Laptop problem

coolsteel

My Daughters laptop keeps shutting down, she can be using it online for three hours then it will shut down on its own accord. It can happen after an hour also, and when she restarts it, it will shutdown within five mins.The longer she leaves it shutdown the longer it will last powered up, but eventually it will shut down, four times it has done this today alone. She has no virus's or trojons, the system is clean of badies. She runs xp home edition and had 10 months ago upgraded its hard drive and memory. Its 3 years old and my daughter says it does get very hot, but today for example it wasn't to hot and shut down, so my theory is out of the window about overheating.
Any help would be most welcome.
Coolsteel :cool:

Reluctant_spender

Just a thought but is the operating system up to date?

Has the problem just started, is there anything that is working its way loose.

Is it a straight shutdown or similar to a windows has encountered an error type shutdown??

gizmoleeds

Unfortunately this could be caused by any one of a variety of different components malfunctioning. It could be the processor, or just the power unit.

When this happened to my desktop a while ago I was advised to dismantle it and vacuum all the bits! (It not only worked, but it speeded it up as well )

If it is easy to open the laptop then see if any of the bits are particularly dusty and give them a vacuum while rubbing with a small paint brush, as this could be the problem.

Browntoa

I would go with overheating still.....

you can get cooling bays from maplins....

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=29973&doy=11m10

(Mr Skint has posted this before so I don't take credit !)

rrwfotr

Hi next time it get's hot check if there is a fan type noise that kicks in.

Your cooling fan may have gone. If so it should not be that expensive to replace. What I suspect is happening is the laptop is getting warm and the fan which should kick in to cool the laptop has worn out therefore it keeps on heating up and then a tempreture control sysyem kicks in and shuts it down.

Older_but_not_wiser_2

Had a similar sort of problem a while back.

How I solved it was to get a laptop cooling pad (as mentioned above), and also to renew the Thermal Grease which your processor is attached to the fan, as it can degrade after time with the heat that builds up on laptops. This will have the effect of slowly frying your processor and causing it to crash the system.

Hope this helps.

Paddymcc_2

rrwfotr wrote:

Hi next time it get's hot check if there is a fan type noise that kicks in.

Your cooling fan may have gone. If so it should not be that expensive to replace. What I suspect is happening is the laptop is getting warm and the fan which should kick in to cool the laptop has worn out therefore it keeps on heating up and then a tempreture control sysyem kicks in and shuts it down.

A lot of laptops have an automatic shut down facility in the BIOS when the unit reaches a certain temperature.

You may be able to adjust this temperature a little but you should question why its running so hot?

Is there a lot of dust around the vents on the laptop and is your daughter using it while sitting on her lap, because this will smother vents if theyre under the laptop.

coolsteel

Thanks everone for your suggestions, think an extra cooler fan is th way to go first, even if this is not the problem cant do it any harm to cool it down as it does run hot. then if thats not the problem guess she will have to take it to a shop.
Coolsteel :cool:

Curry_Queen

gizmoleeds wrote:

If it is easy to open the laptop then see if any of the bits are particularly dusty and give them a vacuum while rubbing with a small paint brush, as this could be the problem.

What about static!!!!! :eek:

I got told never to hoover a 'puter unless you want to risk frying it

You need one of those airspray thingummy bobs - which I've yet to get round to getting myself! :whistle:

jampton

Curry_Queen wrote:

What about static!!!!! :eek:

I got told never to hoover a 'puter unless you want to risk frying it

You need one of those airspray thingummy bobs - which I've yet to get round to getting myself! :whistle:

I have always removed the hairy bits that the cats leave in my PCs with a hoover (well actually it's a Meile atm but whatever) and not had any problems. I can't really see the difference between blowing air in with an 'airspray thingummy bob' or sucking it out with vacuum

Curry_Queen

jampton wrote:

I have always removed the hairy bits that the cats leave in my PCs with a hoover (well actually it's a Meile atm but whatever) and not had any problems. I can't really see the difference between blowing air in with an 'airspray thingummy bob' or sucking it out with vacuum

It's to do with the static a hoover creates! I don't know if you've ever noticed (well, assuming you use a cylindrical or Henry-type vacuum cleaner) that bits of fluff are attracted to the pipe and foot like a magnetic due to the friction from your carpet! ... and if you happen to have metal pipes then you can get a pretty nasty static shock off it :eek:

Now imagine what would happen if that static shock was to jump into your PC and fry all your components ... they don't tell you to where anti-static wristbands when fiddling inside PC cases for nothing!