Laptop Random Shut Down Prob!

[WolverineGator]

The GF has a 1.5 year old HP laptop with XP Home. It works fine surfing the net, word processing, or playing music. We tried to watch an AVI movie off a cd and the computer randomly shut down within 2 minutes. This shutdown is reproducible.

Last night I tried the disk cleanup function when you right click the C: drive and choose properties. A few minutes into it the laptop shut down immediately. I tried restarting and the machine would shutdown randomly when Windows was loading or even during the boot sequence! This tells me it's a hardware problem.

I had to wait a few minutes before starting the machine again. Then it worked fine doing basic stuff (internet & mp3). All this occurs on AC. I'm baffled. Any ideas?

 

[corkyg]

Yep! Sounds like a heat problem. Running movies stresses the CPU, and if you don't hear the cooling fan running, something is not right there.

 

[LiLithTecH]

What errors are listed in the EVENT LOG?

 

[Souka]

Agree about heat problem. You should do some testing to verify...

Boot the system to the BIOS menu...let system sit there....does it shut down? If so, it's not a HD or software (OS) issue.

Another idea:
...put laptop ontop the clother dryer next time you use it. After 45min, boot up the laptop and keep track of run time.
...put laptop somewhere cold, but NOT a refrigerator......After 45min, boot up the laptop and keep track of run time.
Much of a difference? If so, try this.

(at your own risk)
With laptop off, remove the HD, CD/DVD Drive, Floppy. Pick system up about a foot above a solid surface......drop the laptop squarely.
Sometimes the heatsink will "creep" and lose contact with CPU......this might fix it.

I've worked on Dell Inspirons (P2 & P3 class) years ago....occasionaly we would have to do a CPR like press to center of keyboard to reseat the CPU/Heatsink......exact same problem you're describing. After much b*tching to Dell, they admitted to a bad CPU clip design and replaced it in our fleet of laptops (over 200 units)....problem never occured again.

Best option is to disassemble the system and inspect the CPU & Heatsink contact.


Good Luck!

 

[Looney]

It certainly sounds like a heat problem... but what processor are you running? Most mobile processors can throttle it's speed according to heat.

Are any of the notebook fans malfunctioning?

 

[dnuggett]

With laptop off, remove the HD, CD/DVD Drive, Floppy. Pick system up about a foot above a solid surface......drop the laptop squarely.

I can't believe you just typed that.

 

[Souka]

Originally posted by: dnuggett

With laptop off, remove the HD, CD/DVD Drive, Floppy. Pick system up about a foot above a solid surface......drop the laptop squarely.

I can't believe you just typed that.

Welp, I'm A+ Cert, IBM/Dell/Compaq/Toshibia certified Advanced Laptop Repair tech...... and I did say "at your own risk"

 

[WolverineGator]

[*]I hear the notebook fan running on and off and I can feel warm air coming out.
[*]I'll have to check the event log.
[*]I'll try using it over the dryer and see if it shuts down faster.
[*]I'll also try playing movies/defragging/c: cleanup in the patio on a cool day after the temps have stabilized.
[*]I want to disassemble the laptop to inspect that heatsink, but I've never done that before. We'll see if I can figure it out!


Thanks for the help. I'll post back with results in a few weeks.