# Laptop gonna die?



## Mouse

I've just Googled this and it seems like the answer might be overheating, but I'm not sure.

I have my laptop on pretty much all the time as soon as I get home from work. It works fine. Then today randomly, I left it for a minute to do something and when I came back to it, it had turned itself off. (Which puzzled me, cos I had no recollection of turning it off.) When I turned it on it did all the 'choose to start Windows normally' thing.

Worked fine since, until just now, when I put it down to get up to let the dog out. When I came back to it, it had turned off. Why's it only doing this when I'm not looking?!

So, any ideas? Is it gonna die? I've just saved some of my work, just in case.


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## alchemist

In both cases, it turned itself off when you weren't looking. Have you scanned for ghosts?


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## Mouse

No, but maybe I should!


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## alchemist

Seriously though, you may be right. My previous laptop did that, and the frequency increased until it wouldn't turn on again. Have you run scans? (for viruses)


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## Moonbat

Obvious questions first

Was it on battery power?
Did you close the lid at all?

If it asked if you wanted to start windows normally then it means it didn't shut down properly, so either it closed itself due to power issues (or possibly over heating) or someone or something turned it off most probably by holding down the power button, could anything have done that? I'm imaging a small mouse crept onto your keyboard and stood on the power button for a while


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## Mouse

Alc: Nope. I did have something pop up the other day that said 'attack blocked.' I'll run one now.

Moonbat: It's running off the mains, and the lid was up. Nothing could've held the power button down.


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## Jo Zebedee

back up, just in case?


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## Mouse

Yeah I think I will, springs!

I'm 85% through the virus scan and nothing so far.


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## Ursa major

My laptop used to do this on occasion: the clue - if one didn't hear the slight click - was that the hard disk light stopped blinking on and off. (And before I realised that I could hold the power key down for ten seconds to make sure the system was switched off - I wasn't sure, as the power light remained on - I found myself gingerly removing the battery to make sure.)

Last Thursday, this started happening again, to the extent that only on every fifth (or sixth or seventh) attempt would the machine keep working (and then only for up to ten minutes, giving me time to make sure I'd grabbed all my data files). On Saturday I bought a replacement - a desktop (to eventually replace my old desktop** when I get a new laptop***) - and only finally got it working**** yesterday.


** - This is located somewhere with no Internet access and it's probably too fragile to be moved about.

*** - I don't like to be rushed into buying what will become my main machine.

**** - I spent most Tuesday afternoon trying to find a driver for my HP printer. It seems that you have to search for ages until you find the official download - the one Windows update supplied didn't work - and then _this_ found one doesn't work: no double sided printing. (And life being what it is, manual double sided printing on a printer that should do it automatically is nigh-on impossible.) More searching on the Internet (mostly on threads complaining about HP's lack of concern that their older printers don't work with Windows 7) led me to a solution: uninstalling all the useless drivers I'd downloaded and replacing them with a HP driver for Vista. Another half hour's getting nowhere finally reminded me that I had to _configure_ the printer for double-sided printing before I was even offered the option when wanting to print something, and the day was gone. 

And did I mention that for the first couple of days, I was getting a poorer-than-dial-up service from my broadband? (Luckily, the downloads from M$ and HP came at full speed and one of them seems to have solved the problem. Eventually.)

So, for the moment, everything seems to work. 

But if you discover that this is the work of a virus, Mouse, it would be good to know: it would save me having to buy a new laptop.


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## gully_foyle

Was there any particular program running on the occasions? Graphics intensive applications can make a laptop keel over.

Could also be a new windows feature.


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## Venusian Broon

Mouse said:


> Worked fine since, until just now, when I put it down to get up to let the dog out. When I came back to it, it had turned off. Why's it only doing this when I'm not looking?!
> 
> So, any ideas? Is it gonna die? I've just saved some of my work, just in case.


 
I have a laptop that displays the same characteristics. In my case it's about 4+ years old. So in human years this thing is a geriatric 80 or so. 

Windows machines (although I'm sure Apple is the same) will have a power option that if the machine is left after a certain length of time and not touched will go into 'hibernate' mode - which should, goto minimal power and when you touch the keyboard will fire up again and usually ask you for a password to access the computer again. 

However I think, it being an oldster (it's 4+ years old, a geriatric really), it gets completely 'confused' because of the accumulated crud of programs that it has amassed and somehow it enforces a restart instead. 

