Vostro 3520 keeps crashing

... Recently Dell drivers update app could not detect critical updates for Intel devices. I needed to use Intel app for this. ...

Hi @fabioluzo :

What is your Windows operating system [if Win 10 or Win 11, include the version and OS build number shown at Settings | System | About | Windows Specifications or open a Run dialog box (Windows key + R) and enter winver] and current BIOS version.  To find your BIOS version open a Run dialog box (Windows key + R), enter msinfo32 to open your System Information, and look for the field named "BIOS Date/Version".

If you are referring to the Intel Driver & Support Assistant v24.x, be very cautious about installing drivers recommend by that utility, since those are generic recommendations for drivers for your Intel hardware components that have not been certified for compatibility with your Dell BIOS.  As a general rule I do not apply any Dell software or drivers on my Inspiron 5584 unless they are recommend by Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.x and also appear on my Inspiron 5584 support page.  I know of several users who have had BSODs after installing an Intel driver (especially a newer driver for their Intel graphics GPU) that was recommend by the Intel Driver & Support Assistant.

When you visit the support page for your Vostro 3520 at https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/vostro-15-3520-laptop/drivers always be sure to click the "This Device" tab and enter your unique Service Tag to ensure the list of recommended Dell software and drivers you see is filtrated for your system components.

Further to your 01-May-2024 post in TheRoots' Dell Automatic Drivers and Downloads Update not Working, please note that the recommenced version of Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.x for your Vostro 3520 is currently v5.2.0, not v5.3.0.  A v5.3.0 installer will not be posted on your Vostro 3520 support page (or detected by utilities like SupportAssist v4.x and/or Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.x)  until it has been certified for your system.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4291 * Firefox v125.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24030.9-1.1.24030.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.1.3.110-1.0.1219 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Dell Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.22.1

...Windows report keeps showing that there's some hardware error, for LiveKernelEvent codes 117, 143 and 193, product 768_1. I run all the tests that Dell support agents ask, but no solution comes....

Hi @fabioluzo :

If you haven't already done so, I would suggest that you run scans with DISM and System File Checker just to make sure your Windows system files are okay.  First, open an elevated command prompt with Administrator rights and enter the command Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth.  If that scan does not detect any problems with your component store then run the command sfc /scannow to see if it can detect and repair any issues with your system files.  If either of those scans detects a problem post back and let us know what message it displayed.  See the ghacks.net article Use DISM to Fix Issues SFC Can’t for more information about these scans.  Here's an image I captured on my Win 10 Pro v22H2 machine on 29-Apr-2024:

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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4291 * Firefox v125.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24030.9-1.1.24030.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.1.3.110-1.0.1219 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Dell Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.22.1

@lmacri​ my system: Windows 11.

Dell sent me an email advising to install v5.3.0.

Anyway, version 5.2.0 didn't work well the same way.

About "this device": yes, that's the way I do.

Details of my notebook:

@lmacri​ I did all of these also.

I stayed with Dell agent support on chat for hours, run all the tests including these ones.

In the end he said that there's an error on supportassist that cannot run hardware tests.

That's a shame, and that's why I'm trying to figure out how to solve it.

My Vostro 3520, brand new one, keeps crashing almost every day.... Windows report keeps showing that there's some hardware error, for LiveKernelEvent codes 117, 143 and 193, product 768_1.

Hi @fabioluzo :

What is the name and driver version of the graphics device(s) installed in your Vostro 3520 (.g., NVIDIA GeForce MX350 with driver v31.0.15.4659)? A Google search of your LiveKernelEvent error codes shows these errors are often associated with graphics drivers.  I do not have a discrete graphics card (e.g., NVIDIA GeForce, AMD Radeon, etc.) installed in my Inspiron 5584 and the only graphics device listed in my Device Manager is the Intel UHD Graphics 620 GPU (driver v27.20.100.9664) that is integrated on my motherboard.

I don't know what SupportAssist version is currently installed on your system (I believe the current version is v4.0.2 - your version number should be listed at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features) , but if you haven't already done so I would advise that you disable all automatic background update checks, scans and system optimizations (i.e., log in as an Administrator, launch SupportAssist and go to Setting | Scans and Optimizations | Open) as instructed in the SupportAssist for Home PCs v4.0 User’s Guide just in case one of these scheduled tasks is causing your system to crash.  I no longer have SupportAssist installed on my Inspiron 5584 (it was too buggy and used too much RAM and CPU, and optimization scans were too aggressive), but when this utility was installed I kept all automatic background tasks disabled and only ran manual update checks and hardware diagnostics from the Home tab.

