Hi Guys
Ok an update, I set Windows to manage the virtual memory on it's own, and it's either the same, or worse, but definitely not better.
---> wow I'm amazed this saved in firebox! while I was typing the above, my laptop completely crashed with a BLUE SCREEN with the error:
Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
NMI: Parity Check / Memory Parity Error
** The System Has Halted **
Ok that sucked, but finally a real error message has emerged! So I logged into Dell Support on another PC and got on live chat, and told them the error and about the memory problems I've been having lately.
They had me reboot and run diagnostics (the kind that take 30 min or more, they had to call me back). Everything passed (including the memory tests)
So Dell is now saying it must be something software related that caused the hardware error, because it passed the diagnostic memory tests.
I argued for a while that 'a hardware error is a hardware error', and that it's intermittent so it makes sense that it may have passed the test (not sure if I'm right or not)
Anyway, then they had me clear up my Windows "prefetch" folder, and do a Accessories->System Tools->Disk Cleanup and told for me to play with the system for another full day and see what happens. They are going to call me back tomorrow afternoon.
Can a software/os problem cause a hardware error like that?
Nat