Possibly you could look at your power options and force it to not hibernate (at least try it and see if that's the issue)

...on the other hand, 9 out of 10 problems I've ever had with computers is to do with overheating - especially with graphics cards. Having the computer near a window so that the sun can heat it up and in a room with a high ambient temperature is usually enough to crash it and generate the dreaded BSoD on my desktop, if I am not careful.


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## Boneman

This happened to me, Mouse, twice. So I bought a little stand for mine, now it sits nine inches above the desk, with plently of airflow around it - oaky you need a separate keyboard, which is fine by me, as I hate the laptop one. No problems in the last 18 months and laptop is about 4 years old...


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## Mouse

Ursa, no virus, all clear.

Gully, the only thing running was Firefox.

VB, it's not hibernating. The first time it did it, that's what I thought it had done, but it wouldn't come back on until I turned it on with the power button. When it hibernates, it doesn't do this.

Boneman, trouble is, I use my laptop on my lap. I sit on the sofa with it so can't have a stand or anything. I was looking at external cooling fan thingies, but then don't think I'd be able to use it on my lap. 

Bah.

Thanks all.


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## mosaix

Take a vacuum cleaner to the fan inlet and outlets. Mine did just what yours was doing and the inlet / outlets were clogged with dust.

Always try and ensure that you use the thing on a hard / smooth surface to ensure good airflow around the vents. If you have to use it on your lap be aware of were the vents are.

When you put it down, did you put it on a soft surface, like a sofa or armchair? These tend to reduce airflow.


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## Venusian Broon

Mouse said:


> Ursa, no virus, all clear.
> 
> VB, it's not hibernating. The first time it did it, that's what I thought it had done, but it wouldn't come back on until I turned it on with the power button. When it hibernates, it doesn't do this.


 

So it definitely hibernates properly as well? (unfortunately that doesn't mean that that might not be the problem - because it could be caused by a software glitch that only happens periodically/randomly as I've found with mine... )

Does it crash and switch off at any point when you're using it, or only when you've left it alone? 

Another possiblity is that you have a damaged piece of hardware - (if you are lucky something easy to replace, like RAM) - but to be honest it doesn't sound like it. 

I still go for *overheating*, has to be. 

Just remember to back up all your data off the laptop, regularly, in case it's worse, and if it's making a lot of noise via the fan and it's getting burning hot, think about switching it off and cooling it down. 

I've melted RAM and graphics chips pushing my PC through stages where it sounds like the refrigerator heat exchangers at the back of a Tesco supermarket.


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## The Judge

Mouse, I sit on the sofa with my laptop, too, but with a couple of cushions between it and my lap/knees to bring it to a convenient height and stop me getting burned.  But this regularly causes it to get too hot and the whirry fan thing makes a lot of noise -- so when that happens I move it around a bit so the vents aren't covered, and every so often when I'm thinking rather than typing I shut the lid and turn it upside down, which helps it cool off.


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## Yog-Sothoth

You guys need to invest in a laptop cooling pad, because on the long run, it will save you probably ten times as much money on a new laptop. It's comfortable on the lap, and the cooling-pad regulates the heat.







Also, just as a precaution, I would clean my documents from any sensitive info and personal pictures, because you don't want your repair-guy snooping through your stuff when your laptop does decide to perish.


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## Mouse

Mosaix, yeah I put it down on the sofa normally. I didn't really think about blocked vents and whatnot. I'll try that.

VB, it hasn't done it today, but I've not left it alone yet. So it doesn't seem to happen when I'm using it. The fan does seem particularly loud. (As for heat, I can't really tell. I'm a bit impervious to heat). 

TJ, I'll try that when I put it down!

Yog, I looked at those, but wasn't really sure what I was looking at.


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## Parson

Mouse,

Don't know what kind of laptop you have, but I have an HP for which I just got the longer lasting battery. A plus of that (my old battery decided to die) was that it now sits about an inch off my lap or desk, making it much cooler. (heat wise, looks wise its a bit dorky.) 

But I would agree that setting it on the couch is likely the culprit. Computers are much better with heat than they were 20 years ago, but it's still always a concern.


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## Mouse

It's an Acer Aspire and it's a massive 17.3" so not sure those cooling thingies are big enough. I keep lifting it off my lap every now and then now, and don't put it straight down on the sofa so it doesn't overheat.


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## Ursa major

Yog-Sothoth said:


> Also, just as a precaution, I would clean my documents from any sensitive info and personal pictures, because you don't want your repair-guy snooping through your stuff when your laptop does decide to perish.


