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Recently we bought a new PC. When i say recently, i mean back in November. But we have barely used it because i've been too lazy to put in the network card to get it working on my network.

So, since then, i've done all the normal things such as Windows Update and the general DELL updates. But there is one update i feel may have caused the problem and that was a BIOS update because the problem has only been occuring since then.

Basically the PC freezes completely within around an hour of running. The mouse doesn't move, keyboard keys do nothing and the screen just stops updating. The only way forward is to then keep hold of the power button to turn it off the turn it back on and repeat the process when it locks again.

My PC is a DELL DIMENSION E521 Dual Processor Desktop PC running Windows XP Home Edition.

I'm quite knowlagable with PC's but don't know as deep as the BIOS which i guess is the problem.

Could somebody please shed some light on this problem for me please?

Many thanks,
Nathan.

That does sound like a BIOS problem to me as well. The only way to fix that would be to look around in your BIOS for stuff that would cause that, or have your BIOS jumped. To have your BIOS jumped you would have to buy a new BIOS and a jumper or have a PC Expert near you do it.

Good luck,
Adam

Thanks for the quick reply mate.
****, that doesn't sound too easy. Is there no way of restoring the BIOS to it's factory settings? Or would doing so wipe my files clean?

Thanks again,
Nathan.

Sorry, no there isn't. The BIOS has nothing to do with your Hard Drive. It is a little memory chip on your motherboard. And the only way to put it back would be to jump your BIOS.

Good luck,
Adam

Hello,

My name is Mike, I’m a Technical Analyst located at Dell corporate headquarters in Round Rock, TX. I’m part of an internet outreach team developed to interact with the online community regarding technical questions and issues that customers face with Dell products. I’ve read your question and wanted to chime in.

You can back flash the BIOS to any revision available on our website. I would recommend only back flashing by one revision at a time though, and only if completely necessary. In the case of the E521 you can flash the bios back by going here. The original BIOS is version 1.0.0, the first revision is 1.0.3, and the newest revision (which I believe is what you’ve installed) is 1.1.4. To take a look at what the BIOS revisions are for please look at the “Fixes and Enhancements” section on the BIOS download page.

Unfortunately, a flash is the only way to do this as the previously suggested method of shorting the jumpers will only clear the BIOS settings back to default, this will not flash the BIOS back to the original version. I hope this information is helpful.

Thank you,

Mike
Dell customer advocate