instant shut off/crash problem

[Guest]

I have a 2-3 yr old Toshiba Satellite A35-S159. It has an Intel Pentium 4 @
2.3 GHz w/ XP Home, SP2 etc. Recently it will completely and instantly shut
off for no reason (not to regular "sleep mode" like when I close the
screen/lid but like I've done a "turn off"). I don't even know if it is a
hardware or software problem. It is as if all power is cut off - it does not
go to the "shutting down" screen but is just suddenly off. It happens
regardless of whether I'm running off AC or battery power. It often happens
when WMP 10 is running but not always (I usually have that open even if I'm
not using it for music at the time). It has also happened in the middle of
burning cds and writing Word docs, and while I'm connected to the internet
(dial-up).

Any ideas? overheating problem, virus (Norten AV says it is clean but it is
a little out of date),
All help is appreciated!

cg

 

[Guest]

Like with auto/trucks,when they just power off 99.9% of the time its a
power failure due to electronics.With a pc,the power supply is probably the
reason,it can easily be checked at a pc repair shop while you wait.......

 

[NoStop]

I have a 2-3 yr old Toshiba Satellite A35-S159. It has an Intel Pentium 4
@ 2.3 GHz w/ XP Home, SP2 etc. Recently it will completely and instantly
shut off for no reason (not to regular "sleep mode" like when I close the
screen/lid but like I've done a "turn off"). I don't even know if it is a
hardware or software problem. It is as if all power is cut off - it does
not go to the "shutting down" screen but is just suddenly off. It happens
regardless of whether I'm running off AC or battery power. It often
happens when WMP 10 is running but not always (I usually have that open
even if I'm not using it for music at the time). It has also happened in
the middle of burning cds and writing Word docs, and while I'm connected
to the internet (dial-up).

Any ideas? overheating problem, virus (Norten AV says it is clean but it
is a little out of date),
All help is appreciated!

cg

Being a laptop, I'd place my money on it being heat related. Time to clean
out the dust bunnies in the laptop's fan and heatsink.

 

[Falcon]

Your cooling fan has died. Been there, done that. Do you hear a fan
at all when your computer is running, I suspect not. Take a moment
and listen. The symptoms you describe match very well with an HP
laptop I have when the fan gave up the ghost. Bought a cooling pad
to put under and all is well. Computer worked fine unless I called
upon the processor to do some work and when the temp went up it was
suddenly off. No warning, no kiss goodnight, just out like a cheap
light bulb going out. Get a cooling pad or get the defect fan
replaced. My moment of Zen happened after it went suddenly dead
during a defrag. Yikes. By the way, nuke Norton, it is an
abomination to all that is good and well.