 
I must admit, I was wondering about getting a hard disk docking station (assuming that the hard disk isn't the component responsible for my laptop failing). While I try to make sure I have multiple copies of all my application data (Word files, Excel files, etc.), I'm sure I've probably squirrelled something I'll later miss in an obscure directory, which hasn't been backed up, and it would be nice to have some way of accessing it when I realise I need it.


By the way, my previous** laptop failed, and though I was sent a replacement hard disk as part of my service agreement, I think the failure lay elsewhere, as I never got the thing running again. However, the manufacturer insisted that I send my old hard disk to them, even providing a padded box for the purpose. I simply forgot to do it - what would they do? refuse to sell me another machine? - because the disk contained commercially sensitive data. (As I'd gone to the trouble of setting up a limited company - the penalties for letting the customer's data get out into the wider world were onerous - I wasn't going to let the laptop maker's outsourced repair company see any of it.)

In fact, thinking about it, when that old laptop failed, I'd just spent time moving emails from the email provider's central repository - in those far distant days, you weren't given much online storage - and hadn't saved them elsewhere, so I lost a _lot_ of emails. They may still be on that very old disk drive....


** - This was a _long_ time ago: I spent years with only a desktop PC.


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## Cayal

My first thought was overheating.


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## Vertigo

When using your laptop on your knee (or sofa etc.) Use cushions like TJ for comfort, certainly, but, more importantly, find a big enough book (I use an old atlas) and put the laptop on that, then put book plus laptop on knee, cushions, lap etc. This will ensure it has adequate airflow and is a bit cheaper than getting a special device.

Oh and of course you shouldn't need to back it up specially as it should always be backed up anyway


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## Mouse

I sit curled up with the laptop on me, so it's quite high up anyway. Cushions'd make it too high. Same with those cooler things, I think, but I should probably look at getting one.


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## David Evil Overlord

I might have a similar problem. Last night, my laptop died twice in about ten minutes. Once I got the Black Screen of Death, once the White Screen of Death. 

Word helpfully "saved" my story. I lost everything I wrote in those ten minutes, and had to retype.

Virus scan came up clean.

I usually sit with the laptop on my lap. Have been looking at laptop cooling thingies, but like Mouse I have a 17" and haven't yet found one big enough.


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## Vertigo

As I suggested to Mouse earlier DEO try putting it on a large hardback book (I use an old '70s atlas) It will then get the same airflow as it would sat on a desk which should be perfectly adequate for cooling it. Depends how you use it on your lap really. Another possibility would be one of those TV dinner tray thingies with a small bean back attached to their underside. Probably more comfortable.

Incidentally another reason to consider these measures if you are a laptop user who actually puts the laptop on their lap. Their was a thread on here one time (I'll try a search in a minute*) talking about an increasing incidence of people getting 'burns' on their upper legs - similar I think to sunburn - that has been caused by laptops used on the lap.

* couldn't find it


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## David Evil Overlord

Yesterday it died twice again. Mostly it wasn't my fault!

Once it was the White Screen of Death. The second time, it was the Black and White Vertical Lines Screen of Death  -- very slimming for my big-screen laptop, but very frustrating for the writer loosely attached to the keyboard.

Book now under laptop. Will report success, if laptop doesn't die again. 

I do so hate zombie laptops!


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## TheDustyZebra

I use a Scrabble board (folded) under mine on my lap, which works well. 

I'm too cheap to buy one of those cooler thingies, so far.

It doesn't have to go all the way across under the computer, you know -- as long as it separates your legs from the bottom of the computer, the rest should be hanging out and open to the air anyway. Just don't sit with the side of the computer right up against the arm of the couch -- that's where it probably blows the hot air out.

Did it say anything about updates when you restarted it? I assume you would have mentioned it, if so. Mine's turned itself off unexpectedly a few times, when Windows suddenly decides it's time to do an all-important update. It runs the update without telling me anything, then shuts itself off to do the restart. But when I turn it back on, or it turns itself back on, it says it's installing the updates.


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## Moonbat

DEO - It's interesting that you say the black screen of death and the white screen of death, assuming you are using a windows laptop, as there is only really a blue screen of death, when it includes a fatal error in code at the top of the screen.
If your black/white screens of death had any text on them it might be possible to look that up online and see what it says.
When you talk about vertical black and white lines that stirkes me as a possible display issue. At my old job we had a lot of screen issues with customer laptops and often had to open the laptop front and reattach the cable form the base to the monitor, if you pinch the side of your screen (try left and right) when it goes black and white stripey does it remedy the fault in any slight way? If so it is probably related to the connection between base and monitor.