You might also find some useful information about your system crashes and / or errors in you Windows 11 Reliability Monitor.  See Brink's ElevenForums tutorial View Reliability History in Windows 11.
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When you say that your Vostro 3520 "keeps crashing almost every day" does that mean that you are seeing a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), and if so do you know if your BSODs are generating full dump files and / or mini-dump files?  On my Win 10 Pro v22H2 machine full dump files named MEMORY.DMP are created in C:\Windows, and mini-dump files are located in a protected system folder at C:\Windows\Minidump.

If your BSOD generate a full MEMORY.DMP file I’d suggest you post in BleepingComputer’s Windows Crashes and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Help and Support board where a specialist can perform a free diagnosis with the Windows Debugger (WinDbg). See their posting guidelines <here> for the type of information they will need in your initial post.

You can use a free utility like BlueScreenView and / or WhoCrashed to analyze mini-dump files. See my 14-Oct-2020 post in LawrenceJohnston’s My Vista Machine Frequently Gets the Blue Screen of Death – Help in the MS Answers forum where I post as user GreatWhiteNorth for instructions on using BlueScreenView. As I noted in that post, these free utilities only list basic details (e.g., filename, product name, file description, and file version) of the suspected driver or module that was loaded in the crash stack at the time of the crash so they aren’t as accurate as a detailed Windows Debugger (WinDbg) analysis of full dump files, but they are sometimes able to correctly identify the name of the driver or module causing a BSOD.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4291 * Firefox v125.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24030.9-1.1.24030.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.1.3.110-1.0.1219 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Dell Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.22.1

@lmacri​ answers:

Nvidia driver, updated (according to Nvidia app):

Supportassist version: 3.14.2.45116

This is the last version installed as per Dell support instruction last week.
Where is the version 4.0.2 to download? Couldn't find it.

My notebook freezes, and crash often. Almost everyday. I provided all details to Dell support. I will check later details on what you described and sent.

... Support assist cannot run hardware check. Dell support said to me that they now about this problem and that I need to wait for a new version! ...

Hi @fabioluzo :

You do not need SupportAssist to run a hardware diagnostic.  Instead, run the F12 ePSA (enhanced Pre-boot System Assessment) hardware diagnostics from your Dell BIOS.  Instructions are available in the Dell support article How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer and a companion video is posted on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cfFECs5Qa0.

... Supportassist version: 3.14.2.45116.  This is the last version installed as per Dell support instruction last week.  Where is the version 4.0.2 to download? Couldn't find it ...

That's good, because SupportAssist v3.14.2 is currently the most stable version of SupportAssist.  SupportAssist v4.0.x was released on 01-Feb-2024 but it is so buggy that I believe that Dell recently stopped its rollout and removed it from their download servers. Once Dell has fixed some of the more serious bugs a v4.0.x update will be automatically detected and installed when SupportAssist v3.14.2 is launched.

SupportAssist v3.14.2 will automatically run a self-check for an available program update at each launch, and you can also start a manual check for a program update at Options (gear icon) | Settings | About.  Here is an old image I captured in February 2023 when SupportAssist v3.13.2 was still installed on my Inspiron 5584:

Dell employee DELL-Chris M's 11-Apr-2024 topic SupportAssist 4.0.2 Available has a link to the latest online (stub) installer called SupportAssistInstaller.exe, but that stub installer is just a small ~ 1.2 MB download manager that manages the entire download and installation of the SupportAssist version currently recommended for your system.  If you uninstalled SupportAssist v3.14.2 today and ran SupportAssistInstaller.exe I suspect it would simply re-install v3.14.2.  See the 27-Mar-2024 Dell support article Wrong Version of SupportAssist for Home PCs is Installed about some of the known issues with SupportAssist v4.0.x and why v3.14.2 might be installed instead.

Unfortunately, all the documentation for SupportAssist at https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/dell-supportassist-pcs-tablets/docs is for SupportAssist v4.0.x.

... my system: Windows 11 ...

