Dell latitude 5100 shutting down

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st

My laptop if not touched for a few minutes will shut down. It's not the power
options either because I have those off. I don't think it's a virus, but I
can not finish running the virus scanner because my computer shuts down. My
laptop does get pretty hot, but it has always got hot since i have had it the
past 4 years. The fan on it seems to be running. What do I do, or maybe how
do I run the virus check if it keeps shutting down?
 
My laptop if not touched for a few minutes will shut down.

Describe this...is it a normal shutdown with the pop-up box that let's you
know what's happening? Or is it a sudden and complete loss of power with no
warning?

-John O
 
If it just turns off, you could be looking at an overheating issue on the vid
card. Or a PS problem. Do you have an extended warrenty? If so send it to
dell and make them figure it out.
 
It does just shut off without warning. The other guy says it could be my
video card over heating. How do i tell if the fan on the video card is
running?
 
It does just shut off without warning. The other guy says it could be my
video card over heating. How do i tell if the fan on the video card is
running?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty certain there is no fan on the video. The video chip on a 5100
probably doesn't get hot, we're not looking at a powerful system here,
relatively speaking.

See if you can get into the BIOS and set the CPU to 50% speed or something.
That might let the machine run long enough to see if you have a malware
issue, which is entirely possible. If you can get it to run for a while you
have to run a spyware scanner/cleaner. Spybot Search&Destroy is a good one
to start with.

If the system is clean, you might have a blocked airway for the cooling
system, or a bad CPU, or something equally bad.

-John O
 
st said:
It does just shut off without warning. The other guy says it could be my
video card over heating. How do i tell if the fan on the video card is
running?
Click to expand...
If it seems to be a heat issue--and it sounds likely with this limited
info--set it on one of those freezer-packs you put in a picnic cooler. I
keep one just for working on laptops, and it does quite a good job. It
should allow you to run your diagnostic/virus software. On really
hot-running laptops, I actually put them in my freezer for a few minutes
before I reboot. HTH, s
 
st said:
It does just shut off without warning. The other guy says it could be my
video card over heating. How do i tell if the fan on the video card is
running?
Click to expand...

Get a can of "air" and blow out the vents. I service Dell computers, and if
this has never been done, the cooling fins are probably plugged solid. I've
seen some real nice looking cooling fin plugs on a number of the laptops
I've serviced. Generally after about a year of use, they are really plugged
up, ESPECIALLY if you have pets. Blow it out, and I bet everything will be
back to normal.
 
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