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## Venusian Broon

Moonbat said:


> When you talk about vertical black and white lines that stirkes me as a possible display issue.


 
I'd agree with Moonbat - espcially if the same pattern seems to come up again and again. I had a laptop that's display completely went and permanently developed black and white lines over half the screen. 

As for blue screen of death, my main XP desktop is getting so old that the blue screen of death now has a pink square in it. _Even the BSOD is broken on mine now! _Actually machine runs really well and is an absolute trooper for it's age of 6 years - just shows that when you buy a machine you should always go for the highest performance that you can afford, it really helps with longevity.


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## Mouse

I thought mine had stopped doing it, but yesterday it did it again. Again while I wasn't looking at it. Gah!


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## David Evil Overlord

When I get the Black Screen of Death, the White Screen of Death, or even (only once) the Black and White Vertical Striped Screen of Death, there is no text at all. Just Black, or White, or Stripes.

No updates or anything when I reboot. Just the lovely message that I can start in Safe Mode if I wish, because Windows did not shut down properly (I know, I had to hold the power button down until it shut down, since I had nothing but a Screen of Death(TM) on my screen).


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## TheDustyZebra

Mouse said:


> I thought mine had stopped doing it, but yesterday it did it again. Again while I wasn't looking at it. Gah!



Well, the solution is obvious! Though it might prove difficult to maintain if you ever have to, say, go to the bathroom or fix something to eat.


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## Erin99

For any of you using laptops on your knee, please, *PLEASE* invest in one of these - they'll make your machine live longer because the components won't overheat over time. (And you can buy one of those fancy cooler things for the laptop using this thing, too, or one like it.)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=laptop+tray&x=0&y=0







It's even good for reading, too, and you can get them in small or big sizes D):







Mouse, can you be any more specific? (If it happens again and you see something, let me know!) I'm a computer whizz of sorts (been tinkering with them for 15 years), and I am leaning towards overheating as your problem, or a motherboard/HDD failure, but I'd need more info. So many problems have similar symptoms - even people here who've had the same issue will have had different causes - which is why I could be wrong in my diagnosis!

If it IS overheating, which is always the first step technicians suggest when a machine shuts down unexpectedly, you may have to look at opening your laptop to clean the inside fans and vents...


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## Snowdog

I agree with Yog-Sothoth. Laptops tend to suffer from overheating and a cooling mat does make a big difference. I also have a 17.3" laptop and it gets hot quickly wthout the mat.

The one I use is this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002Q8X3L2/?tag=brite-21

The reviews are a bit mixed but it has worked well for me and my laptop is reasonably powerful, though it mostly stays on my desk.


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## David Evil Overlord

I thought my laptop had died. It kept failing to start. It did tell me that any recent changes might have been the cause...like maybe the Windows updates that downloaded last time I used the laptop?

Finally got it to start. Only took 20 minutes. Grrrrrrr!


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## Mouse

Leisha, it's not done it again now! I've still not seen it actually do it, it's just turned off when I get back to it.


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## Venusian Broon

Hey Mouse, 

My living room laptop (I have a PC that grazes in the confines of my office room) 'died' in a similar way to what you have been describing. 

Now normally the laptop is connected directly to the mains, but in this instance it wasn't - my fault, forgot to switch the plug on - I went away for a bit and when I came back it was black screen and completely unresponsive. It really, really doesn't like running on battery power! Or at least not running on batter power when nothing is happening. 

So another thing to think about is that it might be the mains lead that has been pulled out a bit and therefore without you knowing has switched the laptop to battery power (I can quite easily pull it out a bit when moving the laptop about myself) 

It might also explain why you don't see it happening when you are using it because you'd be forcing it to remain awake - and you'd only know if it was running low on battery juice, 'cause I think you'd get a pop-up warning or something.

EDIT: oh! you get my 666th post Mouse, perhaps I should do an evil laugh or something. 

Mwha-wha-wha [then twiddles waxed handlbar moustache]


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## Mouse

It's quite possible that the lead wasn't in properly, yeah. It's not done it again!

Nice evil laughing.


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## mosaix

Mine shut down suddenly yesterday. 

A brief examination shown that the vents were clogged with dust. Vacuum cleaner time again.  

Shouldn't there be some kind of warning when the thing reaches a critical temperature?


