Wordman-GL wrote:
> Data: I own (the last of this brand that I will ever own) a
> 2-year-old Dell XPS laptop (bought new, mind you). I have been warned
> by friends that the motherboards in this brand has a tendency to
> degrade.

The XPS series is aimed at consumers, not professionals. They do have issues
with motherboards on certain machines in the range (google 'XPS
Motherboard'). For your next laptop, talk to your friends, or buy from the
Dell D- series (different manufacturer, much better quality)

Back to your issue; firstly, remove and replace the memory. If you still
have the problem, run the Dell diagnostics and see if there is any issue
with the hardware - especially test the memory chips. If you can find
similar chips elsewhere (in a friends laptop, for instance) try those out as
well.

If it's the motherboard, then I hope you got a 3-year warranty on it -
otherwise, it might be more cost effective to buy a new laptop. The price
varies by model, though.

Nothing in your message indicates that the external drive could be the
problem - if it was only files on the external drive that wouldn'topen, I'd
be more concerned about it. Note that problems with external drives are
mostly related to blown USB drive controllers - the drive itself is usually
fine.

HTH,

Pete.
--
Peter Connolly
http://www.kpdirection.com
Utah