You didn't mention the version and OS build number of your Windows 11 OS, but your image <above> suggests you have Win 11 v23H2. Be sure to check your Windows Update history to ensure that Windows Update is running correctly and all updates released for the April 2024 Patch Tuesday on 09-Apr-2024 installed successfully. If you check your OS build number [e.g., go to Settings | System | About | Windows Specifications or open a Run dialog box (Windows key + R) and enter winver] then I believe you should currently have OS build 22631.3447 (KB5036893).
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4291 * Firefox v125.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24030.9-1.1.24030.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.1.3.110-1.0.1219 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Dell Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.22.1

Nvidia driver, updated (according to Nvidia app)...My notebook freezes, and crash often. Almost everyday ....

Hi @fabioluzo :

Do your crashes / BSODs occur randomly, or do they happen when your computer is performing a specific task (e.g., always at boot-up, when you are performing a graphics-intensive task like watching a video or gaming, when you try to bring your system out of sleep mode, when your antivirus runs a scheduled scan for malware, etc.)?

I would still advise that you ask Dell customer support to run a Windows Debugger (WinDbg) analysis of your dump files, or to post in  BleepingComputer’s Windows Crashes and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Help and Support board as I suggested <above> and ask for assistance there. Hopefully, that will tell you which driver or module is causing your crashes.

____________________________________________

At this point my best guess is that you've installed a driver that has not been certified for your Dell BIOS.  For example, the support page for your Vostro 3520 at https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/vostro-15-3520-laptop/drivers currently recommends the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 graphics driver v31.0.15.4659 (NVIDIA-GeForce-MX350-MX550-Graphics-Driver_WJY89_WIN_31.0.15.4659_A09.EXE, released by Dell on 08-Apr-2024) but your NVIDIA Control Panel has installed a newer v31.0.15.5186 driver.  It's also possible that the Intel Driver & Support Assistant installed a generic driver for one of your Intel hardware components that have not been certified for compatibility with your Dell BIOS.

If you use a third-party antivirus on your system (e.g., McAfee, Bitdefender, Norton, etc.) it is also possible your antivirus real-time protection is causing a conflict. If the Windows Debugger (WinDbg) analysis of your dump files doesn't show the exact driver or module causing your BSODs then it might be necessary to wipe any third-party antivirus off your system (post back if you need instructions) and temporarily use the Microsoft Defender antivirus built in to your Win 11 operating system to see if this stops your BSODs.

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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4291 * Firefox v125.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24030.9-1.1.24030.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.1.3.110-1.0.1219 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Dell Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.22.1 * Intel Driver & Support Assistant v24.1.13.10

... I don't know what SupportAssist version is currently installed on your system (I believe the current version is v4.0.2 - your version number should be listed at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features)...

Hi @fabioluzo :

I just noticed a 29-Apr-2024 post by crimsom in UK SupportAssist for M18 R2 that shows that their SupportAssist v4.x was just updated to v4.0.3.61632 and that a hardware diagnostic scan ran to completion on their Alienware M18 R2 and detected a possible problem with their Intel UHD Graphics GPU.

However, I don't know if hardware diagnostic scans are now running correctly in SupportAssist v4.0.3 on other Dell computer models like your Vostro 3520.

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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4291 * Firefox v125.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24030.9-1.1.24030.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.1.3.110-1.0.1219 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Dell Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.22.1

@lmacri​ I did already this way, when the Dell support asked. Did again just some time ago. All tests passed, so no any hardware problem on my notebook.

However...

@lmacri​ ... just after new initialization my notebook froze.

It's randomly.

You know when even the Caps Lock key doesn't work? That's it. Nothing.
So I have two options: or to wait (can be minutes or many minutes) or to press the on/off key and hold to force the turn off.
This time I waited.
After this I checked the Windows reliability report (sorry about my translations):

LiveKernelEvent code 141 and 117. Product 768_1.

BTW: how bad is this way to report hardware errors that, in fact, does not show which hardware is the problem! You check it by these numbers and there's a lot of guesses on Google.

Windows report keeps showing that there's some hardware error, for LiveKernelEvent codes 117, 143 and 193, product 768_1.  I run all the tests that Dell support agents ask, but no solution comes.....

... You check it by these numbers and there's a lot of guesses on Google.

Hi @fabioluzo :

I also searched for these "product 768_1" errors and they aren't associated with any one hardware device, which is why these types of errors are so difficult to diagnose.  Have you posted in BleepingComputer’s Windows Crashes and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Help and Support board as I suggested to see if a Windows Debugger (WinDbg) analysis of your dump files can find the cause?

In many (but not all) cases these "product 768_1" errors indicate a problem with the CPU or graphics card GPU. I found one topic in the Dell forum where several users had to send their computer back to Dell to have their CPU (motherboard) replaced - see JRT3256's May 2023 Aurora R10, crashing on games after 5 minutes.