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## Venusian Broon

mosaix said:


> Mine shut down suddenly yesterday.
> 
> A brief examination shown that the vents were clogged with dust. Vacuum cleaner time again.
> 
> Shouldn't there be some kind of warning when the thing reaches a critical temperature?


 
You'd think that - my graphics card for the PC (notorious things for overheating, 'cause usually dust and crud will eventually always build up in the little fan that is required to cool it) has a app that does measure the temperature of the device...but if it overheats too much it just causes the whole PC to crash and gives you no inkling that that was the cause (other than bitter experience and on occasion the need to spend oodles of money on a new bit of expensive kit  -- Hey, maybe that's why they don't have a warning?!?)


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## David Evil Overlord

My laptop gave me the Black Screen of Death(TM) twice more -- both times, the cursor froze, and then everything just went black.

I bought one of those laptop cooling pad thingies.

My laptop did the Screen of Death(TM) once more -- when I had the cooling pad set on "low".

With the pad set on "high", the laptop has behaved like a faithful lapdog again. So far.


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## mosaix

David Evil Overlord said:


> I bought one of those laptop cooling pad thingies.



Ordered one yesterday. 

Yesterday's crash was the first in some time - but the final straw. I was online to a customer's site and had three logins going each one half way through editing a source file. Complete mess that took me about an hour to recover and another hour to get to the same point in the edits.


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## Abernovo

I invested in a cooler today and I'm now kicking myself for not doing it sooner. My laptop's already ticking over faster than ever and opening programs quicker. I didn't have it stopping before, but processing time was definitely higher than it should have been. The only factor I can come up with is heat.

Looks like it was just in time. The forecast is for another dose of heat in the coming days.


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## Kylara

my ancient craptop (7 yr old vaio) never seems to randomly die...it does however take about an hour to boot into the windows OS and everthing on their takes forever and then crashes it if I get too excited (I only use it now I have dual booted it with Linux so I can programme on it with no worry of destroying the laptop as it is only an old one) but for 7+ years it's pretty good. It gets burn worthy hot fast though, I always boost it up or hold it up in the fan area when it starts seriously overheating, it gets double bad because some of the rubber feet have disappeared, pushing the vents even further down...
My nice new massive beast of a gaming laptop however occassionally give me the BSOD but so fast even I can't read the error, it hasn't done it in a while and it seems to have unglitched itself, but it has an annoying habit of doing "important updates" without asking first heh...but it defo sounds like an overheating issue Mouse: vacuum the vents and keep them cool, cooling pads are great.


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## mosaix

mosaix said:


> Ordered one yesterday.



Arrived today. It's a NotePal U3 Cooling Pad. Ordered it from Amazon, cost about £35.

It's got 3 fans powered by a USB extender, so there's no additional cabling to be dragged around. There's a variable speed control and the fans can be set at any position under the laptop. It's a neat design. 

My laptop's never been so cool.


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## subtletylost

Can I say my laptop used to do the same as Mouse's. Only mine done it whether or not I was using it, whether or not I was at it. It stopped doing it for a while then it done it one more time. I upgraded to windows 8 and it hasn't happened since.


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## allmywires

So I have a problem...

Yesterday while I was charging my laptop, the battery icon froze on 33%, but my charging light (which is orange when charging, blue when done) went to blue so I thought it had just frozen and all would be fine. When I pulled the power cord out, bam, it switched off completely. Now it won't charge at all and the icon is still frozen: when I hover over it, it says '33% available, plugged in, not charging.' I tried uninstalling the driver and reinstalling, taking the battery out, etc. 

I have a almost 2 year old Acer Aspire 4810T. Help help help! I don't want a new laptop, especially since it managed to fix its old problem of not actually letting me turn it on/log in occasionally...

(As an aside - I rarely turn my laptop off as a result of aforementioned booting/logging in problem, and almost always leave it on hibernate. Could that have knackered the battery?)


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## David Evil Overlord

My son's laptop has died. Oh, it still works, but there is an impact crater in the screen. Whether the laptop was dropped, kicked, drop-kicked, stepped on, frisbeed, attacked by wolves or hit by a comet, no one seems to know.

Quotes to repair:

Company that sold us the $400 laptop (warranty does not cover cometary impact): $350
Company that wants us to post laptop to them: $217 plus postage.
Company that wants us to bring laptop to them (and doesn't answer phones): $275
Company that comes to your home at no charge and repairs laptop on the spot: $199  

P.S. allmywires, I had to replace the charger for my laptop, but it sounds like a different problem with yours. Mine just refused to charge when plugged in.


