Why Has My Laptop ... Gone Crazy?!?

Question

My laptop has begun doing some weird things. When I'm playing music on my jukebox, the fan runs almost continuously. Is that normal? And when I'm playing a chess software game, or when I'm playing chess on Yahoo! Games, it'll shut-down. Why?

Over 50% of my hard drive is free, so I don't think I've got too much stuff on the computer. What do you think the problem is?

I have a Gateway laptop, model number M350WVN.

Answer 1

This has absolutely nothing to do with your hard disk, either free space or software loaded on it. It is shutting down due to the overheating protection built into the BIOS. This is also why the fan(s) are running full blast, rather than intermittantly like they're supposed to.

The cause of this problem could simply be that the heatsink and/or air intake vent is clogged with dirt/dust/lint preventing proper airflow. Or it could be something more serious such as the heatsink is separating from the processor, or the manufacturer used a thermal pad rather than grease, and the thermal pad has dried out so it doesn't transfer heat properly from the CPU to the heatsink.

To better answer your question, you would need to post the brand and model of the computer, as certain models have known design problems that lead to overheating/shutdown issues.

Answer 2

your memory is almost overloaded

press "crtl alt del" all at once. then click the processes tab. Look for hlpsrvs.exe or something like that. End process it.

if hlpsrvs is not there, click the username square. look at all the programs running under your name. end process the ones you don't need. remember them!

click start > run > msconfig > startup tab

look at the check in the boxes. do you see something that looks similar to the ones in the "ctrl alt del" window?
Ask your self "which ones do I not need? remove the check for the ones you don't need.

if you have any problems go back to msconfig and re check the boxes you need.

that should help.


bcs---the more programs you run, the hotter it gets. its a combination of the two problems

Answer 3

Corrupted software. Software is not warranty covered. But if you just bought it and within the return period, the do it. Get another model. The lot that it came out with is probably suffering the same error.