My laptop keeps shutting off for no reason
I have a Toshiba Satellite A75, the problem I’m having is it keeps shutting off for no reason, I can’t figure it out, but the only way it won’t shut off is if I only use it on a fan. It feels kind of warm but sometimes it doesn’t have to be on for maybe 5 minutes and it happens too. If you could help me with this issue it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
If your laptop shutting off without any reason, then I am almost 100% positive that you are experiencing a laptop overheating problem. This is a very common problem with Toshiba Satellite A70 and A75 laptops and could be easily fixed if you clean the heat sink. Overtime the heat sink gets clogged with lint and dust. It ruins normal air flow inside the heat sink and the heat stops dissipating. As a result – the CPU overheats and the laptop shuts down. In some cases it would be enough just to blow off the heat sink with compressed air to get the laptop back to normal condition. Try to clean it with compressed air first. Sometimes it is necessary to take the laptop apart, so you can access the heat sink and remove all collected overtime dust and lint. I covered overheating problem with more details in this post.
October 20th, 2007 at 12:56 am
My T41 is also getting similar problem recently. After use it for a while, the screen would turn black, with no sign of any display on LCD, while computor would still respond to something, like continue playing music.
I reinstalled the system to factory default, the problem stays. So it should not be software issue.
I tried to connect the laptop to an external monitor, the monitor also went black the same time when LCD turn black. So it should not be a LCD hardware issue either.
Next, using PC doctor, I checked the display adaptor and on board display memory, those also turned out to be ok, when display did not turn black during the diagnostics. When screen turned black during the diagnostics, I did not find a way to get a PC report, and had to force the computor off.
Later on, I noticed that a flex of the laptop would always cause that sympton. I tried the above suggestion of removing battery while run the laptop on AC, the symton stays.
Now I plan to open up the laptop and do a thourough dust clean-up on the motherboard. Besides cleaning up, would you have any suggestion about what kind of place to pay some special attentions to? like, checking out some loose connections?
Thanks.
September 29th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Chris,
Maybe your hard drive is failing? Test the hard drive and if it fails the diagnostic, replace it with a new one.
You can use Hitachi’s drive fitness test to diagnose the hard drive. You’ll find link on the right side of this website in “Useful Links”.
September 27th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
I have a dell inspiron 6000, I’ve recently had a problem with what i’m guessing is my hardrive I keep getting error messages saying that not all of the information that when i’m loading a new program or something is being saved to the hardrive, causing my new programs not to function properly I’ve tried blanking the hardrive that didn’t work it still has the same problem, after letting it go for a while now the computer when i don’t do anything with it for a couple mins will shut down and restart or go to a blank screen then come up with a screen that says no bootable devices were found. And then i have to shut it down and turn it back on to get it to run again. I have now clue whats wrong this just start happening out of no where and I can fix it I really need some help here!!!
September 18th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Matthew,
You’ll find my suggestions in this post: When I move the laptop or shake the bottom a bit it shut down
September 18th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Greetings,
I have a similar issue to the one being posted, but I have additional issues and this raises added questions.
Yes, my laptop seems to be experiences cooling fan gunk build up and that is one reason it may shut down unexpectedly.
BUT, in addition..when I move the laptop or shake the bottom a bit it seems to also shut down. Keep in mind it is not an adapter issue because the battery still has anywhere from 50-99% power remaining.
I will admit the battery isn’t so great and should be replaced. But just..moving it around. Would that be enough to create a shut down? Or is this too related to over heating?
I did at one point take a peek at the lap top too, I put it back together with maybe one or two tiny screws missing. This could also perhaps add to the dilema.
But I want professional input. ^^
Thank you for your time. I would really appreciate some advice.
~Matt
September 5th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Hi,
I have an Acer Aspire 5670 laptop and when i start playing games or something that asks a lot of efford he shuts down without a reason. The shutting down isn’t properly either because when i reboot him he has to do a memorycheck and stuff.
My fan works properly and i dont think it is a heating problem either because he sometimes does it after and hour and sometimes after just a minute. The air blowing out of my laptop is not of the same temperature everytime when shutting down.
What else could it be, and what can i do about it?
Thnx for the help
August 13th, 2007 at 4:22 am
I have a Compaq Presario R3210US. I bought it back in Aug 04 brand new. For sometime I been having the problem the laptop shuts on its own. When I run applications: install programs (some), play games, when I enter the BIOS. At the beginning I took it to get repaired and they cleaned out the heatsinks and added an extra fan, because the AMD only came with one. I do clean it frequently.
