Dell Inspiron 1520 Locking up/Freezing Up

Hey Purple dude,
Ya gotta use more brain power when coming up with solutions.
I got a frendz 1501 that he brought to me with the freezing issue. compusa can't fix it, dell could not fix it. so he brought it to me.
the problem with laptops is that you can't swap out CPU's or connected peripherals(Video card, Nic) So your stuck reinstalling the OS over and over again. Since I've been break-fix Tech for over 17 years(All Hail The Pc) I came across these type of probs b4. On a desktop when you are running 3d apps, games or just surfin the web and getting those cool pages with moving grafx and sounds, the processor works harder(gets hotter) so the cpu fan steps up RPMs to Meet the Heet, (keepit under 200 dgreez) on laptop fan does not come on till at max programed tolerated temp(to conserve battery) so you CPU gets to the melting point alot. So much that the CPU and or Motherborad start acting erratic, because one of the 2 are now DAMAGED.
OOPS!

The Fix. Dell must keep the CPU fan running and running faster when processor intensive apps are running, also(at lease for the Inspiron 1501) they must get a stronger battery, these batteries are so lite there seams to be nuthin in um.

Also I would like to mention after installing 53 Vista updates I haven't heard the fan kick on yet, but at least my laptop is quiet, unstable unreliable but quiet.

Supreme

My suggestion is that if you can, replace your hard drive with a new one, and then reinstall your OS and all drivers, but make sure that after you install the drivers, go to the manufacturer's websit and get any and all updates for your drivers, but once you get the updates, and they install, don't reinstall the drivers over the same ones that you just reinstalled, unless your computer says that for some reason the driver didn't install. I had the same problem that you are having, and I am a computer repair person, and so I was all confused as to why suddenly the issues started. But I figured it out. I had done bought a brand new hardd rive already, and had been meaning to put it in anyway, cause it is bigger. You might can just try to reformat your drive, reinstall your OS, and then do the steps that i had mentioned above Without buying a new hard drive. That might work. I just figured i would save myself later hassle and install my new hd. After I did that, and even now, i have not had one freeze-up, nor one blue screen, nothing. My laptop works excellent. One thing though, when or if you do take my advice here and try it, when you reformat your drive, make sure you reformat it using the regular reformatting. Don't use the quick formatting option. You will get nowhere by using that one. Thanks for reading!!

Is your fan running?

You baught a piece of crap!!! I did too. This problem is not rare. How much REM do you have? Vista needs 2GB. I'm going to try this. I just got a new mother board, didnt' help. I'll keep in touch