[chsriman]

Oh you mean I should have that option in my BIOS? In that case, I dont have it I believe.

I have burnt ISO files before and know IMGBURN. So that should not be an issue.

[Jage_b]

I doubt CHKDSK will fix the problem. When I had a faulty hard drive I was still getting issues from it. Ubuntu should definitely confirm if it's a hard drive issue. You should be able to use it for a little bit before it just shuts down programs one by one or it'll freeze up (or both)...and THEN it will shut down. I had that happen to me with my faulty HD.

The external HD idea is a really good one, assuming that it'll boot up.

Also, if you don't want to write a CD for Ubuntu you can boot up from a flash drive or that external using this program: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Oh, and that vacuum thing? Works great...unless your laptop has accumulated so much dust that it's basically solidified. Not removing the dust in over two years will usually do that. So pop that baby open! I'm sure you'll be shocked :-P

[chsriman]

Thanks a lot Jage_B and etaf. I have tried opening the laptop as much as I can and didnt find too much dust inside. I cleaned whatever I could with the small vacuum clear I had. After that I put everything back together but to no use. The restarts still happen.

Then I burned the UBUNTU disk and tried it on my laptop. I saw the Memtest +86 in that and ran it successfully with no errors. That now confirms that it is not a RAM issue because both Windows Memory Diagnostic and Memtest confirmed it. There was a option to check the disc drive also in that. When I tried that the laptop displayed a blank black screen for 5 to 10 seconds with a small cursor blinking on the top left corner. Then it restarted. The same happened when I tried the option to run UBUNTU without any changes to my computer. And I tried this number of times in different modes including the safe graphics mode. Still the same black screen with that small cursor for 5 seconds and then restart.

Now to confirm that the download and CD burn is ok, I used the same CD in my sister in laws laptop and was able to get into UBUNTU there.

Does it now confirm that my hard disk is gone or could it be a problem with any other device? I understand CHKDSK not being able to recognize the errors but is Samsung HUTIL not good enough. It had initially recognized the errors but after the CHKDSK was run it was not finding errors anymore.

Also my BIOS has only options to Boot from HDD or from optical device. So I didnt try installing OS in the USB hard disk.

This is really frustrating. I am thinking of giving it to a service guy who might have an extra hard disk just to try out first before I buy a new one.

Please advise.

[etaf]

Does it now confirm that my hard disk is gone or could it be a problem with any other device?

the fact that you could not run UBUNTU from the CD means its not a harddrive issue only

The PC should have be able to run UBUNTU off the cd just like your sisterinlaw did

[Jage_b]

Woah, yeah that's weird. We can definitely rule out hard drive...

Uh, well. Hm...

The only two things I can think of would be some issue with the battery or the fan. Could be the battery if the laptop somehow thinks that it's low even when it's not and promptly restarts thinking that the battery is low. Your fan could be dysfunctional or you didn't completely open it enough to see if there's dust (did you open up the cover to the fan so you can touch the blades?).

I'd say it could be the motherboard but you can run in safe mode. It's not software because Ubuntu restarts on the CD. RAM maybe? But your memtest says it's fine...

I'm all out of ideas, sorry :-S If I come up with anything I'll be sure to post.

[Jage_b]

Btw, one thing you can try is disabling automatic restart on system failure and see if any error pops up. Here's the link to how to do it: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstr...utorestart.htm

[chsriman]

Thanks Jage_B. How are you ruling out the hard drive? Is it because UBUNTU wont start also?

I feel battery should not be an issue because I have tried with two different batteries and this happens when the laptop is connected to power supply also. Are there any differences regarding power monitoring between safe mode and normal mode?

I opened the cover enough to see the fan and reach the blades with a brush. There was some dust but not too much. I cleaned whatever I could. I tried opening lot of windows and processes in safe mode and it still works ok. I infact burnt the entire 700 MB UBUNTU CD in my own laptop in safe mode. So I feel that is more work for the laptop than the login screen in normal mode.

Disabling the automatic restart on system failure is one of the first things I have done. Whenver this happened I looked for the minidump as well as the event log also. But couldnt find a trace there.

I am planning to take it to the service guy today or tomorrow. I cant think of anything else.

[etaf]

can you just update the summary

1) The laptop restarts frequently
2) The autorestart box is unticked
3) you get NO Blue screens
4) The PC works fine in safe mode and does not restart
5) UBUNTU will run from the CD when booted off your sister in laws PC - BUT NOT your PC
6) You have cleaned all the fans and vents

can you add a few points if missed and confirm the above

If it works perfect in safe mode without restarting - but not in full mode.... Then we need to look at the drivers and programs that are used on full mode..
you could try a clean boot and see what happens
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

[chsriman]

Thanks etaf. Here is the summary with the updates.

1) The laptop restarts frequently
2) The autorestart box is unticked
3) you get NO Blue screens and no event logs and no mini dumps.
4) The PC works fine in safe mode and does not restart
5) Samsung HUTIL hard drive diagnostic utility first reported errors on the HDD which were eventually fixed by CHKDSK. After that HUTIL doesnt report errors anymore.
6) UBUNTU will run from the CD when booted off your sister in laws PC - BUT NOT your PC
7) You have cleaned all the fans and vents - to the maximum extent possible. There is some dust still but that is definitely not much.
8) Performed a clean boot but laptop restarts there also.

[etaf]

4) The PC works fine in safe mode and does not restart
8) Performed a clean boot but laptop restarts there also.

OK thats intersting - the machine works fine in safemode and does not restart

try safemode with networking

[chsriman]

Infact I always have been logging in thru the "Safe Mode with Networking" option because I wanted to connect to the internet. I have never tried the just "Safe Mode" option.

[etaf]

so we need to see what eles loads that causes the issue as you did a clean boot and that still restarts
lets assume video
have you reloaded the video driver for the PC

[chsriman]

No. Apart from Windows XP SP1 OS and IMGBURN (to burn CD for UBUNTU), I havent installed anything on the laptop.

[chsriman]

Dear Knowledgable members,
I somehow feel there is some device that doesnt turn on in the safe mode but turns on in the normal mode. And that is causing the entire problem. I already tried disabling a few devices that I wont need definitely but still face the same restart problem. I have given screen shots of the devices in my laptop at the links below. Can you please tell me which devices are definitely not used in safe mode? I will disable them one by one to see if anyone is causing a problem.

http://rapidshare.de/files/48664867/...s_-_1.JPG.html
http://rapidshare.de/files/48664871/...s_-_2.JPG.html
http://rapidshare.de/files/48664872/...s_-_3.JPG.html

Thanks.