shadow1515

I have a Gateway laptop with Athlon 64 3400+ processor, 64 MB Radeon 9600/9700 video card, and 1 GB RAM running Windows XP Home Edition.

Lately, it has randomly been turning itself off. It can't be the battery, as the computer is plugged in, and it's not the power supply as the PSU works fine on my fiance's computer, which is nearly identical to mine (weaker processor, no DVD burner, less RAM, but same manufacturer and model). I have had other problems that look like overheating, like while playing a game the colors all of a sudden smear across the screen and the PC freezes, even on games that are not graphically intense. (though it does only happen on games with higher system reqs...but some intense games don't do it, while others do). I don't think it's overheating, though, because I feel all over my computer after it happens and can't find any very hot spots. The fans are blowing out air just fine when it's on. However, the fans do seem to freak out right before this happens.

Any ideas at all? Could it be overheating after all, even though I can't find any heat? And if so, how would I go about fixing it?

TheMatt

Hi,

Overheating is a big problem with laptops, and having a laptop that doesn't feel hot doesn't mean the components inside aren't hot. That being said, download MobileMeter from my sig and post the temperatures.

shadow1515

It can't measure my CPU temp, HDD temp is 37.0 C.

TheMatt

Download SpeedFan from my sig and try that. If that doesn't work, give Everest a try.

shadow1515

Speedfan puts my processor at 30-40 degrees, depending on when I check it, and HDD again at 37-40.

And I have a new symptom. Periodically, evey USB device connected to my computer will all of a sudden "reconnect" as if I unplugged it and plugged it back in. It's not a specific device or port, all ports shut off and on at the same time (even though there are two groups of two ports located at two completely different physical locations...they are still synchronized in this weird behavior). Sometimes it will go a long time without happening, sometimes it will happen several times per minute. Any ideas?

TheMatt

That is normal, but check the temps under load. Run a Prime95 torture test in my sig for a couple of minutes and see if the processor temperatures go above 70 degrees.

shadow1515

I ran the test for five minutes. My core temperature got up to 45 degrees once, but it generally was stable around 40 (up from 29 before I started the test).

TheMatt

Then your temperatures are fine. Does the laptop restart, or shutdown?

shadow1515

It simply turns off. No shutdown sequence or anything. That's what originally made me think it was a temperature problem. But there's also the issue of USB devices randomly "reconnecting," I have no idea what could possibly cause that.

TheMatt

Yes, not turning back on after shutting down is almost always overheating or a bad PSU, but laptops almost never have PSU problems. Strange, see if you can get your temps with Everest, Sandra, or PC Wizard. I am convinced this is a temperature issue.

One other thing you can try is switching the power scheme to Portable/Laptop. That will enable power saving, which also lowers temperatures. In addition, you should try to put the laptop on something so air can more easily go into the bottom, or if you have a friend with a cooling pad, you can try that and see if that makes it shut down less.

What activities generally make the laptop shut down the most? The one thing that is making me doubt overheating is that if temperatures were a problem, running the Prime95 torture test should have made your laptop shut down.

shadow1515

That's what's odd...what I'm doing on my computer doesn't seem to affect when it will shut down. It will have "episodes" every month or few months where it will do it frequently, then be fine for a while.

Lately, it shut down once while playing Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, which made sense. It also shut down while I was watching a movie, then proceeded to shut down 2 more times in a row within a few minutes of being turned back on (seems to support overheating).

I was considering buying a cooling pad soon anyway, as the thing does get hot sometimes, even if monitoring programs swear the temperatures are fine. Hopefully that will fix it.

Thanks, by the way, for all the advice and links to cool diagnostic utilities. Even if they have yet to fix my problem, I had been looking for things like them anyway.

TheMatt

The sensor on your motherboard could be bad, or something else could have happened to it. Unfortunately, there is really no other way to get the temps. You can also try the laptop in a cooler place like a basement and see if it shuts down less.