Laptop Shuts Down Suddenly

[Guest]

My wife complained that her laptop once in a while would suddenly short-beeps
several times and shuts down few months ago. I told her to let me know if the
problem persists. So she notified me of the same problem several more times.
I thought to run McAfee Virus Scan to see if there is any infection. Deep
into the scan, the laptop short-beeps several times and shut down. Therefore
the scan cannot be completed. I tried going to windowsupdate.microsoft.com to
check for updates. Again in the middle of checking for updates, the laptop
suddenly shuts down again. I decided to reinstall Windows XP Professional and
completely reformat the hard drive. I tried to reinstall Windows XP few
times, but each time the laptop will suddently shut down so I can't even
reformat and reinstall Windows. After loading necessary files from Windows
CD, sometimes the laptop shuts down while the screen shows "Setup is starting
Windows...", sometimes it shuts down few steps into the setup (selecting
drive, partition etc.).

Is this a virus problem? Hard drive problem? Neither? Or Both? What should I
do to resolve it?

Thank you very much in advance!

 

[R. McCarty]

A likely cause is overheating. Many notebook owner's know their unit is
hot - just no actual numbers. BIOS is setup with Thermal shutdown temps.
When the unit reaches that temp it will shut itself off to prevent long term
damage. Dell notebooks are particularly vulnerable, since the default fan
control isn't adequate. I would recommend you download a monitoring
tool such as Mobile Monitor or Speed Fan. Dell's also suffer from lack
of Thermal paste on some of their inexpensive Inspiron line (1000). Also
if necessary there is an add-on program written specifically for Dells that
allows the user to adjust fan speed/trigger temp. Because disk drives are
in a sealed compartment on most notebooks, they also contribute to the
heat issue. Finally, notebooks exhaust heat thru a single fan. Be sure to
check and see that the opening isn't clogged and the fan blades are turning.
I would download Speed Fan 4.28 check the reported temps and post
those for analysis.
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php
Also post your Vendor/Model #, to help determine the maximum temps
for the notebook.

 

[S.Sengupta]

You can use Shutdown Event Tracker to consistently track the reason for
system shutdowns.

Description of the Shutdown Event Tracker
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;293814

regards,
S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

 

[Richard Urban]

Note: This will not work if it is a spontaneous hardware shutdown, like
that caused by over heating. There is no time to write the event.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

You can use Shutdown Event Tracker to consistently track the reason for
system shutdowns.

Description of the Shutdown Event Tracker
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;293814

regards,
S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

My wife complained that her laptop once in a while would suddenly
short-beeps several times and shuts down few months ago. I told her to
let me know if the problem persists. So she notified me of the same
problem several more times. I thought to run McAfee Virus Scan to see if
there is any infection. Deep into the scan, the laptop short-beeps
several times and shut down. Therefore the scan cannot be completed. I
tried going to windowsupdate.microsoft.com to check for updates. Again in
the middle of checking for updates, the laptop suddenly shuts down again.
I decided to reinstall Windows XP Professional and completely reformat
the hard drive. I tried to reinstall Windows XP few times, but each time
the laptop will suddently shut down so I can't even reformat and
reinstall Windows. After loading necessary files from Windows CD,
sometimes the laptop shuts down while the screen shows "Setup is starting
Windows...", sometimes it shuts down few steps into the setup (selecting
drive, partition etc.).

Is this a virus problem? Hard drive problem? Neither? Or Both? What
should I do to resolve it?

Thank you very much in advance!

 

[S.Sengupta]

True.
I think he has a Power supply or system board problem.

regards,
S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

 

[Unk]

My wife complained that her laptop once in a while would suddenly short-beeps
several times and shuts down few months ago. I told her to let me know if the
problem persists. So she notified me of the same problem several more times.
I thought to run McAfee Virus Scan to see if there is any infection. Deep
into the scan, the laptop short-beeps several times and shut down. Therefore
the scan cannot be completed. I tried going to windowsupdate.microsoft.com to
check for updates. Again in the middle of checking for updates, the laptop
suddenly shuts down again. I decided to reinstall Windows XP Professional and
completely reformat the hard drive. I tried to reinstall Windows XP few
times, but each time the laptop will suddently shut down so I can't even
reformat and reinstall Windows. After loading necessary files from Windows
CD, sometimes the laptop shuts down while the screen shows "Setup is starting
Windows...", sometimes it shuts down few steps into the setup (selecting
drive, partition etc.).

Is this a virus problem? Hard drive problem? Neither? Or Both? What should I
do to resolve it?

Thank you very much in advance!

Probably overheating, especially if she uses it while in bed. The CPU cooler gets blocked with
lint and pet hairs. I've seen it so thick that the fan is actually stopped! It depends on the
make of the laptop whether or not you can access the cooler without a total disassembly.

Raise the back of the laptop 1" to aid cooling, or use a laptop cooler.
See http://tinyurl.com/br5qy

You can check the temperature with the EVEREST Ultimate Edition limited trial version.
No need to buy it just to run a temperature check...
http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=3&lang=en