umm computer weird freezing problems?

Question

ok so i have a dell c521, which i got pretty much 3 months ago. and since the first week the comp would freeze once and maybe twice or 3 times a week.
when it freezes, the screen goes crazy with all these crazy colors and then it just hangs.
i know its not a virus because it began even when i didnt have an internet connection.
could it be because i added the ram that cam with my older dimension 8400?
anyway umm what should i do? its kinda annoying when it freezes and i really want it to stop.
the comp came with vista but i reformated the hard drive and installed xp sp2 over it.
and umm yea, any one have any clue what i should do?

nop it started the first week i got the comp, which means no extra software and no internet connection, so no viruses

Answer 1

Well you can try removing the ram you added. If that doesn't solve your problem then it could be a software problem. Did you install any programs right before your computer started to freeze? If yes then uninstall it.

Answer 2

For the record, I'm a computer programmer with over 30 years' experience, and have a side-line job fixing people's home and business computers.

Since your computer is presumably under warranty, you should have either returned it for a free repair or replacement or refund, or called the manufacturer for assistance (I'd love to know why you didn't do that in the first place!).

The "craziness" you are experiencing usually means that something is trying to alter your video settings, although it is remotely possible, however unlikely, that your use of presumably mismatched RAM is causing it (bad RAM would cause the delays, but not the "craziness").

The fact that you reformatted the hard drive and re-installed an older operating system is a big clue that what you did was a big "no-no" (sorry for the technical jargon!). ;)

If I were you, I'd remove the potentially mismatched RAM and re-install the original operating system (your computer should have come with a disc that will let you do that), and pray that that will solve your problems.

In the future NEVER reformat your hard drive, even if a technical representative tells you to do so (it's strictly a "last resort", as it will completely wipe out any files you had on your disk, which may mean losing e-mails, programs, games, MP3's, etc, etc, etc; a lot of tech reps are lazy, and don't care about your files. I'm sure that you *do* care! In all my years of computer repair, I have NEVER reformatted an owner's hard disk drive!).

And NEVER try to be your own repair man without the technical know-how! (this goes for your car and anything else that you might want to "play" with!)

Good luck!