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Toshiba Satellite A200 Random Shutdown

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I have an A200-1YO, 1.66ghz, upgraded to Windows 7 RC and 4Gb 667mhz PC 5300 RAM.
My problem started about a month ago when i was still running Vista Home Premium and 3Gb of Ram.
The machine just started switching itself off randomly. No warning, no error codes, no shutting down or logging off screen...just instant OFF.
At first i thought it was a virus so i scanned the hell out of the whole laptop with my Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 and found nothing. Sometimes it would be on for days then suddenly switch off. sometimes when i plug in my external hard drive or my IR remote receiver it will switch off and sometimes it won't. The most annoying one is when it switches off about 2-3 mins after switching it on and i have done absolutely nothing to it.
I have blanked the hd using DBan and installed Windows 7 and it worked fine for a week or so until it started happening again.
There seems to be no repeat action that causes it to switch off. I have read about the overheating ideas and although i have had the laptop for about 16 months the airflow out of the vent on the side seems to be the same as it always has been..I keep the laptop raised at the back to improve the air flow and it doesn't seem to be overheating.
I have run a program called RealTemp and everything seems to be running within acceptable parameters at between 74-79 centigrade and the max showing at 86 degrees.
The ram i have upgraded to and installed is the correct type for the machine as i used Kingston's ram check function as well as checking the Toshiba website, plus it has been a long time since i installed the first 2gb of ram upgrade and nothing happened then.
The laptop is out of warranty so it would cost me an arm and a leg to get it fixed or at least looked at by Toshiba.
Has anybody got any ideas or suggestions as to what the cause may be??
If more information is needed please state what details required.
Many thanks in advance.

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Does it shut down while its plugged in with the power supply? or when its running off the battery? sounds kind of like the battery is bad and or the power supply is bad. do you have another known good battery/power supply you could swap to test it?

Reply to BR_15

It doesn't seem to matter whether it's on battery or mains power, it still shuts down.
It's been running now for about 5hours on mains (with the battery in) with no problems. I'm constantly monitoring the temperature and at the moment it's down to 66-69 degrees c.
I don't have another power supply or battery that i could test it out with.
Wish i did!

Reply to COLOSOS70

Ok lets try this then.

1. Until you can get around to Step 2, go into Start > Settings > Control Panel > Toshiba Power Saver, be sure 'Full Power' is selected and highlighted, click "Details," then "Power Save Mode" tab at top, then drag the "Processor speed" slider down from "Full" to "Mid" (or even lower if the shutdowns continue).

2. If you are comfortable tinkering around inside your laptop (power off, remove all cables, remove battery, ground yourself, preferably wear plastic gloves), remove all screws on the underside (bottom) of the computer, gently open the case. Your aim is to expose the CPU (find where the heat comes out of your laptop on the side - that heat is from the fan that is cooling your CPU, which should be very closeby). Wipe off all the thermal grease that is on the top side of your CPU so that it is completely clean. Apply new thermal grease (usually $1.00 for a little tiny packet at a computer supplies shop, or $3-$15 for a more sizeable quantity) to the top side of the CPU. Carefully put your laptop back together. If you previously lowered the CPU speed (from Step 1), be sure you ratchet it back up to its maximum speed again.

If those steps dont work See if you can get hold of a boot floppy for Windows 98, if you can Boot to a DOS Prompt with that and the system remains stable your problem points to an Operating System fault.

If the system crashes it points to a hardware problem.

Let me know how this goes, good luck!

Message edited by BR_15 on 09-29-2009 at 12:23:48 AM

Reply to BR_15

almost forgot, check if theres an update for the bios.

Reply to BR_15

It just shutdown again completely when it was totally idle! I'm very close to throwing it at the wall then jumping on it!
I have the latest bios update already installed.
I'll try taking it apart tomorrow once i get some thermal grease.
The Toshiba Power Saver is no longer installed because i have changed to Windows 7.
Can the same thing be done with the advanced settings in the Power Options? It has options for the minimum and maximum power states and the system cooling policy.

Reply to COLOSOS70

oh and btw, it's 64 bit Windows 7 i'm running.

Reply to COLOSOS70

right click anywhere on screen
click on properties
then sreen saver tab
then power tab

this is just copy/past from someone else, im really not very familiar with the windows 7 setup. See if this is accurate

Reply to BR_15

I put it in for repair and i just got it back. The man in the shop said it's probably the motherboard that needs repairing/replacing!
I was hoping that it was just a build up of dust in one of the fans but to no avail.
He tested the ram, the power supply and the os and they're all fine.
You know where i can get a cheap motherboard for it in the UK?? haha!
Not sure if i trust them ones on eBay!

Reply to COLOSOS70

ouch bad motherboard...sorry man im not sure where to get one in the UK. If you felt comfortable doing this you could replace the mboard your self. Ill bet you could find a manual for your laptop, its really not hard to swap out if you have directions. It would deffinetly save you a couple bucks, im sure wherever you take it to get replaced will charge an arm and a leg for their 1 hour of labor. And yes when dealing with a motherboard im not sure id trust ebay either.

Reply to BR_15

hi there br_15. just thought i'd let you know that i got it fixed and it wasn't the motherboard but it was an internal fault. the guy in the shop wouldn't tell me exactly what it was though (like it was a government secret!).
he had used a prog called speedfan and upgraded the bios (not sure where from as i had already checked on the toshiba site and had the latest version).
just before i put it in the shop it had only been working on the battery and whenever i plugged in the power cable it would switch off instantly.
i'm guessing that the fan speed had something to do with it obviously, but i don't care anymore! it's working now and i just wanted to say thanks for your help.
Cheers, Dude! (or is it Dudette?)

Reply to COLOSOS70

i am also facing exactly the same problem. After thorough checkup, i came to a strange conclusion. The battery is causing the laptop to behave like this. in my case, while charger's cable plugged in and power and battery LEDs, both glowing, battery doesn't get charged. As window doesn't have any plan like hibernate, or standby for low battery while charger being plugged in. so sudden power loss is the result. another annoying thing is that i am unable to power up my laptop on ac power with battery out of it's compartment.

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Forum Laptops & Notebooks : General Laptops & Notebooks - Toshiba Satellite A200 Random Shutdown