Laptop just shuts down on it's own!? Help?

I usually don't ask for help because I'm actually pretty good with these things, but honestly guys? I'm just stumped here on this one problem that I can't seem to figure out

My laptop shuts down on it's own every now and then. Sometimes it can go a day without doing it, sometimes it'll shut down on it's own every few hours. I have no idea what's causing this.

I got this laptop for free, since it's a 222 GB laptop I figure I'd fix it up for myself. Before, the laptop wouldn't stay on for 5 minutes and they got fed up with it and decided to buy a new laptop with their tax returns. Happy day for me, because I fixed it on the same day but rather annoying because I had to take the whole laptop apart just to get to the fan to see what was causing the problem. Turns out that part of the fan was chipped off, which caused it to clog and get stuck easily so I broke the peice off, cleaned it and put the laptop back together and it worked great. But, the laptop still shut down on it's own every now and then as described earlier. I did a clean reformat, added Windows 7, and it still did the same thing.

It's NOT a temperture problem and I know this because I installed CoreTemp on my laptop due to the fact that the temperture seems to reach the 90 degree limit before the laptop decides to shut down on it's own because it forgot to speed up the fan to cool it down. Sometimes it doesn't forget to speed up the fan, other times it does.

Reason why I said it isn't a temperture problem is because while CoreTemp is running, I have an option to put the computer to sleep once it reaches 85 degrees. CoreTemp ALWAYS put this laptop to sleep when it reaches that temperture due to failing to speed up the fan to cool the laptop down. Thing is, when my laptop shuts down it just does it for a different reason all together that has nothing to do with the temperture. CoreTemp would put my laptop to sleep if the temperture gets too high, but sometimes my laptop just shutdown on it's own. Even when it's nowhere near the temperture limit. This is why I believe that is has nothing to do with the temperture and figure it has to be something else but I just don't know what it is.

Any idea at all? Because like I said, I'm stumped on this one guys

Sounds like your cpu fan is bad, cpu it's self or motherboard.

Make sure it's not set to shutdown after system updates. Windows updates a lot...Wonder why lol

You do realize that if the fan was damaged there could of been damage to the cpu before you got it. Shutting down randomly is a very hard thing to track down the cause of. You could have a failing hard drive, unseated or bad memory, blown capacitors, and so on.

reply to post by TheProphetMark

You say shutdown, does that mean a clean shutdown and you see "Windows is shutting down" on the screen? First place I would look are the log files to see if they tell you anything.

Also, there may be a BIOS option to disable the smart fan thing I had to set that on my PC due to fan/heat problems.

Good luck.

reply to post by mytheroy


I disabled System updates. I thought of this too but that's not the problem. Already mentioned that it wasn't tha fan, and I'm pretty sure of that. But, motherboard? Care to elaborate on that please?

Originally posted by LightSpeedDriver
reply to post by TheProphetMark

 

You say shutdown, does that mean a clean shutdown and you see "Windows is shutting down" on the screen? First place I would look are the log files to see if they tell you anything.

Also, there may be a BIOS option to disable the smart fan thing I had to set that on my PC due to fan/heat problems.

Good luck.

And no, it's not a clean shut down. Just shuts down similar to holding the powerbutton until it shuts down completely. Pretty much the same kind of shut down, if not similar I mean.

Hmm BIOS options? I wonder if there's an option to change the setting just to fix my fans alzheimers so it doesn't forget to speed up to cool my laptop town every now and then. But, I'm pretty sure it isn't a temperture problem though.

And checking log files, I didn't see anything useful in them that would explain the shutting down issue.

Originally posted by BinarySamurai
You do realize that if the fan was damaged there could of been damage to the cpu before you got it. Shutting down randomly is a very hard thing to track down the cause of. You could have a failing hard drive, unseated or bad memory, blown capacitors, and so on.

Hmm there was damage to the fan. Just a peice of it broken off. Think of a flower with pedels, just take one of those off and that's basically how I can explain that. That peice was cracked, and clogged the fan and stopped it from spinning. I just removed it, that's all. The fan is working now.

A failing hard drive? I think my hard drive is pretty darn good, runs smooth, error free, I really don't have any problems at all with it. Apart from that shut down problem. But blown capacitors? Although, I'm not excatly sure what symtoms that a blown capacitors would present; nor have I ever dealt with that kind of thing before but if you thought of it, I don't know maybe it's likely to be the problem.

If its temp related after it shuts off, it shouldn't let you turn it right back on. Ive had mine over heat and it wont turn back on untill it's cooled off for a few minutes.

reply to post by TheProphetMark

The BIOS option on mine is called AMD Cool'n'Quiet. It ramps up the speed when it detects a certain temperature. My ancient fan didn't like that anymore so I have to run it full speed constantly.

