[jennefur8675]

I bought a used Toshiba laptop and the previous owner told me it was having freezing issues every month or so and had to completely reinstall Vista everytime the pc froze and that would temporarily fix the problem. Well I now just experienced my first freeze and upon multiple reboots, it will only stay working for about 6 minutes before it freezes. What would cause this problem? I would like to fix it rather than keep reinstalling the OS as a temp fix. Any help is appreciated!! Thanks, Jenn

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Hi jennefur8675
Possibly caused by overheating so the 1st thing I suggest is cleaning out the inside of the case with canned compressed air (example) http://www.walmart.c...-2-Pk./15860547
If you post what model of Toshiba it is we can do some research and advise you on the best way of cleaning out the dust and removing the memory sticks in order to blow out the slots.

[phillpower2]

Hi jennefur8675
Possibly caused by overheating so the 1st thing I suggest is cleaning out the inside of the case with canned compressed air (example) http://www.walmart.c...-2-Pk./15860547
If you post what model of Toshiba it is we can do some research and advise you on the best way of cleaning out the dust and removing the memory sticks in order to blow out the slots.

[jennefur8675]

Thank you, I tried to remove the back to do that, but I couldnt get it off. From what I can see, no dust in any vents or fan. This laptop does not get hot and fan spins fine. I just got blue screen of death telling me to run chkdsk/f so I did that, but it only got to 13% of step 4 of 5 and froze up. So I let it run for about an hour, but no further progress so I shut it down. Next day I resumed it upon startup and it froze in the same spot again, tried 1 more time, same thing. It is a Toshiba Satellite L305-s5955 Thank you!!!

[rockmilk]

I am only posting this while phill is offline.

You will need to remove the back of the laptop to get to the ram,possibly ask a friend to help you with this.

If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...


1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip). If you prefer to use the USB version then use this link USB KEY
2. Unzip downloaded /memtest86+-4.20.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find /memtest86+-4.20.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate [b/memtest86+-4.20.iso[/b] file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[jennefur8675]

I am only posting this while phill is offline.

You will need to remove the back of the laptop to get to the ram,possibly ask a friend to help you with this.

If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...


1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip). If you prefer to use the USB version then use this link USB KEY
2. Unzip downloaded /memtest86+-4.20.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find /memtest86+-4.20.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate [b/memtest86+-4.20.iso[/b] file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

Thank you very much for your help while the other person was offline, I appreciate it!! If I understood you correctly, you wanted me to remove each RAM stick and try and operate the laptop using each stick and see if that made any difference before I went ahead with the next step? I did remove the top 1 GB stick and powered on and surprisingly I got about 20 minutes of use out of it and I was very hopeful. Until I suddenly got the BSoD and it rebooted itself Then I was back to getting about 5-10 minutes of use again and it began freezing up. I have now switched the RAM and am trying the other stick. Will let you know what the result is tomorrow. Thanks again, and good night.

[jennefur8675]

I am only posting this while phill is offline.

You will need to remove the back of the laptop to get to the ram,possibly ask a friend to help you with this.

If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...


1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip). If you prefer to use the USB version then use this link USB KEY
2. Unzip downloaded /memtest86+-4.20.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find /memtest86+-4.20.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate [b/memtest86+-4.20.iso[/b] file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

Thank you very much for your help while the other person was offline, I appreciate it!! If I understood you correctly, you wanted me to remove each RAM stick and try and operate the laptop using each stick and see if that made any difference before I went ahead with the next step? I did remove the top 1 GB stick and powered on and surprisingly I got about 20 minutes of use out of it and I was very hopeful. Until I suddenly got the BSoD and it rebooted itself Then I was back to getting about 5-10 minutes of use again and it began freezing up. I have now switched the RAM and am trying the other stick. Will let you know what the result is tomorrow. Thanks again, and good night.

Ok, it crashed again so fast, BSoD and reboot that I thought I might as well tell you now. I got about 5 minutes out of it with just the 2nd RAM stick in there before the BSoD. ugh, this computer is really irritating me!

[Dakeyras]

My apoligies for the interjection folks...

@jennefur8675

Per your request to re-open this topic. I was not aware you were receiving assistance in this actual topic. If in the event your machines issues are not either Operating System/Hardware related please send myself another PM and I will gladly re-open your other topic in the Virus, Spyware, Malware Removal part of the forum and assist if able. Thank you.

[phillpower2]

Thanks to rockmilk and Dakeyras respectively

jennefur8675
You have started topics regarding this issue on various forums and on different dates!
If you wish to continue with your topic here please advise us of this so we can assist you accordingly, thank you.

[jennefur8675]

Thanks to rockmilk and Dakeyras respectively

jennefur8675
You have started topics regarding this issue on various forums and on different dates!
If you wish to continue with your topic here please advise us of this so we can assist you accordingly, thank you.

Hello, thanks for you reply. I wasnt getting notified that I had replies on my topics. I apologize. But I do have another topic open that deals with an issue on a different computer.

I still do need help on this Toshiba laptop, but I dont know what is wrong with it at all, so thats why I might have posted in various forums. I have no clue if its hardware, Vista, virus, etc. Sorry.

[phillpower2]

jennefur8675
If you are not receiving notifications for your topic check your My settings tab, top right of the page, check the appropriate box, if you have any further difficulty please contact Admin for guidance;

Pleas run hard drive diagnostics;
Make sure that you select the tool that is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive. http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Depending on the program, it'll create a bootable floppy or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions