My laptop keeps turning itself off

Technology marches on and laptop design has been pretty unimpressive so far. I'd look at all your options before deciding. eBay features plenty of defective laptops requiring a motherboard replacement and some of them are being sold by laptop repair shops. Computer repair businesses are disappearing nearly as fast as British pubs. :)
 
Thanks for all your input guys, I think I will contact the battery supplier first to try and get one that will actually charge up. They seem quite a reputable company albeit it is not an Acer battery. As my old one charges I would have thought I could find a new that will. Then when I know that is sorted I can consider motherboard issues.
 
If the temperatures are running between 50c and 60c max I don't think there's anything to worry about. Mind you, I don't play games on a laptop which must be the surest way to kill one off quickly. Room temperatures in summer can make quite a difference depending on where you live.

eg My Sony, Vaio FZ, GPU Temp is presently showing 53c in the task bar and the room temp is 24c.
 
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OK So Lately My Brand New Bought On 12/06/2013 Dell Inspiron 15 I Believe Has Started Up I wait till its done loading then I go on Google chrome and I type in what I want to search then it just shuts off. It Was Doing That Befour And After I Updated Google Chrome. I Took Out The Battery And Typing This As We Speak only On Its Charger Without The Battery And It Works Fine. But How Can It Be The Battery? Is It Because I Have Dropped A Few Times? Or Because I Have Spilled Liquid On It But I Made Sure To Dry It Well And Everything? How Much Would It Cost To Buy A New Battery If I need One. I Live In Charlotte North Carolina And I Bought It at Best Buy. BTW I'm A Lot More Careful With It Now Then I Was.
 
Can't second guess why the laptop is shutting down.
Software
------------
Drivers
OS (Corrupt)
Pest (Virus)

Hardware
-------------
FAN/Vent (Cooling)
PSU = power supply unit
CPU
GPU
MOBO - motherboard

Service Center will mostly test out the laptop, but if the tech knows the issue best to order a new MOBO. Most of the time that's not even the issue. Could be a bad CPU or GPU or even PSU internally. Could be a short. Odd things I've seen working on laptops. Quick turn around is either to fix it or just give you a new one or (factory service one) If you just go this laptop return it. If not get it fix. But never speed more than $200 to $400 in repairs.

If you do might as well go buy a new one instead!
 
tipstir said:
Can't second guess why the laptop is shutting down.
Software
------------
Drivers
OS (Corrupt)
Pest (Virus)

Hardware
-------------
FAN/Vent (Cooling)
PSU = power supply unit
CPU
GPU
MOBO - motherboard

Service Center will mostly test out the laptop, but if the tech knows the issue best to order a new MOBO. Most of the time that's not even the issue. Could be a bad CPU or GPU or even PSU internally. Could be a short. Odd things I've seen working on laptops. Quick turn around is either to fix it or just give you a new one or (factory service one) If you just go this laptop return it. If not get it fix. But never speed more than $200 to $400 in repairs.

If you do might as well go buy a new one instead!
Click to expand...
Ok thanks for your help I'll look into getting a new one
 
Ug, I think my laptop may be heating, too. It's a Sony VIAO T series Ultrabook. The fan/s has always run somewhat loud (it's known to do this, and it's no problem generally).
It's been fine for two years, but suddenly it is randomly shutting down during restart even, so I guess it's hardware. Sometimes everything will be fine for hours, then suddenly the fan will get VERY LOUD, and then it shuts down.
Is this probably an overheating/fan situation? If so, what do I do? I like this laptop. :-(
 
Has this Sony Viao a Windows 7 or 8 operating system?
Can you run a System file check? (sfc /scannow)
Do you use some maintenance software such as CCleaner or Glary Utilities?
The problem could be overheating of course, but it's a good idea to run a few checks (for free) to eliminate a few problems first.
Overheating can be caused by using a laptop on a sofa or cushion or bed, where the air cannot get through the ports on the sides. If it's used on a table or desk then that's fine and won't be the problem.
 
sandellie4 said:
Ug, I think my laptop may be heating, too. It's a Sony VIAO T series Ultrabook. The fan/s has always run somewhat loud (it's known to do this, and it's no problem generally).
It's been fine for two years, but suddenly it is randomly shutting down during restart even, so I guess it's hardware. Sometimes everything will be fine for hours, then suddenly the fan will get VERY LOUD, and then it shuts down.
Is this probably an overheating/fan situation? If so, what do I do? I like this laptop. :-(
Click to expand...

Pickup a extra cooling 12mm fan pad. If your in USA, Walmart has these for $14 bucks made for them under the name "onn" I have few of these for stubborn laptops that seem to get very hot because of poor vent design.

But random shutting down, you can buy multi-tester (these are really cheap today) and test the positive/negative leads on your internal battery and PSU to see if it's showing the rated Voltage. If no then you need to replace the PSU external one with Universal or SONY OEM parts. Same with the battery. These two items do not last forever they do fail.

If that doesn't solve your issue then one of two things hardware most likely the MOBO (motherboard) internal power regulator failing these are replaced by replacing the MOBO.

CPU
GPU
these two can give issues.

Narrowing down the problem, cost a lot of money and what these service centers do is just swap out the MOBO and if that doesn't solve the issue then go after the CPU if it's not already integrated on the MOBO like some are. At this point the cost to you will be outrageous, so you need to factor in should I buy a new laptop or keep this one going.

