This is a very weird problem and workaround I'd like to find some explanation for. The workaround I'm using is OK, I'm not seeking a workaround but understanding (a proper, permanent, solution would be nice). It's probably not a capacitor problem as such. Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop, latest (last) BIOS. AMD Turion CPU. Windows 7/32 not officially supported but works fine in all other ways.
Under Win7/32 the machine is set up to display a preview of open programs by hovering over the toolbar icon. This is actually essential, as right-clicking the preview is the only way to access some context menus. The problem and workaround has been documented; it is specific to this and possibly a few other Dell laptop computers. Problem: the preview is not displayed; and tooltips in general are displayed for less than a second, rather than as long as hovered over. This problem happens after months or years of use, and is persistent. Only workaround: disconnect power and remove battery. Hold down "on" switch for 15" (I'm not sure if holding switch is essential, it's difficult to check details of a problem which occurs at intervals of months). Reconnect power, and the preview and tooltips are back to normal for weeks or months (I have had to do this just twice, the first time when the machine was perhaps 4 years old, some months after installing Win 7). Simply powering down and restarting does not work. I am virtually certain that there is no malware issue - machine works perfectly in other ways, many malware checkers find nothing.
I would have said that this is impossible and can't happen. There might be a memory location which takes on contents that cause the problem, and is never written to or erased, but whose contents are preserved, once set, so long as there is standby power. Can anybody cast any light on this odd problem? I can't run any tests in the problem state as it's been working OK for months since last fix. Thanks
Under Win7/32 the machine is set up to display a preview of open programs by hovering over the toolbar icon. This is actually essential, as right-clicking the preview is the only way to access some context menus. The problem and workaround has been documented; it is specific to this and possibly a few other Dell laptop computers. Problem: the preview is not displayed; and tooltips in general are displayed for less than a second, rather than as long as hovered over. This problem happens after months or years of use, and is persistent. Only workaround: disconnect power and remove battery. Hold down "on" switch for 15" (I'm not sure if holding switch is essential, it's difficult to check details of a problem which occurs at intervals of months). Reconnect power, and the preview and tooltips are back to normal for weeks or months (I have had to do this just twice, the first time when the machine was perhaps 4 years old, some months after installing Win 7). Simply powering down and restarting does not work. I am virtually certain that there is no malware issue - machine works perfectly in other ways, many malware checkers find nothing.
I would have said that this is impossible and can't happen. There might be a memory location which takes on contents that cause the problem, and is never written to or erased, but whose contents are preserved, once set, so long as there is standby power. Can anybody cast any light on this odd problem? I can't run any tests in the problem state as it's been working OK for months since last fix. Thanks
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