Seriously thoughtful Laptop trouble... recommendations?

[rebarnmom]

I'll have to make this short (which is terribly hard for me to do), because my laptop could shut down on me at any time, which is the problem.
My HP laptop is shutting down spontaneously more & more frequently! I think it's overheating. I took off the back panel to clean out the dust and this may have helped a bit. It's sitting on a cooling fan which I bought when this first started happening. Is this going to be an easy & unexpensive fix (replace the fan maybe?) or could this be something more serious & costly. My laptop is fairly old and I'd love to get a new one, but it is definitely not in our budget right now. I know that sometimes the cost of fixing things can sometimes be as much as replacing with something new.

It's really annoying and it really limits my time on MobileRead!

Any thoughts or advice?
I do have my stuff backed-up just in case.

[poohbear_nc]

Is your virus/malware protection up-to-date? Some viruses cause spontaneous & repeated shutdowns. What OS are you using?

[phenomshel]

Hey hon, give me a call at the store tomorrow night between 4 and 9 - if you bring it to us, Chris will look at it for you and at least give you a diagnosis.

[rebarnmom]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Is your virus/malware protection up-to-date? Some viruses cause spontaneous & repeated shutdowns. What OS are you using?

I did not know that! I use Avira AntiVir which updates daily. If I run a complete system scan, I highly doubt my laptop will stay functioning long enough to complete it. I usually run one monthly and it is due for a scan, so I can try.
BTW, I have Windows XP.

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Hey hon, give me a call at the store tomorrow night between 4 and 9 - if you bring it to us, Chris will look at it for you and at least give you a diagnosis.

Thanks Shel! Should I call the store or your cell?

The area of the keyboard where the fan is feels much warmer than the rest of the laptop. Now it's making a slight vibrating noise. I hope I tightened everything up well enough, when I closed it back up.

[phenomshel]

Call the store, or if you want, just bring it in between 4 and 9 tomorrow night, I'll be there. I can leave it at the service desk til I'm ready to go home. I can't answer my cell while I'm there, but if you call the store I can talk to you for a minute, or if you bring the laptop in, I can give you my home address and numbers again and Chris can at least diagnose it for you.

[GeoffC]

looks like we have a solution - keep us posted ....

[rebarnmom]

My husband just had to put $472 into repair work on his car. Just now, as he heard this old girl (not me, but the laptop) chugging along he said with that money he could've bought me a new laptop. Well, it was a nice thought anyway!

Definitely will keep you updated!

[poohbear_nc]

Good luck.

[Kevin2960]

BEST WISHES

[GraceKrispy]

And this is why I donʻt buy HP laptops anymore (yes, I generalize). I actually had that problem (spontaneous laptop shut down) from the first week I had my new laptop. This was now several years ago. I sent it back repeatedly, they repeatedly said "oh, the fan isnʻt working" and replaced it, it repeatedly had the same problem. They refused to send me a new one. So basically, I spent whatever that amount was and got screwed.

I lived like a paranoid, always afraid to do anything important, for fear itʻd shut down at that moment, constantly saving the stuff that I did, constantly getting pissed off at the laptop. We finally laid it to rest, but I used it for several years like this. Some days it would work for an hour before shutting down, sometimes it would work for five minutes.

eta: oh, so I never gave me recommendation..... HP laptops suck, donʻt buy one again, at such a time when you do have disposable income at your, uh, disposal.

[rebarnmom]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

And this is why I donʻt buy HP laptops anymore (yes, I generalize). I actually had that problem (spontaneous laptop shut down) from the first week I had my new laptop. This was now several years ago. I sent it back repeatedly, they repeatedly said "oh, the fan isnʻt working" and replaced it, it repeatedly had the same problem. They refused to send me a new one. So basically, I spent whatever that amount was and got screwed.

I lived like a paranoid, always afraid to do anything important, for fear itʻd shut down at that moment, constantly saving the stuff that I did, constantly getting pissed off at the laptop. We finally laid it to rest, but I used it for several years like this. Some days it would work for an hour before shutting down, sometimes it would work for five minutes.

eta: oh, so I never gave me recommendation..... HP laptops suck, donʻt buy one again, at such a time when you do have disposable income at your, uh, disposal.

This is exactly what it does... no warning... no predictability. I've also gone through two CD/DVD units and now have to use an external drive. A total pain! The likelihood of buying another HP laptop is extremely slim! My husband just informed me this a.m. that he doesn't want me putting any money into, probably for the reason you mentioned above!

To be fair, I don't know how much of the blame is HP or my cat who likes to nap on it, because it is so toasty! Of course if the fan was working, it wouldn't be so warm and irrestistably inviting. Or could my cat napping on it, cause the fan to be over-worked? It's the chicken or the egg question...

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by rebarnmom

This is exactly what it does... no warning... no predictability. I've also gone through two CD/DVD units and now have to use an external drive. A total pain! The likelihood of buying another HP laptop is extremely slim! My husband just informed me this a.m. that he doesn't want me putting any money into, probably for the reason you mentioned above!

To be fair, I don't know how much of the blame is HP or my cat who likes to nap on it, because it is so toasty! Of course if the fan was working, it wouldn't be so warm and irrestistably inviting. Or could my cat napping on it, cause the fan to be over-worked? It's the chicken or the egg question...

Don't start blaming the chickens again! I had nothing to do with your laptop! Or your cat! (Although that malfunctioning fan DID make it toasty warm for naps - like being back in the nest in my snug little egg.)
STOP THAT - I said I had NOTHING to do with it.

[rebarnmom]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Don't start blaming the chickens again! I had nothing to do with your laptop! Or your cat! (Although that malfunctioning fan DID make it toasty warm for naps - like being back in the nest in my snug little egg.)
STOP THAT - I said I had NOTHING to do with it.

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by rebarnmom

To be fair, I don't know how much of the blame is HP or my cat who likes to nap on it, because it is so toasty! Of course if the fan was working, it wouldn't be so warm and irrestistably inviting. Or could my cat napping on it, cause the fan to be over-worked? It's the chicken or the egg question...

I never have had a cat. And neither me nor my husband chose to sleep on it. So I say itʻs not that. Itʻs evil HP.

(or it was poohbearNC.... donʻt believe a word of what that little eggy chicken says!)

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

I never have had a cat. And neither me nor my husband chose to sleep on it. So I say itʻs not that. Itʻs evil HP.

(or it was poohbearNC.... donʻt believe a word of what that little eggy chicken says!)

Don't make me bring the ChickenBorg back! You will be assimilated! Not your laptop - we don't assimilate defective technology.