[CGUYS] Laptop Shutting Down
Ok, old wise ones. About a year or so ago I posted a problem about my now 4 year old HP 4300 series laptop, and the fact that it was taking up to 15 minutes from time I signed in before I was finally able to do anything and then on many occasions, it was as if something was running in the background that froze it up and then finally the machine would shutoff. Start it up again, and sometimes it might get started quicker, but again, something would hang it up, where it would stall on a screen and again shutdown on its own. There were many suggestions, but I took TP's one of reformat the hard drive since it was basically a back up machine that I used very little anymore. I never got to the reformat as I got another laptop and simply relegated the old HP to the closet. Well fast forward to today, and I decided to pull it out and use it as a backup machine and started the same procedure again. However after trying to sign on three times and each time have the machine shut down after 20 minutes and even quicker the following times, I did the reformat figuring there was something amiss with one of the programs. Once I got message about the reformat, I gave to go ahead and I got through one of 4 discs before it shutdown again. Tried once more, and then it didn't even last 2 minutes before shutting down. Tried a third time, and it was within seconds again it shutoff. I'm thinking that something had to be overheating that caused the shutdown so quick so I left the machine off for about 12 hours to try again, and once again, I got through about 10 minutes and two discs, but the machine shut down. Tried again, and it took even less time to shutdown. So does anyone agree with me that perhaps something is overheating that is causing the shutdown, and if so, what might it be overheating? If not, what else could it be. The bottom line, it is still a very serviceable machine to use as a spare laptop for a guest to use when visiting, BUT, I do NOT want to spend anymore than $150 to fix it given it is a old machine. What do you suggest, gang? Chris J * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Laptop Shutting Down
Sounds like a thermal issue to me. I wish I had seen this message back then. I would have suggested that then and waved you off the reformat of the hard drive. On a laptop - I used to use a 4300 back when I was at Netscape - look at the vents on the sides and back (and bottom?) of the case and make sure there's no lint or fuzzies blocking them. That's probably not it but I'd place money on the CPU overheating because the cooling fan decided to give up or it's gotten bogged down with dust. Although I've never followed this page - http://www.daileyint.com/hmdpc/repair.htm - it looks like a pretty good guide for diving into your laptop - if you're willing to work on it yourself. Or check HP's support pages and see if it's a known problem. Larry -Original Message- From: Computer Guys Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of DC Cavalier Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 4:12 PM To: COMPUTERGUYS-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Subject: [CGUYS] Laptop Shutting Down Ok, old wise ones. About a year or so ago I posted a problem about my now 4 year old HP 4300 series laptop, and the fact that it was taking up to 15 minutes from time I signed in before I was finally able to do anything and then on many occasions, it was as if something was running in the background that froze it up and then finally the machine would shutoff. Start it up again, and sometimes it might get started quicker, but again, something would hang it up, where it would stall on a screen and again shutdown on its own. There were many suggestions, but I took TP's one of reformat the hard drive since it was basically a back up machine that I used very little anymore. I never got to the reformat as I got another laptop and simply relegated the old HP to the closet. Well fast forward to today, and I decided to pull it out and use it as a backup machine and started the same procedure again. However after trying to sign on three times and each time have the machine shut down after 20 minutes and even quicker the following times, I did the reformat figuring there was something amiss with one of the programs. Once I got message about the reformat, I gave to go ahead and I got through one of 4 discs before it shutdown again. Tried once more, and then it didn't even last 2 minutes before shutting down. Tried a third time, and it was within seconds again it shutoff. I'm thinking that something had to be overheating that caused the shutdown so quick so I left the machine off for about 12 hours to try again, and once again, I got through about 10 minutes and two discs, but the machine shut down. Tried again, and it took even less time to shutdown. So does anyone agree with me that perhaps something is overheating that is causing the shutdown, and if so, what might it be overheating? If not, what else could it be. The bottom line, it is still a very serviceable machine to use as a spare laptop for a guest to use when visiting, BUT, I do NOT want to spend anymore than $150 to fix it given it is a old machine. What do you suggest, gang? Chris J * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** * * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Laptop Shutting Down
Another possibility is that the CPU heat spreader has come loose. Not very likely, but CPU overheating is the quickest way to initiate a shutdown on many computers, after throttling the CPU down, which could explain the poor performance. BTW, I once had to completely disassemble an older HP laptop to replace a failed CD-ROM drive. It took about 3 hours, but I was able to reassemble it and it worked until I replaced it. It took some googling, but I was able to find a service manual for the model, (but NOT on the HP site, go figure) which had helpful information and diagrams. -Original Message- Sounds like a thermal issue to me. I wish I had seen this message back then. I would have suggested that then and waved you off the reformat of the hard drive. On a laptop - I used to use a 4300 back when I was at Netscape - look at the vents on the sides and back (and bottom?) of the case and make sure there's no lint or fuzzies blocking them. That's probably not it but I'd place money on the CPU overheating because the cooling fan decided to give up or it's gotten bogged down with dust. Although I've never followed this page - http://www.daileyint.com/hmdpc/repair.htm - it looks like a pretty good guide for diving into your laptop - if you're willing to work on it yourself. Or check HP's support pages and see if it's a known problem. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
