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February 14th, 2026 20:33
Inspiron 16 5640 freeze locking up
This is the second Dell that I've owned that started locking up. Customer support was not helpful with the last one either.
The laptop locks up after awhile. I can go days and then it locks up while sitting idle. I typically have a browser open and nothing else. I've disabled Chrome and Edge hardware accelerators, but it makes no difference. I also completely re-installed windows to get rid of any bloatware.
It's not related to temperature because it's happened in a cool room at 17C.
But when it does lockup, the fan starts going.
There is nothing in the Window's system logs.
BIOS, drivers, Windows etc are all up to date.
I've used the Dell diagnostics tools - no issues found.
I've run dos command line memory checks - no issues found.
And like the other Dell, it started locking up after the Costco and Dell warranty expired.
Is there anything else I can try?
LSUFAN51
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February 15th, 2026 02:48
I am assuming windows 11 is on the computer...
One of most common reason that causes a computer to freeze is insufficient memory. Do you know the amount of memory is on the computer? 8, 16 or 32GB? To find the amount of memory, press windows key and R key at same time. In command box, type msinfo32, select Okay.
In System Information, stroll down to Install Memory. If only 8GB of memory is on computer, I suggest installing more memory to your computer.
I also suggest keeping an eye on memory in Task Manager. Whenever the computer starts to freeze or the fan start running, open Task Manager and check Memory, CPU and Disk. If any of them is nearing 100% then your computer most likely will freeze, heat up or shut down.
Example:
SailingDreams
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February 15th, 2026 23:45
@LSUFAN51 Thanks for the info.
Windows 11
16 GB
I am currently at 85% - and fluctuates down to 74%. Although Chrome is using a huge chunk of it, I'm surprised that the other processes gobble up so much memory. Particularly after I re-installed Windows and haven't installed anything else besides Chrome and Surfshark.
I have the Chrome Memory Saver set to Balanced (Moderate is less agressive and Maximum is more aggressive )
LSUFAN51
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February 16th, 2026 22:59
@SailingDreams
Chrome is known to be a memory (ram) eater and Microsoft edge can eat up a lot of memory as well. I would still think 16GB of memory would be more than enough to handle both browsers. I remember 16GB of memory could handle any browser or processes easily in the old days of the computer world. Now,16GB is becoming an afterthought in the near future. Hopefully Chrome Memory Saver can help solve memory problem.
If Chrome Memory Saver doesn't fix memory, I suggest upgrading memory on your computer. The computer has two memory slots. Maximum memory configuration is 32GB of memory and minimum memory configuration is 8GB. Memory per slot is 8 and 16GB.
Inspiron 16 5640 Owner's Manual | Dell US
You can purchase memory from Parts People or Amazon
Dell Inspiron 16 5640 Memory | OEM Replacements
Thanks for the update
SailingDreams
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March 27th, 2026 04:35
Here's interesting info on someone upgrading the RAM. It seems it is not as easy as one would think. Has anyone had luck upgrading and if you did, did you buy the 5600 or 5200 grade ram? I see the manual says 5200, that's probably the safest choice.
https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/inspiron/inspiron-16-5640-crucial-memory-upgrade-fail/68cb066e3ce25970738cf6ce
(edited)
SailingDreams
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March 27th, 2026 15:25
Ram prices have gone up A LOT!
(edited)