money. It would be cheaper to have it fixed than to buy a new one if it is the MoBo, but I'm not sure if it has corrupted the HD's, RAM, Video Card, etc. From what I gather from these forums, the MoBo's last about a year in these computers. I don't want to have to keep putting money into this machine.
Overall, I've very disappointed with my Alienware experience. Granted, I did not buy it direct, but it is their product nonetheless. Given the original price of their products versus the amount of hardware issues I keep seeing on these forums, I don't think I'd ever buy another Alienware. However, I love this computer and I really want to keep it, but not if it's gonna keep costing me.
Any suggestions / advice?
**EDIT: It's the Area-51 Pentium 4 3.2Ghz
Problem is, when it loads up, it randomly locks up after about 20 minutes or so. The computer shows the HD working light then just freezes. I've left it like that for hours, to see if it would unfreeze, with no luck. I tried disabling the card reader, no luck. I tried running fans into it, no luck. I did once get a BSoD that said something about a "Kernel page error" but I didn't write it down (hard to write legibly when you're raging). Now, I'm starting to get "unexpected end of memory" issues in Windoze, too, though they don't crash me out of Windoze, just out of my program.
I have an even bigger problem, though. I bought my laptop off of eBay, and Alienware won't offer me any support, even when I try to pay them. They told me they don't support their product unless the owner is the original purchaser. I have no way of contacting the original owner, neither.
I've been unemployed for 5 months now and I don't have a lot of money. It would be cheaper to have it fixed than to buy a new one if it is the MoBo, but I'm not sure if it has corrupted the HD's, RAM, Video Card, etc. From what I gather from these forums, the MoBo's last about a year in these computers. I don't want to have to keep putting money into this machine.
Overall, I've very disappointed with my Alienware experience. Granted, I did not buy it direct, but it is their product nonetheless. Given the original price of their products versus the amount of hardware issues I keep seeing on these forums, I don't think I'd ever buy another Alienware. However, I love this computer and I really want to keep it, but not if it's gonna keep costing me.
Any suggestions / advice?
**EDIT: It's the Area-51 Pentium 4 3.2Ghz
