# Laptop problems



## Northerner (Mar 17, 2014)

My 5 year old laptop seems to have developed an odd problem  It spontaneously switches off - nothing I am doing or running is causing it, it's just like the power has instantly been shut off. I can restart it and things function OK, until the next time. This started happening a couple of months ago and I can go days without it happening, or (like today) it can happen a couple of times in the day.

Any ideas? Haven't owned a laptop before this one, always had desktops before, so wondering if this is something common in older laptops?


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## HERE TINTIN (Mar 17, 2014)

Hi Alan husband was wondering if it is overheating and switching off or if it could be the battery, they do wear out eventually.


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## Northerner (Mar 17, 2014)

HERE TINTIN said:


> Hi Alan husband was wondering if it is overheating and switching off or if it could be the battery, they do wear out eventually.



Those are the two things that have entered my mind also. I tend to have it on for much of the day, so could be overheating. I've had a lot of use out of it, but can't really afford a new one at the moment  I still have my old desktop - only 13 years old!


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## Mark T (Mar 17, 2014)

It's possible that's it's got a bit of dust/dirt inside which is blocking the cooling - that happens over time.  Although, if you get some monitoring software you should be able to watch the temperature climb if that's the case.

Has it done any updates recently?  One of my friends was having similar issues with McAfee where it would randomly crash after 5 minutes or so.


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## AlisonM (Mar 17, 2014)

Older laptops do have problems with cooling anyway. Can you hear the fan whirring at all?


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## Northerner (Mar 17, 2014)

AlisonM said:


> Older laptops do have problems with cooling anyway. Can you hear the fan whirring at all?



Yes, sometimes. I think I will try 'resting' it a bit more - I tend to leave it on even when I'm not using it which probably isn't doing it any good!


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## HERE TINTIN (Mar 17, 2014)

Hi Alan you can buy a fan for laptops to stop them from overheating, I am not technical enough to know what its called (maybe fan !!). Not as expensive as a new laptop


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## runner (Mar 18, 2014)

I have to keep my old laptop plugged in all the time as the battery is failing - that might help?  Also, try and put it on a hard surface - perhaps a tray or board when your using it, not a soft one like sofa or cushion, so air can circulate and keep cool.  Actually, I wonder if a gel ice pack under/nearby might help?  Did you hear that Microsoft are not going to be supporting Windows XP soon - could be another issue if you have XP.  Hope you manage to keep it going.


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## Northerner (Mar 18, 2014)

runner said:


> I have to keep my old laptop plugged in all the time as the battery is failing - that might help?  Also, try and put it on a hard surface - perhaps a tray or board when your using it, not a soft one like sofa or cushion, so air can circulate and keep cool.  Actually, I wonder if a gel ice pack under/nearby might help?  Did you hear that Microsoft are not going to be supporting Windows XP soon - could be another issue if you have XP.  Hope you manage to keep it going.



I do keep it plugged in all the time, but I also have it beside me on the sofa, so I will try your idea of putting it on a tray instead of the cushion 

My desktop runs XP, but I have Windows 7 on the laptop.


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## runner (Mar 18, 2014)

Northerner said:


> I do keep it plugged in all the time, but I also have it beside me on the sofa, so I will try your idea of putting it on a tray instead of the cushion
> 
> My desktop runs XP, but I have Windows 7 on the laptop.



Hope it works!


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## Vicsetter (Mar 18, 2014)

How annoying, Alan, sounds to me like a battery problem, do you monitor the charge? if it is the original it's probably on it's last legs, trip to ebay methinks.

Otherwise try these instruction: http://www.howtogeek.com/67660/how-to-diagnose-and-fix-an-overheating-laptop/

P.S. the only problem with Microsoft not supporting XP is there probably wont be any anti virus/malware updates, other than that - every tried using Microsoft support?


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## Northerner (Mar 18, 2014)

Vicsetter said:


> How annoying, Alan, sounds to me like a battery problem, do you monitor the charge? if it is the original it's probably on it's last legs, trip to ebay methinks.
> 
> Otherwise try these instruction: http://www.howtogeek.com/67660/how-to-diagnose-and-fix-an-overheating-laptop/
> 
> P.S. the only problem with Microsoft not supporting XP is there probably wont be any anti virus/malware updates, other than that - every tried using Microsoft support?



Thanks Vic. I suspect you could be right about the battery after 5 years almost continuous use! I'll take a look at the link, thanks.

Yes, I have tried to use MS support - once! They told me I had to uninstall all my applications and add them back in one-by-one until the problem occurred again  On the mainframes I worked on there was no way IBM would have suggested that, it would have been ludicrous! Never liked Windows of any variety because it is so bloated and full of holes.


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## robert@fm (Mar 18, 2014)

Northerner said:


> Yes, I have tried to use MS support - once! They told me I had to uninstall all my applications and add them back in one-by-one until the problem occurred again  On the mainframes I worked on there was no way IBM would have suggested that, it would have been ludicrous! Never liked Windows of any variety because it is so bloated and full of holes.



