Computer keeps spontaneously shutting off on me

[Mateo1041]

Hi all,

I've had my Compaq R3000Z laptop for a little over 3 years now and am running Windows XP SP2. It recently started spontaneously shutting down on me, most noticeably when watching videos or doing something like defragging (HD is 22% fragmented). There are no errors in the event logs. The only recent difference is that for the past week I've no longer been using the expansion base I was using before.

Could this be an overheating issue? Or something else? All fans seem to still be working from what I can tell. The bottom of the laptop is pretty warm, but nothing burning up.

The biggest other side effect is that typing sometimes gets delayed (I'll type and it sometimes appears to hang while trying to catch up. It then forgets the last part of what I typed.).

Has anyone ever encountered this before or have any ideas on how to fix this problem? I can't even defrag without it shutting off on me.

Thanks,

- Matt

[-pops-]

A typical symptom of overheating - spontaneous shutdowns when the processor is working hard.

It's time to get the brush out and perhaps the can of compressed air to remove the dust and dirt that inevitably collects on the heatsinks and fans.

It's amazing what an apparently simple cleanup can do.

[catgate]

Hi all,

I've had my Compaq R3000Z laptop for a little over 3 years now and am running Windows XP SP2. It recently started spontaneously shutting down on me, most noticeably when watching videos or doing something like defragging (HD is 22% fragmented). There are no errors in the event logs. The only recent difference is that for the past week I've no longer been using the expansion base I was using before.

Could this be an overheating issue? Or something else? All fans seem to still be working from what I can tell. The bottom of the laptop is pretty warm, but nothing burning up.

The biggest other side effect is that typing sometimes gets delayed (I'll type and it sometimes appears to hang while trying to catch up. It then forgets the last part of what I typed.).

Has anyone ever encountered this before or have any ideas on how to fix this problem? I can't even defrag without it shutting off on me.

Thanks,

- Matt

Speaking from a position of inordinate ignorance on lap tops (and most other things) I would suggest you have a look at having a clean up. It sounds to me as though your HD might be getting too full.

First download and run CrapCleaner , then, if you do not have it, try downloading AVG . At some point after getting rid of "things" you might then be able to defrag.

[Mateo1041]

Thanks for the reply. I did remove any dust from the vents, but did not use an air canister. Short of opening the laptop case up, I can't think of anything else left to try.

I already use CCleaner and Antivirus (Avast), so I'm fairly positive that isn't it. I just wish I could defrag.

[Alan2273]

Give this a try it is better than the Windows defragger.

http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/download

[catgate]

You may get a clue or two from this.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

[Dencandy]

First thing is to back up all your important data to an external source like CDs, DVDs, Pn/Flash drives.

Can you boot into Safe Mode? and if you can, try running some of the programmes that malfunction. Do you still have the same problems? If yes, than you could be on the edge of a hard disk failure.

If everything works fine in Safe Mode, then run CheckDisk to check all sectors on your hard disk. CheckDisk is from the Disk Clean up Screen at the top> Tools> Error-checking; tick both boxes to repair bad sectors. Then shut down and restart and Checkdisk will run. It may take some time to complete.

[Mateo1041]

Well, I tried every suggestion and will see if they all help. Belarc didn't appear to be too helpful aside from a lot of reading. I did not try reproducing this in safe mode as it isn't exactly the easiest thing to reproduce. One thing I did not mention before is the fan seems to be louder than in the past. But maybe that's just paranoia and using it without the expansion base. But I'll post back if the problem persists.