Laptop shuts down randomly

**badger** · 05-17-2007, 04:30 AM

Not sure which forum to post in, but here goes:

A friend asked me to look at her laptop (a Toshiba, not sure of the model, Win XP home), seems it randomly shuts itself down. Just, totally randomly, it shuts down, as if someone pulled the power cable out of a desktop.

I asked her to note down what she was doing each time it shut down, and it seems that it shuts down when a) she's got a lot of programs open and b) using an application that has sound (specifically Windows Media Player and Skype).

So I figure, good place to start is either sound card problem (will re-install the drivers at some point), or a memory problem... so I had a quick look around, and I notice that her virtual memory is set at 288-576 (her ram is 512Mb); on my laptop (Dell Inspiron 6400) it is set at 1536-3072 (when I have 1024Mb ram). I.e. her virtual memory barely matches the physical memory, but mine can be up to 3x the physical memory - big difference.

So, I'm thinking I'll get her to increase the size of the virtual memory a bit, see if it helps (the laptop is way slower than it should be as well), but I wasn't sure if there are any particular reasons why you shouldn't go randomly changing virtual memory settings!? Advice would be appreciated.

Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

Tim.

**8210GUY** · 05-17-2007, 06:07 AM

Well my first thoughts go to temperature, if it always happens when it is being maxed out then I'm guessing the temp's are the issue, to check get and run SpeedFan, or even Everest (in my Sig) and then max it out, watch the temps and see if you can crash it, if you can try taking it outside and use some compressed air to clean it out a little it may help, I say outside because if it's really dusty you don't want that flying all round your place.
Now if it is temp's causing the problem about the only option is a cooling pad, the laptop just sits on top of a fan base to aid it's cooling.

As to changing the virtual ram you have to be careful, don't be guessing any numbers as it could affect performance rather than improve it, 3 x your total ram size is the max you should go, I'd suggest 2.5 x 512mb = 1280mb as being what to change it to.
Now slow running can be many things, and my guess is it's a combination of all these why it is slow, I suggest getting the following and run them on a regular basis to aid faster\smoother running, but don't forget only the pad will help the temp's.

Spybot-S&D, Ad-Aware SE, SUPERAntiSpyware and maybe AVG Anti-Spyware (formerly Ewido), teach them to update and run them on a regular basis as well to keep nasties out, if they need an Anti Virus I suggest Avast as it's good and free, and ZoneAlarm for a firewall if they aren't using one as opposed to xp's own, now also get the following to clean the system of junk\temp files and keep it running smooth, Disk Cleaner, CCleaner and Diskeeper Lite to defrag it, if it hasn't been defragged recently you may want to run that overnight as it can take quite a while depending on the size and power of the system, but doing all this should aid the laptop in running better, hope it helps.

RedBarGirl · 11-09-2009, 01:54 PM

.....

05-17-2007, 04:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
badger Carnivorous mammal Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: SW England (UK) Posts: 593 OS: WinXPpro/Kubuntu Linux	Laptop shuts down randomly Not sure which forum to post in, but here goes: A friend asked me to look at her laptop (a Toshiba, not sure of the model, Win XP home), seems it randomly shuts itself down. Just, totally randomly, it shuts down, as if someone pulled the power cable out of a desktop. I asked her to note down what she was doing each time it shut down, and it seems that it shuts down when a) she's got a lot of programs open and b) using an application that has sound (specifically Windows Media Player and Skype). So I figure, good place to start is either sound card problem (will re-install the drivers at some point), or a memory problem... so I had a quick look around, and I notice that her virtual memory is set at 288-576 (her ram is 512Mb); on my laptop (Dell Inspiron 6400) it is set at 1536-3072 (when I have 1024Mb ram). I.e. her virtual memory barely matches the physical memory, but mine can be up to 3x the physical memory - big difference. So, I'm thinking I'll get her to increase the size of the virtual memory a bit, see if it helps (the laptop is way slower than it should be as well), but I wasn't sure if there are any particular reasons why you shouldn't go randomly changing virtual memory settings!? Advice would be appreciated. Any other suggestions greatly appreciated. Tim.

05-17-2007, 06:07 AM	#2 (permalink)
8210GUY TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,558 OS: xp Pro	Re: Laptop shuts down randomly Well my first thoughts go to temperature, if it always happens when it is being maxed out then I'm guessing the temp's are the issue, to check get and run SpeedFan, or even Everest (in my Sig) and then max it out, watch the temps and see if you can crash it, if you can try taking it outside and use some compressed air to clean it out a little it may help, I say outside because if it's really dusty you don't want that flying all round your place. Now if it is temp's causing the problem about the only option is a cooling pad, the laptop just sits on top of a fan base to aid it's cooling. As to changing the virtual ram you have to be careful, don't be guessing any numbers as it could affect performance rather than improve it, 3 x your total ram size is the max you should go, I'd suggest 2.5 x 512mb = 1280mb as being what to change it to. Now slow running can be many things, and my guess is it's a combination of all these why it is slow, I suggest getting the following and run them on a regular basis to aid faster\smoother running, but don't forget only the pad will help the temp's. Spybot-S&D, Ad-Aware SE, SUPERAntiSpyware and maybe AVG Anti-Spyware (formerly Ewido), teach them to update and run them on a regular basis as well to keep nasties out, if they need an Anti Virus I suggest Avast as it's good and free, and ZoneAlarm for a firewall if they aren't using one as opposed to xp's own, now also get the following to clean the system of junk\temp files and keep it running smooth, Disk Cleaner, CCleaner and Diskeeper Lite to defrag it, if it hasn't been defragged recently you may want to run that overnight as it can take quite a while depending on the size and power of the system, but doing all this should aid the laptop in running better, hope it helps.

11-09-2009, 01:54 PM	#3 (permalink)
RedBarGirl Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Vista home premium	Re: Laptop shuts down randomly ..... Last edited by RedBarGirl; 11-09-2009 at 02:01 PM.