laptop question

[Bombero1956]

My son's laptop has started acting up. After about 10 minutes it shuts down and won't restart. After about 30 minutes it will start but after another 10 minutes it shuts down again. Any idea what the problem is. He doesn't know whether to start looking for a new one or have it fixed.

[Orrex]

1. Whooops! I TOTALLY misread the nature of this thread

Sorry! :blush:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. me too

nevermind

[DS1]

2. sounds like it's overheating, to me

[Orrex]

5. Looks like DS1 misread the nature of the thread, too.

Oh. Maybe not... :yoiks:

[dolo amber]

6. That's my guess

Take a hose from a vacuum to the heatsink/fan area. There will probably be lots of schmutz that collects from the inside on the grate of the fan; wipe your finger over it a bunch of times till it sort of balls up and you can pull it out.

If that doesn't (at the very least) improve the problem, you probably need to replace the fan altogether.

:hi:

[Bombero1956]

7. I blew out the fan with compressed air

from a can. I ran the machine without the bottom cover and it ran for about 30 minutes before it shut down

[Bombero1956]

4. of that I'm certain

but is it a terminal problem. He's short on cash and would rather not buy a new one right now.

[Chan790]

9. Not really a terminal problem.

My brother has a 5 year old Compaq that has been doing the same thing since it was 6 months old. I've offered to fix it and it was still under warranty when this started but he's too lazy to care. The computer still works...well, as well as any 5 year old Compaq works.

Does it make any noise? Loud blowing noises or the sound of the fan laboring, for example?

[Bombero1956]

10. no

He can't keep the thing running long enough to do a back up too. This just started yesterday.

[DarkTirade]

8. I agree with DS1, sounds like overheating.

Check the fan and vents.

[BlueJazz]

11. His Processor is overheating. Can be many things.....

Fan..Heatsink..Etc..

To backup... put a hose from a vacuum right up to the vent (S)
It should keep the processor cool enough (sucking out the heat) long enough to do a backup...

On Edit: Keep in mind that He can take out the hard-drive and put it in a Desktop, as a slave, to save files (requires a adapter..7 bucks)

[Bombero1956]

12. thank you

I'll have him do the vacuum hose thing, but I'm afraid removing the hard-drive may be beyond his abilities, at least I know it is for me.

[BlueJazz]

13. Actually ...removing the Hard-drive is a piece of cake. If he or you get brave, I'll try to ...

...walk you through it. :)