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Dell Laptop Keeps Rebooting


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#1
MollyM

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Hi,

My roommate has a Dell Inspiron 5150. The fan has been going crazy for no reason off and on for about a month now. Just today the computer starts shutting off by itself. She can start it up and it'll run for about 5 minutes and then it shuts itself off again.

Does this sound like some kind of a virus or is it her hardrive?

Thanks for any help!
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#2
Retired Tech

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Click start then run, type chkdsk /f /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

This will take an hour, it will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

When it gets to the desktop, the hard drive will be as it should

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#3
MollyM

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Hi Keith,

I followed your instructions. The process only took about 5 minutes, but the computer now stays on! The fan is still blowing every now and then, but at least it's not constantly rebooting.

Thanks so much for your help!
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#4
dsenette

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you should also check your system temps in bios..

to get into bios, reboot the computer and press either the del button or f2 shortly after the system starts to turn on (usually as soon as you start to see words on the screen) DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING IN THE BIOS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE CHANGING. look for something that says pc health or something like that...you should be able to find the temps there
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#5
Retired Tech

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As long as the fans work

In addition to checking in the BIOS for the temps you can also get Everest Home, run it, click + next to computer then sensor, if you check the temps a few times an hour, you can get an idea if something is up

Download Everest Home Edition
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#6
dsenette

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keith, i didn't even know everest had that function....thanks for the tip!
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