Solved Laptop switching off

[denwilliam]

My daughter has a Toshiba Satellite A200-27R laptop which will switch off without any warning even though power is still present.Is it the hard drive or something else?.

 

[HarriePateman]

Could be the temperature of the system.
Will it boot the the desktop?

 

[Torah Lishmah]

Could be the temperature of the system.

I would say that it is much more likely to be the CPU temperature, rather than the system temperature. I'm sure that is what you meant though, so I'm simply clarifying the statement since there is usually a system temperature value in the BIOS in addition to the CPU temperature. Which is precisely where the thread starter needs to begin the diagnostics, just as you recommended.

However, it could be a number of other things as well.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

That is quite an old machine - I have one myself and I would go with what has been said already re temps. Does the fan run at full speed all the time? and how long since you checked in the air intake aperture and the "radiator" outlet grill.

So you need to first get a very bright light like a LED torch / flashlight shine it into the round air intake and then look into the rad outlet grill if you cannot see a great deal of light then it is probably clogged with dust and crud.
I did this up have a look

CLEANING LAPTOPS

Whatyou can do is to check the air intake aperture and the "rad" and todo that shine a very bright light into the fan aperture and look through fromthe outlet grill
1. You will see if there is a lot of dust in the fan intake and fan blades and2. you will see if the "rad" is blocked in any way when you lookthrough from the outside.

Now to clean you can blow the dust out using compressed air but first make sure youinsert something into the fan blades before you do - to stop the fan fromspinningas spinning the fan with air will cause it to spin at muchhigher revs than it was designed for and can wreck the bearing.
The rad you can use those chenille wire play things to very gently clean therad from outside the machine and again blow the dust out. It is fiddly buteffective.

To see the temps run Speccy Speccy - Download download from piriform and post back the results. We are especially interested in the CPU and motherboard temps.

If you are confident enough I have the instructions on disassembly and the way to clean the machine plus renewing the thermal compound.

 

[Torah Lishmah]

Good advice. Once we have determined that it is indeed an overheating problem, then checking for obstructions should be the first order of business.

Waiting on the OP to let us know if it is overheating before we go any further.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep I guess the next thing to scrutinise will be the hard drive, the RAM (both are now old specs and in usage) ,andand perhaps the powers source because if either are on their last legs the OPwill have such problems eh?

I have done a few Toshibas including my own over time and they are notgenerally hard to work on and I use a Toshiba specific fix site for what I doand if you are interested it is http://www.irisvista.com/and it is VERY important to thoroughly understand that first page before goingto the disassembly guides as the ribbon cable issue is and can be quite atricky job to perform. Mind you it doesn't list all the models - more the onesthat come here for fixing

As matter of interest it would be handy to know what power settings are onthat machine and it wouldn't be such a bad thing to run these in safe mode

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html

I also wonder if this is a malware thing too but it can wait till we hear back from the OP.

NB I have to say Torah and Harribo it is a treat to see members who have got their system specs listed as so many times one has to ask posters for them and it gets rather tedious. Both of you are to be commended

 

[ReaperWarLord]

its going to be the cpu tempreture most likely the fan blades are cloged with dust as mentioed up top or the fan could be broken

 

[denwilliam]

The situation is so bad now that when you switch on from cold it switches off before it has a chance to boot up so I am looking for directions to the nearest trash dump.Would also mention I tried another hard drive I had spare from another Toshiba and the results were the same so I would suggest that rules out the hard drive and with the fault being there when cold rules out heat.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

No mate the fault sounds almost certain it is the temp of the CPU. The problem being that the thermal compound on it and the GPU chip has dried out making any cooling of those chips impossible and the thermal cut out of the CPU shuts down the machine straight away.

See pics it isn't the machine we are discussing but is typical of the set up with the heatsinks in place and with them removed exposing the chips that is where the thermal compound is applied whenever a a laptop (or desktop CPU) is made - or repaired.

 

[Torah Lishmah]

The situation is so bad now that when you switch on from cold it switches off before it has a chance to boot up so I am looking for directions to the nearest trash dump.Would also mention I tried another hard drive I had spare from another Toshiba and the results were the same so I would suggest that rules out the hard drive and with the fault being there when cold rules out heat.

Yeah, if it won't even boot into Windows before it shuts down, it is NOT going to be an overheating issue. The next step would be to see if you can enter the BIOS, go to the "PC Health" [or something similar in name] section and monitor the temp just to see how hot it is at idle, and if it shuts down while your still in the BIOS. If it does shut down while your in the BIOS, your probably looking at a faulty CPU.

However, it could still be something else. Perhaps your RAM is not seated properly? Try to get into the BIOS as mentioned above, and let me know what you find.

 

[HarriePateman]

Could be the temperature of the system.

I would say that it is much more likely to be the CPU temperature, rather than the system temperature. I'm sure that is what you meant though, so I'm simply clarifying the statement since there is usually a system temperature value in the BIOS in addition to the CPU temperature. Which is precisely where the thread starter needs to begin the diagnostics, just as you recommended.

However, it could be a number of other things as well.

Thank you! Good team work there

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Well I have to disagree with that Torah insomuch that the CPU has to fire up to begin loading the RAM with instructions (OS) so if it overheats straight away then it will not get that far. In fact I suspect that even the BIOS would not be available for the same reason.