Some other users have reported that their "product 768_1" errors were likely caused by overclocking or some performance boost setting for their CPU or GPU. For example, see BlackPhoenixHei's Nov 2021 Constant Hardware Errors in the NVIDIA forum about tweakinig the 3D graphics settings in their NVIDIA control panel, and Particle's Feb 2023 Attempting to solve an issue that has been haunting me since I got my new computer (Livekernelevent 141) in the Tom's Hardware forum about needing to disable Core Performance Boost for their AMD Ryzen CPU.

Do you recall making a similar overclock or performance boost tweak to your CPU or GPU settings, or using a Dell utility to change the speed (power plan) of your cooling fan that might be causing your system to overheat?

While you're waiting for Dell customer support or BleepingComputer to analyze your dump files you might want run some third-party hardware diagnostics.  I'll post back soon with a few suggestions.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4291 * Firefox v125.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24030.9-1.1.24030.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.1.3.110-1.0.1219 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Dell Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.22.1

... While you're waiting for Dell customer support or BleepingComputer to analyze your dump files you might want run some third-party hardware diagnostics.  I'll post back soon with a few suggestions.

Hi @fabioluzo :

All the following utilities are free.  If you don't want to install these utilities on your system both HWiNFO and HWMonitor offer a portable (.zip) edition that can be unzipped at any location (including a removable USB stick) and then run by double-clicking the unzipped .exe executable. GPU-Z and CPU-Z are both portable apps so all you have to do is save the .exe executable to any location and double-click to run.

HWiNFO is a good choice if you want to see a summary of all your hardware components and driver versions and run some basic diagnostics (e.g., like checking the S.M.A.R.T. status of your hard drive - see my image below for my Toshiba NVMe SSD), but real-time monitoring is limited. Just note that Dell uses a proprietary algorithm to monitor fan speed on most of their Dell computer models so most third-party utilities like HWiNFO cannot monitor or control your fan speed - see my 28-Oct-2021 topic HWiNFO64 v7.12 - How to Monitor Fan Speeds in the HWiNFO forum.

CPUID's HWMonitor is a good tool for monitoring multiple hardware components in real time, including your CPU and GPU voltages and temperatures. If you launch this tool after boot-up and let run in the background you might be able to catch your CPU or GPU temperatures rising to dangerous levels when your system performs some resource-intensive task (e.g., while you are streaming a video in your browser or while an automatic task like an antivirus malware scan or SupportAssist hardware diagnostic is running in the background - see my 01-May-2024 comment <above> about disabling all automatic background tasks in SupportAssist).  Note that CPUID also has a specialized tool called CPU-Z for monitoring your CPU.

TechPowerUp's GPU-Z can monitor your graphics card in real time and the Sensors tab has a nice graph that can track changes in voltages and temperatures over time (see the image below from my Inspiron 5584, which does not have a discrete NVIDIA or Radeon graphics card and uses the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 chip on my motherboard).  The NVIDIA support article Collecting GPU Logs Using GPU-Z has instructions on how to use the "Log to File" option to capture a log of your GPU-Z output for a short period of time (WARNING: Don't log for more than a few minutes or the log file will be huge).

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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4291 * Firefox v125.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24030.9-1.1.24030.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.1.3.110-1.0.1219 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Dell Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.22.1 * HWMonitor Portable v1.53.0 * CPU-Z v2.09.0 * HWiNFO Portable v8.00.5400 * GPU-Z v2.59.0

@lmacri​ answers:

1) For the "

 BleepingComputer’s Windows Crashes and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Help and Support board as I suggested to see if a Windows Debugger (WinDbg) analysis of your dump files can find the cause?" I'm running now.

However, after many minutes, still with this:

That's hard when we need to rely on a third party sw to be installed and get details of our computer. I'm doing this because it comes from you on this community. Let's see what happens.

2) No any "overclock or performance boost tweak to your CPU or GPU settings", neither game app or something like that. Today the freeze happened after I turned on the notebook: mouse worked but keyboard no. Neither caps lock key (this one is terrible when does not work).

So, still investigating. I can go through the process you mention, however as a Dell Community forum I prefer that DELL SOLVES IT!
As I said: it's a shame that Dell supportassist can not even run hardware test properly, or suggest updates.

@lmacri​ I published on the BleepingComputer:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/797115/dell-vostro-3520-keeps-freezing-and-crashing/