Unexpected Shutdowns

[DaveF]

Yes I am another sufferer of this malaise. My laptop has been doing this for
4 months now, and despite downloading all relevant Vista updates and service
packs, and ATI graphics and CPU chipset updates I still get the problem
whether I have nothing open (Desktop only) or if I am using Internet
Explorer, Word, Excel, Windows Explorer..... The screen goes black, only the
power light is on, and I have to re-boot using the power button. About 1 in
10 times (currently it happens 4-5 times per hour till I give up again in
frustration) I get a message that Windows has detected an 'unexpected
problem' (usually there is no message indicating there is even a problem) and
after looking for the source, says its to do with the display driver. The
Windows help site says not my problem, go to the graphics card (ATI in this
instance) site, they say not my problem, go to the Toshiba site. Toshiba site
offers some driver upgrades, but to date (29/1/08) all updates have been
downloaded and still I get the same random problem. If I could I would
downgrade to XP o/s and Office 2003, but the o/s is hard wired somehow to the
hardware and it simply cannot be done (according to my professional IT friend
- who recommends don't touch Vista under any circumstances, and he runs a
major UN IT department!!!)

Heeeeelp - any 'go to' sites' / suggestions!!!

System details = Toshiba Satellite A200; Part Number - PSAF6A-02H01N; OS
Vistaâ„¢ Home Premium 6.0.6000; ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600
version=8.380.0.0; Screen Resolution @ 1280 x 800; Office 2007 programs. Also
run AVG anti-virus.

 

[PvdG42]

Yes I am another sufferer of this malaise. My laptop has been doing this
for
4 months now, and despite downloading all relevant Vista updates and
service
packs, and ATI graphics and CPU chipset updates I still get the problem
whether I have nothing open (Desktop only) or if I am using Internet
Explorer, Word, Excel, Windows Explorer..... The screen goes black, only
the
power light is on, and I have to re-boot using the power button. About 1
in
10 times (currently it happens 4-5 times per hour till I give up again in
frustration) I get a message that Windows has detected an 'unexpected
problem' (usually there is no message indicating there is even a problem)
and
after looking for the source, says its to do with the display driver. The
Windows help site says not my problem, go to the graphics card (ATI in
this
instance) site, they say not my problem, go to the Toshiba site. Toshiba
site
offers some driver upgrades, but to date (29/1/08) all updates have been
downloaded and still I get the same random problem. If I could I would
downgrade to XP o/s and Office 2003, but the o/s is hard wired somehow to
the
hardware and it simply cannot be done (according to my professional IT
friend
- who recommends don't touch Vista under any circumstances, and he runs a
major UN IT department!!!)

Heeeeelp - any 'go to' sites' / suggestions!!!

System details = Toshiba Satellite A200; Part Number - PSAF6A-02H01N; OS
Vistaâ„¢ Home Premium 6.0.6000; ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600
version=8.380.0.0; Screen Resolution @ 1280 x 800; Office 2007 programs.
Also
run AVG anti-virus.

Looks like a current model (your Satellite A200)? Is it still under
warranty? Did Toshiba ship it with Vista installed?
If so, contact the vendor, or Toshiba directly, and get the warranty service
you paid for as part of the purchase. Toshiba is 100% responsible for
supporting both the hardware *and* the OEM software they supplied, which
includes Vista. Besides, you may well have a hardware problem.

FWIW, your "professional" friend is all wet about Vista being "hard wired"
to the laptop. The only caution would be to make sure there are Win XP
drivers available for all the hardware *before attempting to install XP.
Again, that is an option you might explore with Toshiba tech support.

 

[Marcin Wiszowaty]

Wrong forum

but since this is just about the only question posted here that i can answer
and i asked a few myself so would like to give back to community

i have downgraded 4 HP pavilion laptops from vista to xp.
(working on the 4th---need to find a wireless network driver. other 3 are
fine)
I definitely recomend downgrading if you have sub 2gigs of ram

for the last 2 they had a SATA harddrive. Regular XP cd doesnt have drivers
for that so you will have to burn a spcialized windows cd with a sata driver
or you will get a no harddrive found error at instalation in dos email me ar
(e-mail address removed) and i will send you a link to that. i lost it if you
go that direction i will find a guide for this again

Of course you will have problems along the way but only with drivers which
is what you seem to be having now. Either fix it in vista or downgrade to xp
and that driver problem might get even worse.

i know costco and bestbuy have a good return policy so you could try to
exchange it
dont pay atention to the 3 month thing go back with receipt and
see what they can do

i sugest you burn a recovery disc. There is a program in the start menu for
that. And then try it.
You might spend hours looking for the right drivers. So before doing so go
to
control pannel --> system --> (tab) hardware --> device manager and find
the devices that you have
the name and model number of your
graphic card
network wired and wireless
sound card
chipset
harddrive
before you do anything else in case you want to go back to what you had.
also try to uninstall the driver and let the laptop chose the best one at
startup instead of installing one.
the driver is saved in your windows/sys32 directory so when you reboot at
worst case you will have the same problem

hope this helps

 

[DaveF]

Hello Marcin & PvdG42 - Really appreciate your responses, so to sum up, it
seems I might have both hardware and driver problems in a <6months old
computer, and that an XP downgrade may be advisable though difficult. The
laptop is under warranty (extended world wide), and I will pursue that as the
next step but it is not that simple....I bought it in Australia and am living
in Switzerland - no problem except that language, warranty centre in a
different part of the country to me, and non-acceptance of different serial
number systems are small barriers (European Toshiba site does not recognise
the Asia-Pacific serial number). Re: the 'hard wired' phrase, I used that
term maybe loosely, as it did ship with Vista pre-installed. It seems strange
that a system that has been around for several years is still the preferred
choice by so many eh? Don't get me started on the much vaunted Office07
programs..... so far my experience is, to coin an Australian phrase, all 'fur
coat and no pants'. Thanks again and if I achieve resolution, I will report
back to ya'll.

 

[PvdG42]

Hello Marcin & PvdG42 - Really appreciate your responses, so to sum up, it
seems I might have both hardware and driver problems in a <6months old
computer, and that an XP downgrade may be advisable though difficult. The
laptop is under warranty (extended world wide), and I will pursue that as
the
next step but it is not that simple....I bought it in Australia and am
living
in Switzerland - no problem except that language, warranty centre in a
different part of the country to me, and non-acceptance of different
serial
number systems are small barriers (European Toshiba site does not
recognise
the Asia-Pacific serial number). Re: the 'hard wired' phrase, I used that
term maybe loosely, as it did ship with Vista pre-installed. It seems
strange
that a system that has been around for several years is still the
preferred
choice by so many eh? Don't get me started on the much vaunted Office07
programs..... so far my experience is, to coin an Australian phrase, all
'fur
coat and no pants'. Thanks again and if I achieve resolution, I will
report
back to ya'll.

Contact Toshiba Headquarters about the warranty issue. I'm sure they can
convince Toshiba Europe to do the right thing (at least, I would hope so).
Good luck!