[Ozzy13]

Hey guys, i have a 5-6 year old laptop that is an HP and i recently bought a new hard drive for it because it seemed to the best of my knowledge that the other had gone bad....and now i have a new challenge for y'all. I have been trying now to re install windows XP on it, but for what ever reason my laptop will shut off at just totally random times. i don't know if there is an issue with the battery or what, but i even keep it plugged in thinking the battery died. i then suspected that it could be over heating so i literally used the laptop while having it ontop of an air vent with the AC on haha any suggestions as for what the problem is? thanks!

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Try taking the battery out and just using the AC Adapter, old batteries can sometimes cause issues. Your description does sound like an overheat issue common with Laptops, are the vents clean on the outside of the Laptop case? They often get clogged with dust. Another very common issue with Laptops is the connection to the motherboard at the AC Adapter point, the AC Adapter cable becomes an intermittent connection because of flex in the cable and breaks the power connection thus shutting off the Laptop or worse the connection at the motherboard becomes bad usually a bad solder joint on the board, so my suggestion is to try an rule out overheating and that was a good attempt you did by removing the Laptop to a cooler position , next I would try replacing the AC Adapter and see how that goes. If a new AC Adapter fails, then it could be a bad motherboard connection at the AC Adapter point of entry in which case your best option is to take the laptop in for repair.

Joe:)

PS---> Make sure you can hear the Laptop fan spinning up too!

Edited by zep516, 18 August 2012 - 07:01 PM.

[zep516]

Try taking the battery out and just using the AC Adapter, old batteries can sometimes cause issues. Your description does sound like an overheat issue common with Laptops, are the vents clean on the outside of the Laptop case? They often get clogged with dust. Another very common issue with Laptops is the connection to the motherboard at the AC Adapter point, the AC Adapter cable becomes an intermittent connection because of flex in the cable and breaks the power connection thus shutting off the Laptop or worse the connection at the motherboard becomes bad usually a bad solder joint on the board, so my suggestion is to try an rule out overheating and that was a good attempt you did by removing the Laptop to a cooler position , next I would try replacing the AC Adapter and see how that goes. If a new AC Adapter fails, then it could be a bad motherboard connection at the AC Adapter point of entry in which case your best option is to take the laptop in for repair.

Joe:)

PS---> Make sure you can hear the Laptop fan spinning up too!

Edited by zep516, 18 August 2012 - 07:01 PM.