Dell laptop repeatedly shutting down - help!

pixiechick99

Hi there,
I have a Dell inspiron that has just started completely shutting down this afternoon. I get the blue screen and it restarts - only to do the same about 5min later. I managed to get in to it quickly and do a system restore to this morning as it's been fine all day, but that hasn't helped.
Nothing's been installed today, all I did was connect an old ipod nano (years old 2nd gen one) to charge it, to sell on ebay and the laptop's not stayed on since. It's disconnected now but can't get the laptop to stay on to do anything now. I'm using my daughter's now, mine wouldn't last long enough to type this!

Can anyone help? It's not hot at all, not overheating - it's mostly sat at a desk, not on a bed or cushion. I've never seen it crash I don't think til tonight:mad:

I'm not the most techy but will have a go, so please bear with me;)

Its-A-New-Age-Thing

pixiechick99 wrote: »

Hi there,
I have a Dell inspiron that has just started completely shutting down this afternoon. I get the blue screen and it restarts - only to do the same about 5min later. I managed to get in to it quickly and do a system restore to this morning as it's been fine all day, but that hasn't helped.
Nothing's been installed today, all I did was connect an old ipod nano (years old 2nd gen one) to charge it, to sell on ebay and the laptop's not stayed on since. It's disconnected now but can't get the laptop to stay on to do anything now. I'm using my daughter's now, mine wouldn't last long enough to type this!

Can anyone help? It's not hot at all, not overheating - it's mostly sat at a desk, not on a bed or cushion. I've never seen it crash I don't think til tonight:mad:

I'm not the most techy but will have a go, so please bear with me;)

sounds like its more a software fault than a hardware, the device you plugged in before it went tits up, try uninstalling any (freebie drivers or software) that installed when you hooked it up,

failin that with the old blue screen of death on constant id do the following

pres F8 and boot into safe mode

when in safe mode,

go to run

type in cmd

now type the following

sfc/scannow

its your inbuilt system file checker provide you have your operating system disk insert this and any files whih have became screwed or are now missing critical to your windows os functioning properly will reinstall themselves,

once thats been done if your still gettin proplems id wipe the lot and do a fresh install of your operating system disk,

backing up any files u want to keep in safe mode first

:A

pixiechick99

I've tried opening it in safe mode and it just shuts down...that blue screen again. I went into F12 and it's just checking through some stuff, but all the tests its doing seem to pass....will try again when it's finished and look at your tips then - thank you:D

Its-A-New-Age-Thing

no probs pixie oh when your starting up your system file checker, add a space so the following syntax:

sfc /scannow

but i mean really miss if its not workin after you have uninstalled any freebie drivers and software that got added to your comp when you plugged the device in and if after runnin sfc, and making sure all your critical files are in there original versions and where they should be,

id reinstall the bloomin lot,

lifes to short are that you know



ANYWAYS if you mange to get into safe mode or your os do what i said if not bite the bullet and reinstall your os, as i mean if you cant get into it do do normal things like unistaling and checking whats the bloomin point? lol

jump into your bios and boot from cd

pixiechick99

It's still doing a great long test, everything else was fine. I noticed I'd left a SD memory card in the machine so have removed that.

Thing is, I've not installed anything today - it was only the memory card put in to access photos and the old ipod to charge it. Since then it's just kept crashing.

Sorry to sound really daft, but I am a bit confused with your advice - I don't have the os on a disk, I know that much:o Otherwise what can I do if this scan of the machine finds no problems?

Its-A-New-Age-Thing

pixiechick99 wrote: »

It's still doing a great long test, everything else was fine. I noticed I'd left a SD memory card in the machine so have removed that.

Thing is, I've not installed anything today - it was only the memory card put in to access photos and the old ipod to charge it. Since then it's just kept crashing.

Sorry to sound really daft, but I am a bit confused with your advice - I don't have the os on a disk, I know that much:o Otherwise what can I do if this scan of the machine finds no problems?

APOLIGIES been buildin pcs since windows 95, so pcs are like ridin a bike to me lol,

RIGHTYOH

if you have no operating system disk dont try the sfc checker as itll just ask you to insert the disk, lol

tell me more about your pc what os is it runnin xp vista windows 7?

was your operating system preinstalled?

if so you could probably access its inbuilt os,

do you have features such as acer recovery mode, recovery mode etc etc?

if you can log into your desktop also right click on your hard drive icon, click on properties, then click on tools then click on check drive for errors and instruct it to automatically fix any errors etc

pixiechick99

Hiya,
It's Windows 7 and it was pre-installed.
Its finished the big scan thing and it seems to be ok - hasn't shut donw, been on for 15mins:D
I did notice the sd memory card still in the front and removed it so could that have been why it was crashing? I've used the card before, just to put photos on the laptop - will be scared to put it in again!

Its-A-New-Age-Thing

pixiechick99 wrote: »

Hiya,
It's Windows 7 and it was pre-installed.
Its finished the big scan thing and it seems to be ok - hasn't shut donw, been on for 15mins:D
I did notice the sd memory card still in the front and removed it so could that have been why it was crashing? I've used the card before, just to put photos on the laptop - will be scared to put it in again!

woudnt of thought so miss unless it was tryin to BOOT from your memory stick instead of your hard drive, stranger things have been known to happen lol,

id still run your bogstandard last check i was on about, checking your drive for any errors its not gonna do it a bad turn,

with a windows 7 preinstall your bound to have a recovery mode anyway, an inbuilt operating system disk so to speak, it MAY even let you create a copy of it onto a disc, id stress MAY though, really depends on the manufacturer,

these preinstalled os systems sometimes have an option in the recovery mode to JUST reinstall your drivers/software instead of doin the full shibang kinda thing that may even help,

pcs are funny really, there can be so many potential problems, narrowing down the correct one can be a bit of a chore lol,

but whilst its WORKING, im not really sure what to suggest other than the extra checks ive advised lol

:A

pixiechick99

Thank you for all your help:T
I did the right-click on the hard disk and ran the check - nothing came up...and all seems to be fine now, have had no blue screens:D

I will investigate the recovery mode though - thanks for all the advice:)

Its-A-New-Age-Thing

pixiechick99 wrote: »

Thank you for all your help:T
I did the right-click on the hard disk and ran the check - nothing came up...and all seems to be fine now, have had no blue screens:D

I will investigate the recovery mode though - thanks for all the advice:)

your welcome miss, like i said may have been your os tryin to boot from the card instead HONESTLY, stranger things have happened lol,

and yeah become more familiar with your recovery mode, you might need it one day,



all the best

diable

There has been an update from MS in the last few days that caused a multiple reboot problem.