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Laptop starts and stops

10K views 22 replies 5 participants last post by  Organized-L 
#1 ·
I am working on a Toshiba Satellite M45-S169 running Win XP It keeps shutting itself down. Basically, it will shut itself off with increasing frequency, and then, at some point, it will shut off and refuse to restart. When I try to start it, the fan turns on, but nothing else no hard drive, no monitor. If I hold down the power button, it will just continue to restart and do the same thing. It takes sometimes 20-30 tries to get it up and running again. Once it's on, it's okay, but obviously something is messed up. I have checked the hard drive with CHKDSK and all is ok. I used a program from Toshiba to check the memory, hard drive, video, audio etc and all is ok. The heatsink is not blocked and I don't see anything fried on the motherboard. Any suggestions would greatly appreciated. I am about to pull out my hair on this one. I forgot to mention I did a defrag and virus scan while the computer was up and running. I also checked msconfig to see if there was anything running that I could eliminate to correct the problem. I looked in control panel to be sure there were no unrecognized programs loaded.
Thanks in advance.
 
#2 ·
I am working on a friends laptop, the M45-S169 with a similar problem. It starts, all lights are on and then the hard drive shuts off and all I see is a black screen. It won't let me use the recovery disk or the windows boot disk. It is as if the CD is not recognized once the hard drive stops. If anyone has any ideas that would be great.
Thanks in advance.
 
#5 ·
Organized-L said:
I am working on a friends laptop, the M45-S169 with a similar problem. It starts, all lights are on and then the hard drive shuts off and all I see is a black screen. It won't let me use the recovery disk or the windows boot disk. It is as if the CD is not recognized once the hard drive stops. If anyone has any ideas that would be great.
Thanks in advance.
did you try booting to the recovery cd's,using them before windows starts !!!
 
#8 ·
I can sympathize with you. I have been troubleshooting the same problem for 2 days steady. My friend's computer[Toshiba M45-S169] had been doing the on and off scenario for a couple of months. She asked me if I could take a look at it. I did a defrag, chkdsk, ran anti virus software, checked the control panel to be sure there are no unwanted programs listed, cleaned out the memory with pressurized air, reseated the hard drive, used the Windows XP boot CD as well as trying to reinstall Windows, checked the heatsink, power supply and verified all is well in msconfig. Still looking. I hope we both find the problem quickly. Good Luck. I will keep checking the forums to see if anyone else is in the same boat as we are.
 
#10 ·
I did consider the power switch. It lights up each time I press it and the computer proceeds to try to start the HD then the HD light goes out and nothing else happens. I did take the case apart, looked at the switch and didn't see any loose connection.
 
#13 ·
I am so bleary eyed looking at this problem I may have forgotten some of the steps I've done. Here is a list:
defrgged, msconfig, chkdsk, antivirus scans, checked heatsink, power supply, memory, hard drive. Looked in control panel for strange programs that shouldn't be there. Changed BIOS to boot CD first and used WinXP recovery disk. Keep sending new suggestions, I am open to finding out how to correct this mystery.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the suggestion, I did take the heatsink apart and it was nice and clean. I am beginning to think I am looking at a motherboard problem. I read on google that other people are experiencing similar problems with this model. One guy sent it back to Toshiba since it was in warranty, had the MB replaced twice and still has the problem. This problem just wants to be elusive. Now I am determinded to find the problem!
 
#17 ·
OK. It's possible that you have a hardware component shorting things out. Remove or disconnect all drives, and add in cards. Leave just the CPU/HS/fan, RAM and video adapter. If it still does it remove the RAM and video card also. You won't get anything on your screen and there will be a lot of beeps, but we are just checking to see if it stays on. With a new build it's useful to take the MB out of the case and put it on a surface like cardboard to eliminated the MB shorting on the case. It is less likely the problem with a system that has been working, but not impossible.

If no better I would first try to replace the power supply. Or you can forget all of the above and just try a new power supply. :D
 
#18 ·
This is a friends computer, don't know if I want to take the whole thing apart. I was hoping to find the answer without going that drastic. I did have it apart to the point of checking the HD, heatsink, memory and looking at the MB to see if I could see any hairline cracks.
I did swap out the power supply and still had the same problem.
 
#20 ·
Organized-L, I have split two of your threads from where you hijacked another person's thread. Please start your OWN thread for an issue, don't jump into someone else's thread. I've merged all the posts here, please continue here for this issue.
 
#21 ·
You asked if once it starts will it always restart that night if you shut it off- the answer is no. It shut down last night and I have not been able to get it to restart since. I have fixed many computers but this one has me stumped.
 
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