Nash Rambler: laptop shuts down by itself

[Nash Rambler]

I have a Toshiba laptop that will just shut down all by itself. Sometimes this will happen when I try to open a particular program and sometimes just in the middle of working. I'm running Win XP.

I have gone through control panel and unchecked that box that says "automatically restart" but that doesn't have any effect.

Any thoughts?

[Parker]

> I have a Toshiba laptop that will just shut
> down all by itself. Sometimes this will
> happen when I try to open a particular
> program and sometimes just in the middle of
> working. I'm running Win XP.

> I have gone through control panel and
> unchecked that box that says
> "automatically restart" but that
> doesn't have any effect.

> Any thoughts?

Does this happen only on battery power, or when you are using an AC adapter as well?

If only on battery, your battery may be on its last legs.

[Magician]

> I have a Toshiba laptop that will just shut
> down all by itself. Sometimes this will
> happen when I try to open a particular
> program and sometimes just in the middle of
> working. I'm running Win XP.

> I have gone through control panel and
> unchecked that box that says
> "automatically restart" but that
> doesn't have any effect.

> Any thoughts?

If it seems to happen randomly and you can't pin it down to a particular program or a particular action that causes it, then it's probably a hardware problem.

If you've ruled out the battery then I'd say it's time to visit the retailer or a repair shop.

I once had an almost new laptop mysteriously reboot itself a few times. Then it wouldn't boot at all. Turned out that the CPU was faulty. I had it replaced under warranty and everything was fine after that. This is less likely to be the cause if you've had the laptop for more than a few months.

[Nash Rambler]

[Norm Wattenberger]

XP has a hibernate function that may not be working correctly on your PC. Try the power options on the Control Panel under Performance & Maintenance.

[Steve Jacobs]

My laptop shuts down if I try to actually use it on my lap. The reason is this: when resting on my legs, air flow from the fan is blocked, and the CPU overheats. This trips a safety mechanism that is there to protect the CPU.

Moral: Be sure that the laptop has good air flow near the fan at all times.