Dell Laptop Problem

[84GNTTYPE]

A couple of days ago my computer started abruptly shutting down. I came back from class and it was shutdown, but I thought maybe I had shut it off before I left and forgot. So that night I was working on it and it shut down without warning, one second it was working fine and the next it was off.

I called Dell the next day and they told me to unplug everything from the computer (including AC adaptor) and take out the battery. Then hold in the power button for 15-30 seconds. Plug everything back in and put the battery back in. They said the shutdown was due to static electricity and that procedure would discharge any build up of static in the computer.

It worked fine the rest of the day. The next day it abruptly restarted again. I moved my power strip off of my desk, thinking that maybe all of those outlets near my computer would cause the problem. I also hid a couple of bounce sheets on my desk thinking that maybe that would help keep the static down.

Tonight it did it AGAIN! I was working and then it shutdown. I waited probably about 15 seconds and started it back up. Windows hadn't even booted before it shut down.

The laptop is a little over a year old. It's a Dell Inspiron model 5100. I'm running Windows Professional with SP2.

I'm sure I'll have to call Dell tomorrow afternoon, but I would appreciate it if anyone has any insight into what this problem might be.

Thanks

 

[BuickMike]

What OS are you running? You said Windows Professional, so that is either Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional. I'll go ahead and assume it is XP. I doubt what you are seeing is static buildup. You are probably getting a blue screen of death and don't even know it. Windows 2000 and XP are set to reboot instead of displaying the error. Here's what you need to do to start with. Right click on your My Computer icon, and select Properties. When the System Properties window appears, select the Advanced tab. From there you need to click the Settings button under the Startup and Recovery section. Uncheck the box stating Automatically restart. Click Ok on all property boxes and reboot. Next time there is a problem you will get a blue screen with a error that is similar to "STOP 0X00000000 in blah.sys" When you get this error post it here and I'm sure there are several of us that can help you. You most likely have a driver or maybe some software that is causing the system to crash.

Try changing your screensaver first and see if that helps. It seems like the thing crashes when you are away. You may have one that your video card cannot handle.

Hope this helps.

 

[84GNTTYPE]

Yes I am runnging XP Pro.

I did as you said and went to change the settings so the computer wouldn't automatically restart. The box was already unchecked, meaning that the system was not set to automatically restart.

Another note. The computer doesn't actually restart. It dies and that's the way it stays. I have to actually turn it back on.

Thanks

 

[GNBUICK87]

Dell

your motherboard is going bad have dell warranty it they will come to your house to do they repairs i service there labtops those are basic signs when they ask you to test your battery and power source they work so motherboard is bad basic the cpu is getting to hot so the system shuts down most of the time it is the motherboard 10% of the time cpu fan bad

 

[BuickMike]

Yep, sounds like a major hardware failure at this point. Is your laptop still under warranty?

 

[84GNTTYPE]

Yep still under warranty. I'll be calling them tomorrow as soon as I get a chance.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[kshef]

DUDE, next time don't get a Dell!!
their laptops have been nothing but trouble
i've seen peoples pcs cut off from overheating...fans still run? dusty?

 

[84GNTTYPE]

Called Dell this evening. We ran diagnostics and turns out the CPU fan is not working properly. Anyway, a tech is supposed to call me Friday or Monday to set up a time to come out and fix it.

Thanks for all the input

 

[GNBUICK87]

also make shure they change out your motherboard if you have scratches on the top of the labtop or bad woreout keyboard they will replace it too just ask them to