Laptop powering off suddenly

[plperry]

Hi:
I'm really hoping someone may be able to help with my problem. I have a laptop which previously had Win98 on it and after stress was put on it (ie: installing a CD, surfing internet, installing WinXP, etc) it will suddenly power off. I've had it tested and the ram, hard drive, cpu, power adapter, battery is fine. It is not a software issue as I completely formatted and put WinXP on it and is doing the same thing. I'm thinking maybe the fan but how can I tell cause the fan would only start when it gets hot. Although when it does shut down suddenly the computer isn't hot anywhere on it so not sure if it is overheating. Also may be the sensor to start the fan... Ah...totally stressed out about this. Don't want to spend a ton of money but just bought this laptop so already money down the drain. It is a IBM Celeron 500, 256 mb ram. HELP!

 

[garebo]

You could try by checking the mfgr's website and have a look at the FAQ or troubleshooting section. Maybe its an issue they know about.
Or, shoot them an email about it.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[jared5494]

someone may correct me, but id say this is a list of stuff to crap out first in order (based soley on my experience).

Power Supply
Memory
hard drive
motherboard
processor
video card
and so on...

Since you have a laptop, it will be harder just to swap parts from a buddy's computer to diagnose. As you know, heat + computer = bad. So, the cheapest thing to do first would be to open her up and go to office max and buy a canned duster. they are cheap - like $5 at most. Give it a clean dusting and make sure to hit the power supply and the CPU's heatsink and the fans. It could be a hard drive problem. If it is, then windows will probably have an error log. To check this make sure you have a complete memory dump. To do this, go to system properties -> Advanced -> Startup and recovery. Under "Write Debugging Information", select "Complete Memory Dump". Once this happens, the log file will be created here:

C:/windows/MEMORY.DMP

Microsoft offers like 3 support phone calls (its like $100 per call after that) when you buy (legally) windows XP, so if you see it create this file after a crash, call them up and they will ask that you send that memory dump do them so they can better diagnose your problem.

If that is not the case, see if your laptop has 2 memory slots filled. If so, then remove one and test. then remove the other and test. You will notice a difference if that is the problem.

Id say memory for a laptop that old would be rather cheap, so maybe this could be a simple diagnostic solution.

If all else fails, go to your local computer fixer-up store and for about $75 - $100 they can run full diagnostics on all the equipment for you and ask that you be there when they run the diagnosing - they are out to make a buck just like everyone else.

Try those and see and report back.

-jared

 

[garebo]

For testing memory, you can google for memtest86, its free, runs from dos, and will test your memory. Also, Intel just came out with a memory tester. I think its intel, either intel or microsoft, pretty sure its intel.
You could google that too but memtest is fine.
Check in your bios to see if you have "smart drive" and that it is enabled. Smart drive will tell you in advance of hard drive problems. I know its not likely the problem at present but it doesnt hurt to have it enabled anyway.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[garebo]

On the other hand, maybe if you set the bios to default it may help with your problem. then go in a enable smart drive, if you have it in your bios at all.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[kiddpete]

The CPU is probably overheating. I had an emachines lap top that would do this. We had to find something that would really exercise the CPU to demo it to Bestbuy. My daughter had a game that would quickly shut it down. Also, videos could sometimes bring it down. I suspected it was a fan gone bad, but Bestbuy just swapped it for a new machine.