Laptop computer operation curiosities

[FastQuestion]

Hi there,
What causes a computer (especially a Laptop computer) to ‘die?’ I ask out of curiosity. My family bought the Gateway laptop being used at this moment a couple of years ago; so I would say it is just a little over 4 years old. It's in good condition just looking at it, and works quite well. Should I be worrying at all, for lack of a better word?
I browsed a yahoo news article is all, and it got me thinking (and concerned).

Recently on separate occasions the computer restarted by itself. Is it true that if the laptop suddenly (and seemingly haphazardly) restarts on its own, that a surge of electrical power could have caused it?

P.S. I wrote this in both the “Mobile Computing” and “Windows OS” sections, in case of incorrect suitability in one or the other.

 

[CAMusing]

Well, you haven't given any information other than Gateway laptop, 4 years old. Any error messages would be helpful, if getting BSOD, and operating system.

This link may provide some insight.
http://ask-leo.com/why_does_my_computer_randomly_reboot_without_warning.html

 

[nismo91]

if there's nothing wrong with the laptop you should not worry about it. not everything is doomed at 4 years of service.

 

[FastQuestion]

The Laptop computer uses Windows XP; there seems to be info that could be potentially relevant on the bottom as well - I am not sure what other information to give at the moment. The issue about those incidents that I mentioned have been uncommon (thus unexpected) and were a few weeks apart.

So my curiosity was just roused as to if the occurrences indicated something going on behind the scenes on the computer, or if I need be concerned. Could they be a quirk, or should I be wary of them? Most every day I use the laptop, with a few exceptions. What generally causes a computer to die?

 

[CAMusing]

The computer could being running hot. Does it feel hot when in use? Do you use canned air to blow out the dust? Could be infected with malware. Just because it is 4 years old does not mean it is dying. I have a Dell XP laptop that is 6 years old and still runs like a top.

 

[FastQuestion]

By the way, the link was helpful. However, I believe I am generally careful to not let in malware (like though the Laptop is used routinely, it is not used for a huge variety of different things).

Next. I sometimes do in fact notice that the computer feels hot when in use. I haven’t ever used an air blower; but I generally put the computer away after every day, so it is never left out for long periods.

 

[sethbest]

From a hardware perspective laptops have a rather short lifespan, with about a third of them failing within the first three years after purchase, but this is not universal. The general cause of most of these deaths in my professional experience is specifically flawed components and designs. Its no coincidence that I get 10-15 burnt out hp dv6000's a year, its that they are faulty in design. Same with how I get around 10 toshiba satellites with broken ac adapter plug mountings. If you were lucky enough to get a well designed system it can last a long time.

Cooling unit pads, and keeping it from constantly fluctuating temperatures (i.e.- not leaving it in a car) can go a long way to hedge your bets against minor failures.

 

[CAMusing]

The mere fact that you boot the computer draws air in and dust. Get a can of compressed air and blow it out. Be sure to follow instructions on the can. Cooling pads are nice, I use them on all of my laptops.

 

[FastQuestion]

Wow, lots of information.

An air can sounds like it can really be useful.
Before I wrote this topic, I had started to feel nervous that what I mentioned earlier could happen again for no good reason. At least now I have possible reasons to blame those on (not Dying). Would some (any) activities on the computer warrant it to randomly restart?

Also, I’m very annoyed that of all the times, when I open this very topic, a warning message now comes up, saying Malware Blocked, ad.doubleclick.net/adj/ns.techspot, etc, infection: html: script-inf, (and also html:lframe-inf, for another object).

Besides what I wrote about the actual topic, above, what is this new thing?

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

You should start a thread on the virus and malware section; sounds like you are infected.

 

[FastQuestion]

Hi, Are there more thoughts here about the topic? A Malware warning had to be dealt with before I could bring this to completion.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Well, now that you have the malware dealt with, if nothing seems wrong with your computer, then that was the only problem.