I do agree though that perhaps the RAM stick/s are bad or need reseating at least it is easily done by simply doing just that. The fact that it is an old machine it might benefit from this

SLOTCLEANING

Now as for the slots to clean them use astrip of old credit card about 1/2 inch wide nip the corners off one end - preferably round them off hold apiece of thin lint free cloth over the end dab on some form of alcohol - isopropyl alcohol (what we swab the skin with before an injection) is good and GENTLY swipe along the slots.

This can also be done for the GPU slot/s.

 

[Torah Lishmah]

Well I have to disagree with that Torah insomuch that the CPU has to fire up to begin loading the RAM with instructions (OS) so if it overheats straight away then it will not get that far. In fact I suspect that even the BIOS would not be available for the same reason.

Which is why I suggested that he try to enter the BIOS, and check his CPU temp. If a CPU is overheating due to obstruction(s) it normally will not overheat by the time the BIOS loads. I've seen it literally hundreds of times. Your certainly entitled to your own opinion though. We'll have to wait and see what the OP has to say before jumping to any conclusions though.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep Torah I know what you mean but I shall have to research as to whether the BIOS requires the CPU to show up. My point being that if the CPU does have to fire up to show the BIOS then if it immediately shuts down on power up then the BIOS is not going to show?
Am not trying to be pedantic more that am following all avenues of possibilities.

Well I had a look and you might be right looking at this seems like the BIOS is the first thing to fire up - so could it be that the BIOS is bad and I still cannot make out whether the CPU has to function to show the BIOS on the monitor / screen. http://www.bioscentral.com/misc/biosbasics.htm

 

[Torah Lishmah]

Yep Torah I know what you mean but I shall have to research as to whether the BIOS requires the CPU to show up.

Well, of course it does. Haven't you ever done barebones bench tests? With no CPU you get nothing.

Well I had a look and you might be right looking at this seems like the BIOS is the first thing to fire up - so could it be that the BIOS is bad and I still cannot make out whether the CPU has to function to show the BIOS on the monitor / screen. BIOS Basics - BIOS Central

Yes, the CPU must be functioning for the BIOS to appear on the monitor. And yes, it could potentially have a corrupted BIOS. However, it is highly unlikely that is the case.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yep Torah I know what you mean but I shall have to research as to whether the BIOS requires the CPU to show up.

Well, of course it does. Haven't you ever done barebones bench tests? With no CPU you get nothing.

Well I had a look and you might be right looking at this seems like the BIOS is the first thing to fire up - so could it be that the BIOS is bad and I still cannot make out whether the CPU has to function to show the BIOS on the monitor / screen. BIOS Basics - BIOS Central

Yes, the CPU must be functioning for the BIOS to appear on the monitor. And yes, it could potentially have a corrupted BIOS. However, it is highly unlikely that is the case.

Well Torah mate we don't know this for sure as the BIOS could have been flashed and in the worst case scenario completely fried either by the flash or just being an older machine.
Now the BIOS I have seen in the Toshiba machines is pretty well non repairable that is replaceable. Personally I think the OP is looking at replacing this machine unless by some miracle it rectifies itself as a store repair is as you know is beyond even comprehending - cost wise.
I suppose a used motherboard could be installed but it is a fair bit of work and would involve the cost of an OEM in any case.

 

[Torah Lishmah]

Well Torah mate we don't know this for sure as the BIOS could have been flashed and in the worst case scenario completely fried either by the flash or just being an older machine.
Now the BIOS I have seen in the Toshiba machines is pretty well non repairable that is replaceable. Personally I think the OP is looking at replacing this machine unless by some miracle it rectifies itself as a store repair is as you know is beyond even comprehending - cost wise.

I suppose a used motherboard could be installed but it is a fair bit of work and would involve the cost of an OEM in any case.

No offense, ICit2lol, but I think your getting a bit ahead of yourself here, and making unnecessary assumptions according to the absolute worse case scenario. Let's wait and see if the OP can enter the BIOS first, shall we?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Well Torah mate we don't know this for sure as the BIOS could have been flashed and in the worst case scenario completely fried either by the flash or just being an older machine.
Now the BIOS I have seen in the Toshiba machines is pretty well non repairable that is replaceable. Personally I think the OP is looking at replacing this machine unless by some miracle it rectifies itself as a store repair is as you know is beyond even comprehending - cost wise.

I suppose a used motherboard could be installed but it is a fair bit of work and would involve the cost of an OEM in any case.

No offense, ICit2lol, but I think your getting a bit ahead of yourself here, and making unnecessary assumptions according to the absolute worse case scenario. Let's wait and see if the OP can enter the BIOS first, shall we?

No offense taken mate I am just being a bit pessimistic because of the age of that machine and I have to agree that some feedback from the OP would be handy

John

 

[Torah Lishmah]

No offense taken mate I am just being a bit pessimistic because of the age of that machine....

Whew! Glad to see you are as layed back as I am, and did not take offense.

I try to put myself in the shoes of the OP, and I can tell you with a certainty that talk of having to replace a motherboard would take my stress level near to thoughts of suicide. If I can avoid stressing someone out like that by any means necessary, then I try to do exactly that. Especially in this economy. Just a suggestion though.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yes mate but my philosophy is just as I use at work (am a Registered Nurse) is to give anyone the best and worst scenarios and emphasise the worst a little more than the best as it were and if it doesn't come to the worst then it's win / win. Plus I think to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

I can see we are on the same page and well two or more heads (lets not forget Harribo) are better than one and it would be a poor world if we all thought the same way especially when it comes to working out problems