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05/20/2005 09:19:23 PM · #1 |
I've got a couple year old Toshiba laptop. It randomly shuts down when it wants to. Sometime it will stay on for an hour, sometimes 5 minutes. When it shuts down, the screen goes black and everything turns off instantly. If I let it sit for a few minutes, I can turn it back on and use it until it wants to shut down again.
I had this same problem with it before and after a big hassle got Toshiba to fix it. They said they had to replace the mother board. Based on the fighting I had to do last time, I doubt it would be worth the battle this time.
Is my laptop fixable or is it toast? anyone have any ideas?
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05/20/2005 09:26:01 PM · #2 |
Originally posted by louddog:
I've got a couple year old Toshiba laptop. It randomly shuts down when it wants to. Sometime it will stay on for an hour, sometimes 5 minutes. When it shuts down, the screen goes black and everything turns off instantly. If I let it sit for a few minutes, I can turn it back on and use it until it wants to shut down again.
I had this same problem with it before and after a big hassle got Toshiba to fix it. They said they had to replace the mother board. Based on the fighting I had to do last time, I doubt it would be worth the battle this time.
Is my laptop fixable or is it toast? anyone have any ideas? |
Some viruses do this. Have you checked it?
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05/20/2005 10:31:47 PM · #3 |
How's the battery? Does it charge and keep the charge. I have seen some Laptops that when the battery goes that it does some funny things even while plugged in.
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05/20/2005 10:39:22 PM · #4 |
Could be an overheating problem. Do you ever hear the fan running? What did Toshiba say caused the problem the first time? It might not be such a hassle the second time. I'd at least try to get them to fix it before I give up on the laptop. A case could be made for them not repairing it correctly the first time if the same problem occured again.
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05/20/2005 11:18:07 PM · #5 |
Take the battery out and run it on power, if it stays on you have a bad battery.
Another problem could be the power cord. Sometimes if it loses contact the machine will act crazy.
As coolhar said it also could be overheating but you should be able to feel that very quickly.
Another thing to check would be your memory. If you transport your laptop a lot it can sometimes come loose. Rare but worth a quick check.
Then I would contact Toshiba if the warranty is still in effect.
It should never be a fight to get them to honor their product. If you cannot get any help with level one support ask for a manager and keep going up the food chain. But never loose your temper or be nasty.. t just delays the process. When I have a problem with any tech support I always tell them they have a very unhappy customer but I never allow them to get the best of me. Being firm, assertive, but polite always works.
Now onto the bad news, if the laptop is more than 3 years old it is near the end of it's lifecycle.
Good Luck
Karen,
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05/20/2005 11:29:26 PM · #6 |
We will definately try the battery tests - good suggestion! I notice that it does get hotter than our other laptop, but it did that prior to the 1st repair.
As for what happened last time - I'll try to make a long story short (but I'm not very good at that :-) )
The pin that connects to the motherboard in the hole where the AC power cord goes was loose and this shut down thing started happening. When I took it in to the local repair shop they said it was the pin causing a short and had ruined the Motherboard. Toshiba said this was a customer abuse issue and refused to fix it even though it was under warranty. I went round and round with them that I had not abused the laptop that it was just a bad part. The repair shop told me they didn't see any other signs of it being damaged - who knows what they told Toshiba. Toshiba even went so far as to say that it could not possibly be a bad part.
Anyway, after many many calls through every level of tech support and customer service I could get through - I finally wrote a letter and created a web site where I put that same letter. I sent it to every top brass Toshiba person I could get an email address for and included the link of the web site that I created. Within 24 hours they agreed to fix the laptop. It is less than 1 year later and it is doing the same thing as before, however the pin is not loose this time. If it is a motherboard problem and not a battery or overheating issue, then something is frying the mb.
Thanks for the suggestions and if anyone has other ideas after reading this we're open to them! :-) |
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05/23/2005 12:39:05 PM · #7 |
Thanks for all the input. I tried running it without the battery and it still died. And... it won't stay running long enough to run a virus scan.
I think it's just toast.
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05/23/2005 12:41:14 PM · #8 |
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05/23/2005 12:43:57 PM · #9 |
Sounds like an overheating problem to me too, this happens a lot when people restrict the air intake vents (using the laptop on a cushion is a common cause).
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05/23/2005 12:52:46 PM · #10 |
I had a similar issue when I added RAM,
have you recently added any?
Appearantly I got a bad stick! |
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05/23/2005 12:54:18 PM · #11 |
I just went through a similar problem with the GM's laptop. It would turn on and shutoff almost instantly sometimes or perhaps an hour or so of operation. It turned out to be (despite what the diagnostics said) not only the main battery but the CMOS battery needed replacement as well. After full charge of the new battery all is fine.
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05/23/2005 01:56:46 PM · #12 |
Haven't added any RAM, but I'll try it by removing one, then swaping (2 sticks in there).
I originally thought overheating was the problem because the bottom does get quite hot, so I propped it up on 4 hockey pucks to give plenty of airflow underneath and it still crapped out. I'll verify the fan is working though.
If nothing else it'll be sold for parts on ebay...
Again, thanks all for the help (what a great community)
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