[magpie]

Help me, please, clever computer types.

The last 3 or 4 times I have used it it has shut down on me without warning after about 30/40 minutes of use.  It just really suddenly turns totally off, screen goes blank, nothing happening at all, as if all power has gone.
 
It's done this a couple of times in the past through over-heating, so I thought it was maybe that, it does feel quite hot when I check it.  So when I used it last night I made sure it was on a level surface and plenty of air could get to the fan, but the same thing happened again.

The odd thing is that after it's had it's random shut down 30 minutes or so into use, if I turn it straight back on it runs OK for the rest of the time I want to use it, which can be several hours.

Why is it doing this?  How can I fix it?  Do I need a new one?   

[lagerstarfish]

Clean the contacts on the battery?

What messages/info does your laptop give you when you start up again after a random shutdown?

Fan could be sticking sometimes and running fine at other times - clean it?

[magpie]

Thank you, Lagers. 

Clean the contacts on the battery?

How does one do that?

What messages/info does your laptop give you when you start up again after a random shutdown?

It starts off on the black screen of doom, then there is a highlighted but what says run or start windows as normal or something similar and I press return and it starts up as normal, then when I open an internet window it says my last session was ended suddenly / unexpectedly interrupted or something and asks if I want to restore it and I do and it is all fine, except when I am half way through watching something on iPlayer. 

Fan could be sticking sometimes and running fine at other times - clean it?

Again, how?  Would it be normal for the fan to not work to such exact timings?

[nai]

Have you checked if there's anything in the Event Logs?

Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Logs.  System log is most likely to have any relevant information.

[lagerstarfish]

Thank you, Lagers. 

Clean the contacts on the battery?

How does one do that?

Take the battery off your laptop (unplug charger first); find the copper contact points on both the battery and the laptop; scrub them with a pencil rubber.

Re the fan - wait till Fiend gets back from skiing and tell him that there is a teeny tiny model baby orc that has got trapped in your cooling fan and it's paint is coming off due to the fan's movement and the excess heat when the fan is not running. He will then carefully clean it out in his hunt for the little fella.

[GCW]

Or if you can't wait, run your dyson over the vents and see how much dust and dead orcs comes out.

[Adam Lincoln]

Sounds like others have said, and it is overheating, probably due to the fan not working. Probably filthy inside. do you live in a particular dusty house? How old is the laptop?

[magpie]

Have you checked if there's anything in the Event Logs?

Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Logs.  System log is most likely to have any relevant information.

Ta, especially for not making me ask how to find the Event Logs, I'll have a look. 

Take the battery off your laptop (unplug charger first); find the copper contact points on both the battery and the laptop; scrub them with a pencil rubber.

I can probably do that.

Re the fan - wait till Fiend gets back from skiing and tell him that there is a teeny tiny model baby orc that has got trapped in your cooling fan and it's paint is coming off due to the fan's movement and the excess heat when the fan is not running. He will then carefully clean it out in his hunt for the little fella.

 

Or if you can't wait, run your dyson over the vents and see how much dust and dead orcs comes out.

Why have a dog and bark? 

Probably filthy inside. Do you live in a particular dusty house? How old is the laptop?

It's about 2 years old, I have cats and no urge to dust.   

[magpie]

Also; Thank you all, helpful men folk. 

[lagerstarfish]

well worth vacuuming the keyboard while you are at it

all sorts of little soldiers can fall in between the keys

[GCW]

They'll all be like this:





Their tiny voices crying "help help!  I was on the keyboard, but I am trapped in a strange vortex, being sucked off.  Aaaargh, I'm slipping into some dark tube, I am trying to resist but it is impossible to resist.  And my brolly's buggered too"

So touching    :'(

[lagerstarfish]

Don't be so patronising, G.

They look like this



and they want to fuck up your laptop, shag your cats, eat your pizza and drink all your wine. Show no mercy. Dyson the fuck out of them.

[GCW]

Don't be so patronising, G.

They look like this

and they want to fuck up your laptop, shag your cats, eat your pizza and drink all your wine. Show no mercy. Dyson the fuck out of them.

Holy shit!!  If I'd known they looked like that I'd suggest put the Dyson away and just burn the damned keyboard 

[milksnake]

well worth vacuuming the keyboard while you are at it

all sorts of little soldiers can fall in between the keys

possibly a little too much info about your surfing habits?

[magpie]