As for software, if you ran all the cleaning tools (JetClean Free/Pro (excellent), Wise Cleaner 8 Free, UnCleaner v1.7 Free and Ultra Defrag 64-bit (MFT Optimizer / Check HDD for Errors). Malware Bits. Try these and if you issue is still present then you know that's it's hardware related.
 
mike1959 said:
Has this Sony Viao a Windows 7 or 8 operating system?
Can you run a System file check? (sfc /scannow)
Do you use some maintenance software such as CCleaner or Glary Utilities?
The problem could be overheating of course, but it's a good idea to run a few checks (for free) to eliminate a few problems first.
Overheating can be caused by using a laptop on a sofa or cushion or bed, where the air cannot get through the ports on the sides. If it's used on a table or desk then that's fine and won't be the problem.
Click to expand...
I'm running 8.1, and I'm pretty sure it's not the thing where the air doesn't get to the ports because I'm not doing anything differently.
mike1959 said:
Has this Sony Viao a Windows 7 or 8 operating system?
Can you run a System file check? (sfc /scannow)
Do you use some maintenance software such as CCleaner or Glary Utilities?
The problem could be overheating of course, but it's a good idea to run a few checks (for free) to eliminate a few problems first.
Overheating can be caused by using a laptop on a sofa or cushion or bed, where the air cannot get through the ports on the sides. If it's used on a table or desk then that's fine and won't be the problem.
Click to expand...
Thanks for responding! I'm running OS 8.1. I'm not sure how to run a scannow, but when I tried to troubleshoot yesterday I got a message that went something like this: The PC needs to be repaired. The application or OS couldn't be loaded because a required file is missing or contains an error.

File: windows/sys32/winload.efi

It says I will need my installation media, but I don't have it - the system just comes with it.

Would that cause the fan to suddenly get loud and the system to just shut down?
 
tipstir said:
Pickup a extra cooling 12mm fan pad. If your in USA, Walmart has these for $14 bucks made for them under the name "onn" I have few of these for stubborn laptops that seem to get very hot because of poor vent design.

But random shutting down, you can buy multi-tester (these are really cheap today) and test the positive/negative leads on your internal battery and PSU to see if it's showing the rated Voltage. If no then you need to replace the PSU external one with Universal or SONY OEM parts. Same with the battery. These two items do not last forever they do fail.

If that doesn't solve your issue then one of two things hardware most likely the MOBO (motherboard) internal power regulator failing these are replaced by replacing the MOBO.

CPU
GPU
these two can give issues.

Narrowing down the problem, cost a lot of money and what these service centers do is just swap out the MOBO and if that doesn't solve the issue then go after the CPU if it's not already integrated on the MOBO like some are. At this point the cost to you will be outrageous, so you need to factor in should I buy a new laptop or keep this one going.

As for software, if you ran all the cleaning tools (JetClean Free/Pro (excellent), Wise Cleaner 8 Free, UnCleaner v1.7 Free and Ultra Defrag 64-bit (MFT Optimizer / Check HDD for Errors). Malware Bits. Try these and if you issue is still present then you know that's it's hardware related.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply! I will refer to this once I get the missing file I just found.
 
Check the temperature if its normal just reinstall or repair windows and scan for malware too, if its above normal then just get a cooling pad!!!
 
If you can get the pc to the desktop/tiles screens, then to run the 'sfc' which is a built in repair routine, you would;
'Start key' and 'x' together
then press 'a'
Choose 'Yes' from the dialogue box,
In the new DOS box that appears type
sfc /scannow
(There must be a space after 'sfc')
Press 'enter'
Windows System file checker will then run.
It will attempt to replace any damaged files in the Windows OS.
Takes about 20mins if no other programs are running. Let it run to 100%.
You can run it again or close the dialogue box.
 
There's a good chance it's a hardware issue and that the Sony Vaio is overheating. It's easy to check the temperatures if you download the free HWMonitor software. If that's the problem I'd take it to a computer shop and have the heat paste replaced and the inside cleaned out. That shouldn't cost you too much. Any repairs requiring a replacement motherboard or repairs to same are likely not worthwhile and a replacement notebook is probably a better idea. HWMonitor will give information on the state of the battery too. Sony laptops are very easy to get attached to but they are not well designed and the honeymoon period is often short. They no longer make computers and had an awful reputation for customer service.
 
Future tip. Do not buy a dell laptop unless you know for a fact it is one of the good ones. HP is okay, but your best bet for casual use would be an Asus notebook, for school or work and Acer netbook, and for gaming if you can afford it is Alien ware. Asus if you can find one with good specs which is not as hard as some may think.

Steps to finding a good laptop:
  1. Figure out what you want to do.
  2. Find a computer you like(Do NOT go off of looks)while browsing online.
  3. Read reviews and not from just a single site.(Do NOT go through a "friend")
  4. Make sure the specs are at least decent.(for gaming I use a site with the web address of www.game-debate.com)
  5. Once you found the one right for you, some offer customization options.(color and size)
Notes:
  • Read reviews and check for specifics like hardware, software malfunctions. If one says it fails but 10 says it doesn't that is a 1:10 ratio. That is why you should always check more than one site for reviews.
 
First off you got to take care of this issue with the missing file: windows/sys32/winload.efi
Could have HDD issue. Run the free software called HDTune and see what the condition of your HDD is?
 
My computer keep shutting off as well. But it runs fine with the charger plugged in. I am trying the person who suggested to take the battery out and try it plugged in. Also here is a screenshot of the program that watches the fan.... please feel free to email me at: [email removed]. Thanks for your help.
 

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The AMD processor is running far too hot and the laptop will keep shutting down until you put that right. I suggest that you get someone to clean it out to increase the air flow. It's possible that the heat paste on the processor will need renewing too.
 
upload_2014-11-20_17-12-10.pngHi there, my laptop has been switching itself off without warning when I play Football Manager for a prolonged period of time. Any ideas?
 
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