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  1. Member
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    quick question for computer savvy people on here
    the last week or 2 my laptpop will switch off by itself then turn itself back on right away
    could be while typing or using programs or while its left not used
    happens approx every 20/30 min

    what i want to know do you think this is a software/virus problem or
    something more to do with the computer hardware?

    its a few years old now. using vista/... was running smoothly all this time apart from this problem now

    ( oh also sometimes when i turn it back on the screen doesnt turn on so i have to keep turning it off and on till the screen comes on)
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  2. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    I would first suspect overheating. Easy enough to check. Try running a program like HWMonitor and see what temps it reports, especially right before it shuts down. http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html If you see temps up towards 70C, them maybe that's the problem.

    Other causes could be your power management settings. If the laptop is set to sleep in 20/30 minutes, maybe. But usually a PC won't go to sleep/hibernate mode unless there is a period of inactivity. That is set in your power options.

    Software or malware is a completely different problem. About the only advice I can give for that is to run a scan with a good anti-malware program. Malware Bytes is one I use occasionally.

    If it does turn out to be overheating, you can probably try blowing the dust out of there. But locate the CPU fan and hold it from turning before you give it a blast of air. Otherwise you risk over-speeding it and damaging the fan bearings. I stick a zip tie into the fan blades first.

    But all this is only guessing. Check the temps first, then get back to us. There are lots of probable causes. You just need to eliminate a few to find what is really causing the problem.
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  3. VH Wanderer Ai Haibara's Avatar
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    Have you run any virus/malware scans?

    When the system shuts down, does either the laptop (any portion of it) or its power supply (if connected) feel warmer than usual? It sounds to me like it could be hardware-related, but others more experienced in this than I am will probably have more and better troubleshooting steps to take.

    Edit: Yeah, as redwudz mentions, I was wondering if it was overheating. Do check the fans and any vents, make sure they're as dust-free as possible (was originally going to mention that, but forgot... )
    If cameras add ten pounds, why would people want to eat them?
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  4. Member
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    heating problem. if you have nvidia graphics by any chance, you just missed a class action.
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  5. Member
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    never thought if heating
    but yes without even running the scan for it it does get warm straight away from start up
    been like that forever so i never took notice only just started turning itself off
    so there is nothing i can do if its over heating?

    thanks for getting back so quick guys

    ill run a heat scan now

    as for virus/malware i check it with avast and a malware program and neither come up with anything
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  6. Member
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    does the battery play any part?

    a friend suggested not having the battery in when using the laptop that might help

    is that true?
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  7. Member
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    Originally Posted by angryassdrummer View Post
    does the battery play any part?

    a friend suggested not having the battery in when using the laptop that might help

    is that true?
    Shouldn't.

    However, you still haven't told us the make and model of your computer.
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  8. Member
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    its a Toshiba A300
    the only thing im sceptical about it being the heat is that when its been off all night i first turn it on, by the time its logged me in it switches off right away
    hasnt had time to get hot
    but when it has been on for awhile it does heat up a lot
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  9. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    a300 what? they've made the a300 for many years some with winXP, vista and win7.
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  10. Member
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    my original post mentions its vista
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  11. Member
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    last night and this morning it would last a matter of seconds after logging on before it would switch itself off
    i just put it on safe mode with networking ...lasted 5 min so far looks good
    i used to use system restore a lot when i had issues with a computer and it seemed to fix a lot.. but on here there are no system restore points set up..not sure why..maybe cause i set up updates manually whereas i used to have them set up automatically?
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  12. Member
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    I last month had an A305D with this kind of symptom. It would turn on, then after ~15 seconds it would turn itself off. This model had an AMD processor (which normally run hot). The problem was that the heatpipe in the thermal assembly was bad, so that the heat built up in the CPU wasn't getting to the ventilator (or fins over the fan). I replaced the heatsink assembly and all is well.

    If you are confident in your abilities, dissassemble your computer down to the motherboard. With your finger on the heatsink directly over the CPU, turn on your computer. If the heatsink gets extremely hot, but the fins by the fan do not, then replace the heatsink.
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  13. Member JimJohnD's Avatar
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    You may want to check if the Windows Automatic Restart is enabled. If the offending problem is generating an error, disabling the restart will allow you to see it. http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstricks/ht/disautorestart.htm

    The link is for XP, but I'm using Win 7 64bit and it is still in the same place.
    The more you learn, the less you know.
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  14. ( oh also sometimes when i turn it back on the screen doesnt turn on so i have to keep turning it off and on till the screen comes on)
    had the same problem with a desktop unit..turning on and off...after making sure it wasnt an overheating problem..virus..malware etc etc..found out had to reset the bios back to factory settings(have no idea how the bios changed,but i found the info on the net somewere) and now problem solved and has been ok for the last 6 months!
    Last edited by Soixante; 17th Oct 2011 at 10:13.
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  15. Member budwzr's Avatar
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    Sounds like the power supply.
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