Toshiba satellite laptop shutdown unexpectedly?

Question

I had my toshiba satellite laptop for almost 2 years. The hard drive died once and we got a new one last year. In the recent several months, the laptop has been shuttingdown unexpectedly on me all the time. what is wrong with it and what should i do ? thanks

Answer 1

Is it one of the models that's blue on top when the screen is closed? Such as the A45 series, A65 series, and so on? Toshiba settled class-action lawsuits over several of these models, and for very good reason.

By using the desktop Socket 478 Pentium 4 or Celeron processor--the same exact chip that goes into a desktop computer--they were able to give what APPEARED like a better/faster computer for less than what a system with a mobile processor would cost. When the desktop chip cost about $100-$200 depending on speed, while a slower Mobile Pentium 4-M chip cost $500 to $600, you can see why they did that.

Unfortunately, the laptop chassis cannot dissipate all the heat generated by the desktop CPU, especially as the fan and heatsink become clogged with dust/dirt/lint and the thermal grease (between the CPU and heatsink) dries out.

The result is overheating and random shutdowns, at least on models which have a sensor to detect it. Certain models were known to just heat up until the processor and/or motherboard was damaged and then never turn on again.

To remedy the overheating/shutdown problem (temporarily at least, since it's a design problem on your machine), you would need to disassemble the computer. You would then need to unscrew and remove each fan from the base of the computer and clean out any dust/dirt/lint and then re-install the fan(s). You would then need to remove the heatsink from the processor, blow out all the dust/dirt/lint that's blocking it, clean the bottom of the heatsink and the top of the CPU with rubbing alcohol, and then apply the correct amount of thermal grease to the top of the processor and re-install the heatsink. You would then re-assemble the computer and start it up.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

I own a Toshiba Satellite. It s great. Would like to to install linux on it though. Anyone know if Windows and Linux can be installed on the same computer?

Answer 3

i havea 2 year old toshiba also .. A65 ... it does the same thing sometimes and imo its one of two things ... the power control "powersaver" software is buggy ... or it may be overheating also ... try changing some of the power control settings and applying then change it back and apply ... usually when it goes into a fit is after it hibernates on the battery ..just an observation ..

Answer 4

Most likely overheating

Answer 5

sounds like a heat problem. One of your fans might need replacing.