[Computer_Guy_321]

Hello, I seek some help. I wanted to format my laptop (Toshiba A20/A75 series) because I wanted to get rid of all my junk and I had too much spyware and trojans. So far I have backed up all the stuff I still want to my external hard drive, and when I put in the recovery CD (that came with the system), it says booting Windows 98 (and I'm using XP), then when I push F1 (to signal the start of the recovery process), the laptop just shuts down on me without warning. So I tried turning it on again and booting the recover CD, a few seconds later, the system just shuts down on me like before. Then I tried taking out the CD and booting up the system like I normally would, but then it shuts down on me again in a matter of seconds. I tried it with the AC adapter attached to it, and without it, and it still shuts down on me. When I did this I had nothing attached to the laptop (no USB devices or anything else) (maybe just the AC adapter).

So, my question is, what should I do? How would I format my laptop if the power keeps shutting off on its own? Is there a home solution so I wouldn't have to bring it into the shop because it takes forever to fix? Besides, I brought it into the shop a year ago and they fixed the problem, but just recently, the problem came back. (Oh, if you're wondering how I'm typing this message without my laptop, I'm typing it on my friend's computer)

Edited by Computer_Guy_321, 06 August 2007 - 06:12 PM.

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First the "starting Windows 98" message is quite normal even for a Windows XP system. The recovery process has to run in DOS which is what a Windows 98 startup disk contains -- and that startup image has been copied to your recovery disc to enable it to boot into DOS.

I reckon you may have some faulty hardware rather than a software problem and as such I'm afraid the best plan of action in that case is to take it in to repair shop again.

[pip22]

First the "starting Windows 98" message is quite normal even for a Windows XP system. The recovery process has to run in DOS which is what a Windows 98 startup disk contains -- and that startup image has been copied to your recovery disc to enable it to boot into DOS.

I reckon you may have some faulty hardware rather than a software problem and as such I'm afraid the best plan of action in that case is to take it in to repair shop again.

[Computer_Guy_321]

Thanks for the help pip22. I'm wondering, is it either faulty hardware or is it because of overheating problems? I remember some times when I left it on overnight because I forgot to turn it off the night before.

Last time when this happened (a couple days ago), I came back to it a couple hours later and turned it on and it was fine. It was pretty much normal for a few days until just now, it did it to me again, and only had it on for a few hours, then I tried turning it on again, but it shut off on me like last time.

If I take it to the shop, and when I get it back, can you recommend ways that can prevent this from happening again? Like effective power-saving methods and effective cooling methods. Anyways, thanks again for you help.