The parts:
-Female Connector is rock solid still
-Battery was removed as it was dead, on hold to purchase a new one.
Could you tell me what to do?
Greatly appreciated! Thanks and Great Site!!!
JJ
August 8th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Tami,
Here I’ve posted your question and some suggestions on fixing the laptop backlight issues. I hope it helps.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Update: OH>>> I forgot to mention……the laptop works fine with an external monitor.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Update to message #20, 8/8 @ 2:30pm.
I guess the fact that the power must not have anything to do with it. I just got home, and with the machine unplugged, the display still keeps going black. It went out about 3 times – it’s getting harder and harder to put it into sleep mode for some reason too (which is the only way to get the display to come back and not lose everything you’re working on). I can press Fn+F4 several times before it finally goes into sleep mode. Thanks again for any thoughts you may have. Tami
August 8th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I have an IBM T41p (2373-315) and I’m having some of the same problems as mentioned above – with the display going out. I’m not quite sure it’s the heat issue – it doesn’t seem like it would be given what’s going on.
Symtoms:
it’s the first time I’m testing this, but I do not have the power supply plugged in at all — and I can move the computer around and work on it and so far, the display is working fine.
1) it just started doing this a few weeks ago, and it’s progressively getting worse (more often) (I’ve had the laptop for a couple years).
2) It goes in and out – I can sometimes see a very faint view of what’s on my screen in the background, but for the most part it’s black. You can’t see enough to do anything.
3) if I put the computer in sleep mode and then bring it back out, the display comes right back immediately (a bit pink at first).
4) the power also seems to be loose or something at the connector (where the power supply connects to the laptop) and when I move the computer around, it moves and goes from battery to power (as if it’s not really connected well)
5) sometimes, if I pick the computer up, the screen goes black – sometimes, I’m just sitting here working on it and it goes black. (driving me crazy)
6) This could be important…
I can’t imagine how it could be the power, and it seems like I unplugged it the other day and picked it up to move it, and the screen went black — but I can’t remember for sure. This is very strange… I’ve tried to include all details I can think of to rule out ……any ideas?? I’m at a loss and not sure where to look. Thank you !!!!
July 28th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
ranj,
Does it run fine on the battery power? Will it turn off when running on the battery?
July 26th, 2007 at 3:37 am
Hi I have a Compaq Evo N610c laptop and when i am using it, it turns off, and if i move the laptop slightly it decides to turn off. This happens when i plug the laptop into a main socket. Any ideas as to why this is happening.
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
July 13th, 2007 at 4:33 am
With regard to the t41 issues ( I work for IBM by the way), the problem is that once the unit reaches a certain temperature threshold the unit will go into standby mode. the only way to bring this up is to shut the unit OFF completely let it cool down then restart it.
As a possible solution to this problem go buy a cooling unit. these units can be found at Best buy or any Computer store. they fit under your laptop and provide extra cooling power for the unit.
I have experienced this issue with toshibas as well. the problem with the toshibas is similar in nature but more due to the heat shielding that the fan sits under. this fan will get clogged with dust and such after a while and needs to be cleaned. Alternatively, it has been suggested that savvy consumers can remove this heat shielding- DO NOT DO THIS. It will screw up your system for GOOD.
July 11th, 2007 at 8:20 am
I have an IBM thinkpad. and lately its been blinking and then going completly black. I mean its still on but nothing on the screen shows. It normally takes 5-6 hours to turn back on and sometimes it doesn’t even work. I dont know whats wrong with it. What should i do?
July 5th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Hello, I have a Acer Aspire 3000, and it keeps shutting down on me no matter what I do. At first, I thought it might be a heat problem, as I have had those in the past, but I felt the bottom of the computer after an unexpected shutdown, and it wasn’t even warm.
The laptop would turn on, and work for a short time, but if I attempted to run any program for more then a few minutes, it would shutoff on it’s own. After multiple headaches caused by this, I removed all my information I wanted to keep, and attempted to reinstall the OS. The computer starts, and I can start the reinstallation, but when it reaches about 25% completion, it shuts down. I have become increasingly aggravated with this computer, I am using my family computer to type this, and have looked for solutions everywhere. Any help you can give is great.
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Al,
Could be a software related problem. Maybe some kind of virus. Try reinstalling the operating system using the recovery DVD.
March 18th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
It doesn’t shut off in the BIOS menu. If i put the laptop on standby it doesn’t shut off either.
