My Toshiba Satellite A10-S177 Laptop with a Pentium 4 Processor that is 2.2Ghz and 1 GB RAM started having a problem of shutting down without warning. Shortly before this problem started, the CPU cooling fan started to make some noise. After it shutdown, I opened the computer and removed the cooling fan, cleaned the heat sink, fan and sprayed a little silicone on the fan motor. Reinstalled the fan and powered up the computer without any more problems. The computer ran without incident for several days and then shutdown again even though the fan seemed to be running normally.
That did it, new fan on order and while I was at it upgraded RAM from 512MB to 1GB. With the new fan, removed the heat sink, cleaned the old thermal compound from the CPU, thoroughly cleaned the heat sink and put everything back together using Arctic Silver 5 on the CPU. The computer powered up and ran for about 15 minutes and shutdown. I removed the heat sink again to check that it was making good contact with the CPU and it looked OK. Reassembled and powered up the computer again. This time it ran for 1½ days before shutting down. During this time I monitored the discharge air temp from the cooling fan and it was approximately 37°C but the CPU and heat sink were a bit warmer. I could put my finger on them and not get burned so I’m not sure just how hot a CPU gets before shutting down. Now, I can’t keep the computer running long enough to download software to monitor the CPU temp.
I have attempted to check the BIOS, but the computer shutdown before I could finish copying the information. I really don’t have a thorough understanding of just what I am looking for here.
Can anyone give some advice as to what should be my next step and what could be the root cause of this problem? I should mention that I do not have any stop messages or error warnings either before or after it shuts down.
Kal361
That did it, new fan on order and while I was at it upgraded RAM from 512MB to 1GB. With the new fan, removed the heat sink, cleaned the old thermal compound from the CPU, thoroughly cleaned the heat sink and put everything back together using Arctic Silver 5 on the CPU. The computer powered up and ran for about 15 minutes and shutdown. I removed the heat sink again to check that it was making good contact with the CPU and it looked OK. Reassembled and powered up the computer again. This time it ran for 1½ days before shutting down. During this time I monitored the discharge air temp from the cooling fan and it was approximately 37°C but the CPU and heat sink were a bit warmer. I could put my finger on them and not get burned so I’m not sure just how hot a CPU gets before shutting down. Now, I can’t keep the computer running long enough to download software to monitor the CPU temp.
I have attempted to check the BIOS, but the computer shutdown before I could finish copying the information. I really don’t have a thorough understanding of just what I am looking for here.
Can anyone give some advice as to what should be my next step and what could be the root cause of this problem? I should mention that I do not have any stop messages or error warnings either before or after it shuts down.
Kal361