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## Kylara

I had a white screen of death yesterday - pretty sure it was Adobe's Flash Plugin. I have been having problems with it for an age, and it crashed and screen went white, well I am assuming it is it's fault because I rebooted the plugin and it crashed again and another white screen...been fine since...just weird that it happened twice in quick succession after never having had an issue and reading comments on here!

PS DEO what do you mean by impact crater? If it is just a load of pixels not working you can run a programme that can try to fix it byt unsticking the pixels but if it is a hole in the screen then that won't work...


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## David Evil Overlord

Big spider-web of cracks right across the screen, Kylara. New screen will be installed tomorrow.


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## Kylara

Ah interplanetary zombie attacks will do that :wink:


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## CyBeR

Mein Gott, it's the Marvel Zombies .
Flee for thy no good screens!


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## Cayal

allmywires said:


> So I have a problem...
> 
> Yesterday while I was charging my laptop, the battery icon froze on 33%, but my charging light (which is orange when charging, blue when done) went to blue so I thought it had just frozen and all would be fine. When I pulled the power cord out, bam, it switched off completely. Now it won't charge at all and the icon is still frozen: when I hover over it, it says '33% available, plugged in, not charging.' I tried uninstalling the driver and reinstalling, taking the battery out, etc.
> 
> I have a almost 2 year old Acer Aspire 4810T. Help help help! I don't want a new laptop, especially since it managed to fix its old problem of not actually letting me turn it on/log in occasionally...
> 
> (As an aside - I rarely turn my laptop off as a result of aforementioned booting/logging in problem, and almost always leave it on hibernate. Could that have knackered the battery?)



What version of windows do you have?

Try taking out the battery and the power cord and hold the power button down for 30 seconds. This generally can release any discharge.

Another option is to uninstall the battery driver through control panel, system, hardware, reboot and it will reinstall.

Also, I had this happen to be albeit with a Sony Vaio, it has it's own manager for the power and it had changed the setting on me and would always charge to 80% nothing more. This was to reduce the rate of degrading.
I don't know if your laptop has such a manager, but might be worth checking the power options and seeing if there is one.



Kylara said:


> I had a white screen of death yesterday - pretty sure it was Adobe's Flash Plugin. I have been having problems with it for an age, and it crashed and screen went white, well I am assuming it is it's fault because I rebooted the plugin and it crashed again and another white screen...been fine since...just weird that it happened twice in quick succession after never having had an issue and reading comments on here!



Event viewer and system restore. Always a good option if start like that happens.


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## Kylara

Haha yup, works like a charm  Yet another reason my bf is trying to get me fully on linux (only dual booted on an old laptop at the moment) but I like onenote too much :wink:


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## Erin99

If the above options don't work, allmywires, I think it's time to try a) a new charger, and then b) a new battery: http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=Acer+Aspire+4810T&_sacat=0

I saw a charger in the list there for £6, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to get it replaced. I've had to buy a fair number of chargers in the past to fix charging problems.


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## allmywires

Cayal said:


> What version of windows do you have?
> 
> Try taking out the battery and the power cord and hold the power button down for 30 seconds. This generally can release any discharge.
> 
> Another option is to uninstall the battery driver through control panel, system, hardware, reboot and it will reinstall.
> 
> Also, I had this happen to be albeit with a Sony Vaio, it has it's own manager for the power and it had changed the setting on me and would always charge to 80% nothing more. This was to reduce the rate of degrading.
> I don't know if your laptop has such a manager, but might be worth checking the power options and seeing if there is one.



Thanks Cayal. I'm on Windows Vista, and I did try uninstalling the driver but it didn't do anything. Will give the power discharge thing a go later, fingers crossed...

Leisha, I hope it doesn't come to that, I don't fancy spending the £37-is that Amazon quoted for my battery...sigh. Although I suppose it's better than 500 quid for a new laptop!


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## allmywires

Yep, the power discharge didn't work. Thanks for the help though everyone.


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## Erin99

No, I meant buy a new power adapter first (under a tenner from eBay - the place I always buy my replacement adapters from), then see if that helps. If it doesn't, then look at buying a new battery. Sounds like an adapter problem, though. 

This seller looks great and is who I would buy from (he includes the power cord, too, which saves you money, and the adapter has all the relevant safety features): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ACER-ASPI...Accessories_PowerSupplies&hash=item3caf55c713


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## allmywires

OK, I'll take a look at that, thanks! 

