Posted: 11/24/2009 4:18:13 AM EDT
|
My lap top just up and cuts off sometimes.
Last night I was playing a video game, and it just mysteriously shut down. When I went to turn it back on, it shut down again before I could even get past the log on screen. I waited a minute and cut it back on, got through the log on screen, restarted the game, and after 15 or so minutes it cut off again. This isn't the first time it's acted this way. Is it over heating? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks. |
|
Quoted:
When you say "cutting off" are you saying the it shuts down, like you get a message windows is shutting down or that it just goes black and the computer is off? The computer just cuts off...no message....it's on one minute and off the next...straight from game screen to black screen. |
|
could be any number of things. Overheating bad drivers loose connections My laptop had loose metal pieces in it that shorted things and caused it to crash. I think I've finally found and removed the last one. So yeah lots of different things could be the problem. Try to describe it in as much detail as you can. |
|
It only seems to happen when gaming, which is why I thought maybe overheating.
If it happens when I'm not gaming, it's right after turning it back on after it crashes on me. I've sat on ARFCOM and the net for hours without issue, but I get on my game and the problem returns. It has been like 3 months since this happened with no problems surfing the net or playing music or any of that mess. |
| The first thing to do is get a Linux live CD or something similar and run it from the CD drive. If it still does it, then you have eliminated software and/or hard drive as your problem. Then you can start worrying about heat and loose metal rattling around in it. |
|
It's a heat problem. The laptop is shutting off to prevent any heat damage.
The best solution is to pick up a laptop cooler pad. Like this one: Chill pad My Compaq use to do the same thing until I got one of these. Now whenever i'm gaming I plug in the cool pad and it's good to go. |
|
It's most likely overheating and shutting itself down to avoid damage.
My father-in-law's dell was suffering from a similar problem... Except it would always shutdown within a minute or two of being powered-on. It was a P4. One of the heatsink retaining clips had broken and it was no longer sitting flat on the processor. |
|
Quoted:
It's a heat problem. The laptop is shutting off to prevent any heat damage. The best solution is to pick up a laptop cooler pad. Like this one: Chill pad My Compaq use to do the same thing until I got one of these. Now whenever i'm gaming I plug in the cool pad and it's good to go. For $25, I'll give that a go. Thanks. |
|
Instant shut downs with no boot errors/messages are very likely to be overheat shut downs.
Download a program called CoreTemp and see what your cpu is running at. Laptops have poor cooling in the first place, so you should see idle temps around 40C, and load temps in the 50-60C range. If its above 60C, it probably needs to be cleaned, but this temp would not cause a shut down. You would have to hit +90C to shutdown, which means your fan or heat exchanger is probably plugged up. |
|
Quoted:
Running off of AC (not battery.) It's a Gateway I picked up at BestBuy roughly 20 months ago. Are you SURE it is CHARGING/RUNNING off the AC cord? The brick in the AC cord gets too hot, it shuts down. Can be plugged in and NOT charging/running off the AC. Mine does that. |
|
Quoted:
My lap top just up and cuts off sometimes. Last night I was playing a video game, and it just mysteriously shut down. When I went to turn it back on, it shut down again before I could even get past the log on screen. I waited a minute and cut it back on, got through the log on screen, restarted the game, and after 15 or so minutes it cut off again. This isn't the first time it's acted this way. Is it over heating? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks. classic overheating. make sure you are not putting the computer in your lap, or on your bed's comforter or something. the air is sucked from underneath the machine, and if the airway is impeded it will shut itself down no questions asked as a safety protocol to avoid damaging the hardware. make sure your fans are spinning and blow some canned air through the fan vents. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
blow the heat sink out with compresed air.. its plugged.. NO, it is a laptop, there is no where to blow the crap but back into the laptop, it needs to be opened up to be cleaned. BULLSHIT! it wil come out the fan hole.. blow in the out hole.. the crap will come out.. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
blow the heat sink out with compresed air.. its plugged.. NO, it is a laptop, there is no where to blow the crap but back into the laptop, it needs to be opened up to be cleaned. if you dont know what your doing, sure....if you have half a brain though, you can figure out how to avoid this. |
|
Quoted:
It's a heat problem. The laptop is shutting off to prevent any heat damage. The best solution is to pick up a laptop cooler pad. Like this one: Chill pad My Compaq use to do the same thing until I got one of these. Now whenever i'm gaming I plug in the cool pad and it's good to go. Check out this Black Friday Spreadsheet. I think Staples has a cooling thingie REALLY cheap Friday Morning. http://spreadsheets.google.com/lv?key=tZqn3Qody_FS_vs8xM4X6Ag&toomany=true Row 4537 is a Targus Chill Pad for $9.99 |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
blow the heat sink out with compresed air.. its plugged.. NO, it is a laptop, there is no where to blow the crap but back into the laptop, it needs to be opened up to be cleaned. BULLSHIT! it wil come out the fan hole.. blow in the out hole.. the crap will come out.. Some will, no where near all of it. There is no way to actually force the dust to go out of the laptop. You are just blowing air into it and hoping it goes out the fan carrying all the crap with it. Short of voiding some warranty, there is no reason to not open it up and do it right. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
blow the heat sink out with compresed air.. its plugged.. NO, it is a laptop, there is no where to blow the crap but back into the laptop, it needs to be opened up to be cleaned. BULLSHIT! it wil come out the fan hole.. blow in the out hole.. the crap will come out.. After all that talk about angry masturbation...I knew it. I fucking knew it. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
blow the heat sink out with compresed air.. its plugged.. NO, it is a laptop, there is no where to blow the crap but back into the laptop, it needs to be opened up to be cleaned. BULLSHIT! it wil come out the fan hole.. blow in the out hole.. the crap will come out.. After all that talk about angry masturbation...I knew it. I fucking knew it. hahahaahhaahhah.. 
|
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
blow the heat sink out with compresed air.. its plugged.. NO, it is a laptop, there is no where to blow the crap but back into the laptop, it needs to be opened up to be cleaned. BULLSHIT! it wil come out the fan hole.. blow in the out hole.. the crap will come out.. Some will, no where near all of it. There is no way to actually force the dust to go out of the laptop. You are just blowing air into it and hoping it goes out the fan carrying all the crap with it. Short of voiding some warranty, there is no reason to not open it up and do it right. lol, i wouldnt trust anyone who didnt know how to work on computers to open a laptop up. i dont even trust some of my own co-workers....and i work in IT CTO as Systems Support... |
| Those cooling pads are a half assed solution to an overheating problem. If a computer is overheating, it's either filled with dust, the heatsink isn't mounted correctly, or the thermal interface material has degraded or wasn't applied correctly. If you are comfortable disassembling your laptop, all three are easy to fix. |