Squeals

My equipment:
Asus A8JS, 2GB RAM, 120GB HDD, GeForce 7700 <-- 6 months old
Software:
Zonealarm Suite 7, A-squared free, Winxp Pro SP2.

Recently I've noticed a few problems with my laptop, its running slower (probably signs I should reformat), and sometimes even crashes.
EG: During a game of Rakion, game crashes but I was able to see background activity i.e. Ctrl Alt Del
But unable to switch windows, i did the next thing that came to mind, which is a standby.

This usually works to minimise all windows and get it back to desktop when I wake the laptop up.

however, recently (on 2 accounts), when I try to wake the laptop up using either the power button or spacebar, it immediately powers off (no shutdown screen, seems like it makes an attempt to wake up but falls off the bed and breaks its neck)

Upon rebooting (on 1st instance) I have completely lost use of my LAN connection (on broadband at university).
i've tried: Disabling/Enabling my network adaptor, unpluggin and replugging, checking ipconfig, uninstalling hardware and rescanning. Nothing works...nothing until i put it on standby again and waking it up (successfully this time)

2nd instance: I believe it was another crash that forced me to put the computer on standby, upon waking up...same attempt to get outta bed...this time it came up with the message: OPERATING SYSTEM MISSING.

Details can be found in the following: http://www.techsupportforum.com/micr...-help-pls.html

My question is: What is the cause? What is the diagnosis? obviously it isn't normal and has never happened before prior to these two very recent instances.
Hardware?
Software? <-- woohoo! reformat
Warranty?

Suggestions please?
Thank you

TheMatt

Hi,

Why don't you follow that thread and once that problem is fixed, come back to this one and we can try to fix the other problems you are describing.

Squeals

Windows is now back on track with minimal problems.

I do have a theory that the laptop randomly died due to OVERHEATING.
I have been able to determine that my A8JS CPU temperature resides somewhere in the 80 degrees C when inactive and 90 degrees when using it generally (not playing games)

I have a theory that applications crash and computer randomly fail because of this.

My question is:
Is this a valid theory?

and

What is the quickest way to lower core temperature other than cleaning the fan?

Thanks!

TheMatt

If those are correct temps then it is definitely overheating. I would start by setting your power scheme to Portable/Laptop in the Power Properties of the Control Panel.

Squeals

Thanks for the reply Matt!

After cleaning the fan (minimal dust) and rebooting the computer, it initially stayed on 65-70 without touching the laptop.
Usually peaks at 70-80 during minor usage.

Now it has been an hour and a bit past when I cleaned the fan and booted the computer:

This is a 6 month old laptop so the coolant mustn't be the problem. As I am typing this the temprature of the CPU is 95C average.
HDD: 38C
GPU: 59C
Motherboard: 54C

Voltage used: 1.3V

I have Power4Gear which is the ASUS equivalent to power options. But power options on standard power has never been a problem for me up till now.
I have Bricopack's Vista Inspirat installed (skin for windows XP to look like Vista, not sure if that raises any concerns but it hasn't in the past!)

I am also operating this in a room which stays at 22-25 degrees and have a 5.1 soundcard, Logitech mouse, Lan and running off AC adaptor. The room only gets colder...not hotter.

Any other suggestions anyone? (the 96C degrees is starting to look like it can cook)

TheMatt

I would look at a cooling pad like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834999336

Squeals

I went and bought a cooling pad:
3000RPM
3 fans.

the temperature maintains on 85-93 during CPU usage. (msn, web, basically when the CPU goes to 2Ghz)

Could anyone suggest the next course of action please?

*theory*
software related? altho scanned for viruses and checked with chkdsk, could it be that my reformat of windows didn't go as successfully as I thought?

So, anyone have any ideas?

:)
Thanks

TheMatt

Do you have a can of compressed air you can use to dust out the laptop?

Squeals

There is much improvement in my temprature of the CPU.
I located a can of compressed air and blew into each airvent and the CPU fan.
There was a small cloud of dust everytime I blew into them.

Right now, with Firefox, Thunderbird, Messenger and Zonealarm workin in the background,
Rightmark is detecting a 54-55 Degree Celcius temp for the CPU.

There is no processes running and this is much better than the 65+ degrees I was getting beforehand.

If I run into a temperature above 85 degrees while gaming I'll report back here for more advice...but thank you for all your help for now!!

a2amali

I think its a Heating problem too, suggest you contact the manufacturer.

Squeals

Hi a2amali!
Well, now when I leave the laptop turned on with Firefox, Thunderbird, Windows Live Messenger, Word Doc, Zonealarm in the background...the temperature sits on 45 Degrees for CPU. (with a cooling pad)

I'm pretty happy with this compared with no cooling pad, no dusting the fan = about 70-80 degrees with only zonealarm in the background.

Now when I play Rakion (obviously an incomplete game in terms of coding...as it seems CPU intensive to me) the temperature sits on above 90 degrees (as opposed to 100 before)

If anybody else has any other constructive suggestions (NOT undervolting, I'm using an Australian converter plug in UK) please do not hesitate to let me know!

TheMatt

Those are pretty good idle temps, but the load temps are pretty high. The next thing would be to remove the CPU/heatsink/fan assembly and apply a fresh layer of thermal paste.