There's another thing I've noticed which makes me think it might be something to do with my laptop rather than the battery/charger though: when I plug my laptop into the mains (on the lead), I have to press the power button twice for it to switch on: first time makes the blue 'fully charged' light come on, second time boots the laptop. Damn technology...


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## David Evil Overlord

Kylara said:


> Ah interplanetary zombie attacks will do that :wink:



And the warranty _never_ covers really common events like that.


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## Abernovo

Aargh! I've had a couple of critical failures with my laptop this last fortnight. The solution finder reckons it's a problem with BIOS and I need to update it. I've downloaded a new BIOS for this model and have it ready to install, but I've read that if anything goes wrong, the computer's nothing but junk and won't even start up. That leaves me a touch worried as it's the only computer I have and it's not crashing all the time. Plus, I can't afford a new one right now.

So, any ideas, reassurances? As you probably know, I'm not a techie person. I just need a computer that works - and gets me online.

The one good thing is that I back up everything on externals, so I shouldn't lose anything, file-wise.


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## Kylara

If the tool allows you to flash it in DOS, then do that, as it will minimise the risks of problems...that said I've never had an issue flashing a BIOS so you'd be very unlucky to have your computer crash whilst it's doing it


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## David Evil Overlord

Yes. Laptop is dead. Power button lights up. Screen does not. No sound of hard disk access.


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## The Judge

I've been meaning to return here and report on one of the cooling pad machine thingies we bought a few weeks ago, in case it's of help to anyone still um-ing and ah-ing over whether to buy one. 

We got a Belkin as it was in a sale at PC World -- the Coolspot Laptop Cooling Station according to the PCW website, though Belkin's own site doesn't recognise the name.  (We've thrown the box away so I can't check.)  Anyway, it's concave, so there's a gap between it and the laptop in the middle, which helps cooling on its own, and most of the time I don't need to plug the USB thing in to power the fan -- which is just as well, as (a) its idea of "whisper quiet" isn't mine, and (b) a chill breeze emanates from it when it's working, which is the last thing I want in January.  

It's slim and not at all heavy, but I found it a bit of a pain, literally and metaphorically when I first started using it.   Metaphorically: since I use the laptop when I'm scrunched up on the sofa, I need cushions underneath it to raise it to the right height, and the cooling pad slips down them, so I'm continually having to adjust it and the laptop to get everything in the right place for typing -- the pad has a lip on the near edge to stop the laptop falling off, but that's not wholly effective.  Literally: after I used it for the first time I woke in the night in absolute agony, with pain in my neck and radiating over the top of my shoulders.  Two very unpleasant hours followed.  I was OKish by morning, but I didn't use the cooling pad again for a few days.  Since re-introducing it I've not had any other problems, but I sometimes use only one cushion beneath it, not two, in case that makes a difference.

I still find it awkward and I'd prefer not to have to need it, but if it prolongs the life of the laptop I'm willing to put up with the minor inconveniences.


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## subtletylost

My laptop died the other day. I was so sad. I was just working and my computer kept telling me to authenticate windows so I was going to put the original windows back on it and it just stopped working halfway through the install. Later I found out that it no longer recognises that it has a hard drive. It costs more to fix than to buy a new one.


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## J Riff

Sometimes having the battery out can help with overheating. Don't buy a thin laptop.


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## TheTomG

Well darn, the graphics chip on my laptop is giving up the ghost. Fortunately I had time to scrounge all the data off the HD, as the screen hasn't entirely become unreadable. Less than a year old, crappy Dell, knew I never liked Dell.


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## Vertigo

TTG - are you sure it is the graphics chip? I would normally expect that to either work or not work rather than the half-working that you describe. A bad connection on the ribbon for the screen would seem more likely and is relatively common; typically with this you loose columns or rows of pixels.

My company uses Dells almost exclusively and we have been very happy with them. I currently run two Dell laptops one about three years old and one about 7 years old. Apart from replacement hardrives (common problem if you carry them around with you a lot) I have had few problems and have always had excellent support from them when I have had problems.

Also, if less than a year old, it should still be under warranty.


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## TheTomG

Pretty sure, but could be a bad connector - more used to desktops and can tell when their cards are going out and this looks similar. Graphics cards on desktops usually partial fail and start displaying artefacts, rather than just go out entirely. Can't say if onboard chips do the same or not though, was thinking they would.