That sounds like the Windows "find an application to open this file type" service, which is likewise utterly useless — no matter what type of file you're trying to open, all it ever recommends is registry cleaners.


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## itsallgood (Mar 18, 2014)

Alan, If you find that the fan is 'laboring' a lot trying to keep the CPU cool then very probably the cooling fins are blocked with a build-up of dust (like a carpet of felt), causing it to overheat. 

Somewhere around the edge of the laptop body you should see the output vent with the copper fins just inside.

Problem is they get blocked from the inside and depending on the make/model the cooling assembly can be tricky to get to to clean out, though some are easy and have an access hatch on the underside. 

A good start would be to google something like "Dell latitude 5040 cooling assembly clean teardown" (replace make/model with your own) to get an idea of how to dismantle it.

Done this many times for people, runs like new once cleaned out.


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## Northerner (Mar 18, 2014)

itsallgood said:


> Alan, If you find that the fan is 'laboring' a lot trying to keep the CPU cool then very probably the cooling fins are blocked with a build-up of dust (like a carpet of felt), causing it to overheat.
> 
> Somewhere around the edge of the laptop body you should see the output vent with the copper fins just inside.
> 
> ...



Thank you, I will look into it


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## Mark T (Mar 19, 2014)

For monitoring, I use a selection of software from this company: http://www.cpuid.com/

The hardware monitor might be useful for checking if you do have an overheating issue.


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## Andy HB (Mar 19, 2014)

Northerner said:


> I do keep it plugged in all the time, but I also have it beside me on the sofa, so I will try your idea of putting it on a tray instead of the cushion
> 
> My desktop runs XP, but I have Windows 7 on the laptop.



My laptop turned itself off once when I had it on a cushion in front of me. It overheated (but it also gave me a message saying so first!).

I now use one of those trays with a bean bag underneath which keeps it stable on my lap!

Andy


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## Northerner (Mar 19, 2014)

Mark T said:


> For monitoring, I use a selection of software from this company: http://www.cpuid.com/
> 
> The hardware monitor might be useful for checking if you do have an overheating issue.



Thanks Mark, will take a look  I've been using it on a tray and so far, so good.

I've noticed some other annoying issues lately also:

When I start up Chrome in the morning, the laptop will often 'thrash' i.e. the processor goes up to 100% usage and memory usage to max - essentially nothing is actually happening because there are no resources available to do anything, probably due to some process caught in a loop and leaking memory somewhere. I shut Chrome down, wait a minute or so then start it up again and it's generally fine until I next reboot.

Another problem is that the wifi often stops working so I have to plug in the ethernet cable so something must be amiss with the wifi card - could be overheating again I guess.


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## AlisonM (Mar 19, 2014)

I have a tray table with an adjustable top and holes that allow air to circulate. But, the new lappy doesn't seem to get nearly as hot as the old one did, the new technology prevents that I'm told. The tray table is essential, especially if I'm having a bad day pain wise and can't get out of bed - like today. I can browse in relative comfort.


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## Austin Mini (Mar 19, 2014)

*New Battery reqd*

I have a ten year old Vaio which started to turn itself off. I replaced the battery with a new one and it solved my problem. The old battery was eight years old when it was replaced. Hope this helps. AM.


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## Northerner (Mar 19, 2014)

Austin Mini said:


> I have a ten year old Vaio which started to turn itself off. I replaced the battery with a new one and it solved my problem. The old battery was eight years old when it was replaced. Hope this helps. AM.



Just had a look at replacement batteries. On Amazon there are quite a few ranging from £15-£35, although they do contain quite a few poor reviews. The official Dell replacement is £106!!!!


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## runner (Mar 20, 2014)

Northerner said:


> Thanks Mark, will take a look  I've been using it on a tray and so far, so good.
> 
> I've noticed some other annoying issues lately also:
> 
> ...



We has trouble with Wifi connection generally in our house, and now have a plug-in thingy which takes the signal through your electrical system - much more stable.  Oh dear about the battery.  Might be cheaper to get re-furbished laptop?


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## Vicsetter (Mar 20, 2014)

Northerner said:


> Just had a look at replacement batteries. On Amazon there are quite a few ranging from £15-£35, although they do contain quite a few poor reviews. The official Dell replacement is £106!!!!



I bought a cheapy one on fleabay, It's not quite a good as a new one, But I basically run on mains all the time so not a problem.


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## Pumper_Sue (Mar 20, 2014)

Have looked at replacing the battery on the mother board the meter size battery?


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## Vicsetter (Mar 20, 2014)

Pumper_Sue said:


> Have looked at replacing the battery on the mother board the meter size battery?



Unlikely to produce Alan's symptoms, a duff Cmos/bios battery will give date/time errors or complete inability to boot.+ it's quite hard to get at - compared to the main battery that is.


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