I'm sure the marketing department has thought up a new name for that option by now though. My PC is 10+ years old.

ETA What you describe could be heat related. I would still check the WIndows event viewer and check the system log just to see if there is any mention. Otherwise it could be blue-screening and rebooting too quickly for you to see the screen info but I am not sure how Windows 7 handles a blue-screen, I've never seen it do it yet. (I mainly use Linux though)

If its one of the icore cpus they are notorious for heat related issues.

Either faulty RAM or CPU fan overheating. If the RAM is faulty, esdpecially on older models, it can just randomly shut down the computer without warning. In my own experience it would be either one of those. If the CPU fan isn't kicking in when it's supposed to, then it could also cause a shut down.

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver


Definitly not a blue screen issues. I hate blue screens so much, that I always disable automatic restarts during bluescreens. If it was a blue screen, it would show up without shutting down my laptop.

Originally posted by 74Templar
Either faulty RAM or CPU fan overheating. If the RAM is faulty, esdpecially on older models, it can just randomly shut down the computer without warning. In my own experience it would be either one of those. If the CPU fan isn't kicking in when it's supposed to, then it could also cause a shut down.

Since I know it isn't a CPU fan overheating problem. How do I go about checking to see if the RAM being faulty is what's causing the problem? All I know about my RAM, is that it's a 2.1 GB and at the moment it's memory usage is 56%.

I suppose I'll keep checking the Event Viewer ro see what's going on there. But after every shut down, the one I'm talking about there is no mention of anything new in the Event Viewer, at least during the times I've checked it.

reply to post by TheProphetMark

You talk of 90 degrees. Is that Celsiu/Centigrade or Fahrenheit?
ETA I'm not sure if all versions of WIndows 7 contain it but my version has a RAM checker built in. Hit F8 at book time and select memory check from the list and let it run for 10-20 minutes. One single error = bad and you need to replace a module.

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver


What he said

2nd.

Failing that, just swap out a stick at a time, and see what it does. If it doesn't shut down, then it would most likely be the faulty stick.

Originally posted by LightSpeedDriver
reply to post by TheProphetMark

 

You talk of 90 degrees. Is that Celsiu/Centigrade or Fahrenheit?
ETA I'm not sure if all versions of WIndows 7 contain it but my version has a RAM checker built in. Hit F8 at book time and select memory check from the list and let it run for 10-20 minutes. One single error = bad and you need to replace a module.

edit on 27/5/12 by LightSpeedDriver because: ETA

90 degrees Celsuis that is. My CoreTemp program has an overheat projection enabled for 90 degrees. Everytime it hits that temperture, it goes into sleep mode. Reason why I added that in, is because sometimes my fan doesn't speed up when it's suppose to and would shut down my laptop on it's own. Now when it does it, it just puts it to sleep. But, sometimes it still shuts down on it's own, sometimes the laptop can go a whole day without it shutting down too. That's how I know it's not a temperture problem, because CoreTemp would put it to sleep.

Hmm, I suppose I'll give that memory check a try. I doubt I have it though, I've pressed F8 several times and it doesn't give me that option during bootup. Thanks though.

Originally posted by 74Templar
reply to post by LightSpeedDriver

 

What he said

2nd.

Failing that, just swap out a stick at a time, and see what it does. If it doesn't shut down, then it would most likely be the faulty stick.

edit on 27-5-2012 by 74Templar because: (no reason given)

Pft that means I have to buy a new RAM Although, I would hate to buy a new RAM if that the RAM isn't the problem. But since I have OCD, I might end up doing it anyways just to eliminate it as a problem so I can get on with other ideas on what might be causing the problem.

I appreciate your help guys.

reply to post by TheProphetMark

OK 90 degrees C does sound a bit warm for a laptop CPU to get. I am not up to par on legal temps for recent CPU's anymore but it does sound like some kind of CPU hardware protection could be kicking in somewhere and shutting it off to avoid the risk of damage. If you have one of those cans of air you could try giving it a blast to see if that helps get a few hard to reach cobwebs out maybe. Laptops are often as much about airflow as they are about ventilators but both can be a source of problems.

reply to post by TheProphetMark


Nah I'd be 90% sure it was faulty RAM, hard drives don't usually cause shut downs, only heating problems and RAM. If you take it to someone they usually have a swap-out set (I do), and they can test it to see if it is the problem. Checking it wouldn't be nearly as costly as replacing it, and if it is, then you've got the problem without outlaying too much.

reply to post by 74Templar


Mind mailing me your swap-out set?

Just kidding