And had an Asus have the graphics card go out (fortunately it has a card and not a chip, so I replaced it like I do on the desktops and it was business as usual.) Hard to describe the effect - the screen has gone very pale and washed out (including in the start up menu so it isnt Windows or a driver) and anything on it, such as a window say, has a "stretched ghost" all the way from top to bottom that flickers a lot.

Never really been a big fan of Dell, and this was a cheaper one to be sure. It will be under warranty, but not sure I can find the receipt thanks to a lot of disruption in my life over the last year - plus it has my passwords and account information and business and personal emails on it; it stayed alive long enough for me to copy those fortunately, so maybe I will have time to erase them before it dies totally then I can send it to someone for repair 

One thing I will try is to get output from it fed to a monitor, once I get an adapter, see how that looks - I figure that will tell if its the ribbon or not, as that wouldn't run through the connector.

Good info, thanks!


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## Vertigo

> One thing I will try is to get output from it fed to a monitor, once I get an adapter, see how that looks - I figure that will tell if its the ribbon or not, as that wouldn't run through the connector.


Indeed that should certainly narrow it down. But I must agree with you pale and washed out doesn't really sound like a connection problem. Although maybe a problem with the power to the screen, rather than the actual information?

Note that if you bought direct from Dell rather than a shop then they should have a record of your purchase.


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## J Riff

I've had to replace three screens due to breakage, but this Toshiba has a freeze-up issue. 
If you squeeze the upper left corner of the screen and hold it, the mouse moves around, everything works. Let go and it freezes, then slowly fades and bleaches.
I think its a relatively easy fix, the connector is wonked at some point. Hoping so anyway. 
TomG pluggin it into another monitor will tell you what's up, good luck with that, I've been using a large Albatron with this one for months and it is easier on the eyes.


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## Mouse

Sooo... I know it was a long time ago now I started this thread, and I know I said I was going to do it sooner, but I've finally bought myself one of those laptop cooling thingies. Mine's just a cheapo Microsoft one with a fan in it that makes a hell of a noise.

Now, my laptop's not doing the random turning off thing that prompted this thread, but recently I've noticed my legs have been red after using the thing, so that's what made me get a cooler wotsit.


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## Kylara

Haha well My comp kept randomly shutting down and powering up - decided to take a proper look and it seems that it downloaded updates for certain programmes and then didn't get round to properly installing them, so half installed stuff was causing crashes - reinstalled everything and all good now 

On a similar but unrelated note - my awesome ancient printer is dying. The cartridges are not aligning properly, no matter what I do - have replaced the ink cartridges, realigned them using software and all that, but they are just not staying put, so now on the hunt for another printer (with copier/scanner) for a decent amount of money...alas a long hunt I think, I'm a picky printer chooser...


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## Vertigo

Kylara, We use quite a lot of inkjet printers/scanners in our work and have pretty much settled on the Canon Pixma range. Does what is says on the tin and prices start around £60.


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## Kylara

Yeah I have the Pixma MG3250 on my list...However the whole link with printing from Apple annoys me a little  silly Apple GRRRRR, I think it has a wireless function too - however the big printer in the office at my parent's is supposedly wireless too, but it has never worked!


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## Vertigo

We have never attempted to drive them wirelessly so I'm afraid I can't comment on that one!


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## TheTomG

I've used many brands of printer over the years, the only brand I use now is Canon. They are awesome, using a Pixma all-in-one which works great wirelessly, so I can print from or scan to any of the computers on my network.

Never had any trouble with Canon printers, and never had any complaints about the print quality, I thoroughly recommend them.


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## J Riff

We teardown printers every day and Canon/Pixma don't often show up so they must be OK. Issues lately with older printer drivers not being supported, annoying!
 XP support runs out in a few months. Anyone else here running Linux?
Mouse, I allus thought you had a cool wotsit.


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## subtletylost

I run Linux on my netbook but I can't figure out how to install the driver for my printer on it, so I can only use my printer with my desktop, which runs windows 8. My printer is a Canon Pixma MP250 and I have dropped it once by accident, while moving it from one desk to a new one, and it still works like a charm. I dropped an HP printer one time and it shattered the glass of the scanner part and never worked again. I have to say I love my printer.


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## J Riff

Took apart my extra Presario laptop a 2170 I think...it starts, stops, starts, stops... won't shut off, keeps firing up and dying. 40+ screws later I still have no idea wot ta do. Off to the tech board I go.


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