[thetr33]

Hello, I'm not sure if this topic belongs in this section of the forum but...

Over the past couple days, my laptop has been turning off by itself for no reason. Sometimes I would be on it for over 5 hours then when I'm working on something, it just shuts off without warning (no "Windows is shutting down" message). I'm not sure what the problem is, but it has happened to me several times before. And when it shuts off, I try to turn it on like 5-10 minutes later, it gets to the Windows user log-on screen then shuts off, but if I wait a couple hours, it returns to normal. Right now, as I sit and type this help request, I am in fear that it might shut off on me again before I post this thread. So anyways, before it shuts down on me, here is the problem.

I don't recall having any malicious virus that do this but I'm guessing it's a case of overheating, but I'm not sure what to do about it. Before, I bought a laptop fan pad that goes under the laptop, however, it didn't help, it would still shut off by itself after a while, even while it was on full blast. If it's an overheating problem, then do you know any good cooling methods for laptops? By the way, do you think it would be a good idea to back up all my files to an external hard drive, then format my laptop before anything serious happens? Any help is appreciated.

Thank you.

Edited by thetr33, 02 March 2007 - 11:52 PM.

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Have you checked to see if the fan in the laptop is running? The usual case is the fan dies and the heatsink finally gets hot enough after a period of time for the computer to shut off. You didn't mention make or model, but that is the first thing to look for since you have no other problems.

SRX660

[SRX660]

Have you checked to see if the fan in the laptop is running? The usual case is the fan dies and the heatsink finally gets hot enough after a period of time for the computer to shut off. You didn't mention make or model, but that is the first thing to look for since you have no other problems.

SRX660

[thetr33]

Oh, it's a Toshiba Satellite laptop.

[KNDINC]

I have a Satellite A60 that did the same thing... I bet you also get an errror message at times that you should update the video driver. Simply use a vaccum near the air vents or use compress air by the vent and you will see how much lint and dust is in the casing. I used the compress air and have not had a problem since. I believe the heat sensor on the video card is causing the unit to shut down.

[thetr33]

I don't recall getting such a message, but does this problem vary among video cards? I have an ATI Radeon 9000 video card (came with the laptop). I also notice that my laptop heats up quickly; within half an hour running, the back (and bottem) of the laptop (the part in the back next to the AC adaptor port) gets hot. I've tried using one of those fan pads that blows cool air under the laptop (I believe it was a "Targus" pad), but it didn't work well. It helped a little, but sometimes the laptop shuts off on it's own after a while. I've left it on for a whole day before (to download something) and it didn't shut down on me, but just recently, it shuts off after being on for more than 5 hours. Another thing is that the AC adaptor block gets hot (as hot as the back of the laptop) after charging the laptop for a while. So, do you know of any (low-budget) effective cooling methods for laptops because that pad I used wasn't really helpful?

[KNDINC]

Try this Toshiba site.. You might get more help with your problems.

Good Luck!! http://forums.comput...ive3/index.jspa

Edited by KNDINC, 04 March 2007 - 08:33 PM.