March 15th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Al,
Will it shut off if you enter the BIOS setup menu and leave it in there? I’m just trying to figure out if the problem is somehow related to the operating system.
March 14th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Hi, i have a toshiba m50, it keeps shutting off on me. It only happens when i leave my computer alone and not running any programs. I have timed it, it sometimes shuts of in 10 minutes and other times it shuts off in one hour. I have the AC plugged in so it’s not the battery. I don’t think it’s the heat sink because i can turn it back on right away and use it for hours. I have turned off the “HDD power off” and “system standby”, but even if I turned those on it would still shut off. It’s just really wierd that it only turns off if im not working on it. It’s starting to really bother me because if i go take a shower or something, the computer will be off when i get back. Also, i tried closing all programs including norton but still shuts off. what do you think the problem is? and i just reformatted too.
any help will be great
thanks!
February 19th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Hi Everybody,
Didn’t know really where to ask so I’m asking here. I’ve a pretty serious situation with my ThinkPad T41. A couple of days ago I accidentally (and lightly) kicked my laptop – the disk shut itself (Active Protection System) and the LCD started to display some really weird stuff – it went very bright and I could see some strange stripes. I turned the laptop off and tried to turn it back on however it didn’t start until about 20 minutes later. Everything seemed okay, but after a few hours of work the next day the same thing happened. Any thoughts?
Right now I’m writing this from the laptop – somehow it started.
Thanx.
February 7th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Sul,
I’ve never seen a virus that can modify the BIOS. Anyway, you can try reflashing the BIOS.
February 7th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Ok, thank you, I’ll run the tests.
A friend told me that he saw somewhere in a forum in some site from Spain (don’t know where) that it might be a virus that modified the BIOS. Do you think that is possible? I have Symantec Antivirus and Spyware Blaster and Ad-Aware updated, and they did not notify anything dangerous (when I still was able to work for a while with the machine)
-sul-
February 7th, 2007 at 12:12 am
Lalit,
You’ll have to test the laptop with an external monitor. Does it also goes black or off when the laptop LCD blacks out?
February 7th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Sul,
If both the internal LCD and external monitor go blank, then this problem is not related to LCD/inverter/video cable. It’s possible you have some kind of software issue. Try reinstalling the operating system. Test memory, run Memtest86+ utility. If the memory is fine and reinstalling the OS will not help, apparently you have an issue with the video card.
February 6th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Hi.
I have the exactly same problem as Lalit. I’ve not been able to work with the laptop for a while. Before this happened so often, I remember a couple of times when the screen went blank and I had to force it shut down, then worked fine for some days, even months, but lately I can only get the screen work for a few minutes before it goes blank again. There was a time when I turned it back on, and a message appeared saying “Windows has recovered from a severe problem, Do you want to send the information of your system?” or some thing like that, and I accepted, then a web page appeared saying there was an issue with the video card or something, and that there was no workaround nor fix so far.
Does someone know what’s happening?
BTW: if I connect an external monitor, it goes blank also…
Weird…
-sul-
February 5th, 2007 at 11:53 am
just an addendum to the previous comment by me.. the only to bring the laptop back up is to force shut it down and then reboot.
thanks
Lalit.
February 5th, 2007 at 11:39 am
I have the exactly same problem and it does not appear to be screen back light issue. Computer keeps running, hard disk and battery lights are on, but screen just goes black or off, i cannot see anything on the screen. any help will be greatly appreciated…
is there any other way to check if it is LCD inverter board issue ?
thanks, Lalit.
November 13th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
Rich,
The screen goes blank or black? What you are missing: image or backlight? Can you still see a very faint image on the screen when it goes black?
Here something to try. When the screen goes black tap a few times on the lid close switch – a little button located close to the screen hinge (do not remember left of right). This button turns off the backlight when you close the LCD panel. Can you light up the screen by tapping on the lid close switch? If yes then apparently the LCD inverter board goes bad and should be replaced. The LCD inverter board is located inside the display assembly and in order to replace the board it’s necessary to open up the display as it shown in the hardware maintenance manual for IBM ThinkPad T41 notebook.
November 12th, 2006 at 9:02 am
I have an IBM thinkpad t41. recently i hve strted to experience situation in which the screen goes blank while the laptop is runningThe only way to get the screen to comeback up is to close the top of the laptop,in which the screen comes back up,and continually goes to a page that says “to continue click your username”or “standby”.Could it be the hard drive is about to go or could it be a screen issue,thank you