Hello All!
I am brand new to this forum and found you all from a quick Google search. You guys seem to have a more seasoned group of enthusiasts than some of the more mainstream hardware sites and am hoping to get some insight for undeniably the strangest problem I have ever come across.
My name is Dan, and I have been working with computers since the Atari 8-Bit days. I fondly remember the Atari/Commodore feuds, running a BBS from my bedroom, and 127 Kilobyte disks that took 6 hours to transfer over the phone lines!
I am a PC tech, but not to the mobo component level, so I don't know if this problem is even fixable. This issue is absolutely baffling to me, but it may be elementary to Badcaps forum members.
I have an older laptop from 2008 that has been running fine up until a couple months ago. I am very fond of this model and would love to salvage it if possible.
In a nutshell, the laptop will just power off (no bluescreen, no errors) if the CPU is not getting taxed.
When windows comes up, I have to immediately start a 720P video or run a game in the background and then it will stay powered on. It seems like I have to keep the CPU at a constant 60% or more utilization. I can then browse the web, run other programs, etc. If I close down all open programs, the laptop will power off within seconds/minutes.
My troubleshooting steps so far:
It is not overheating as HW Monitor reports normal and I have re-pasted everything.
I have swapped out RAM, and hard drive.
It happens when just the battery is supplying power.
It happens when just the power cord supplying power.
It happens when both the battery and power cord are used.
It happens when the singular hard drive is removed and boot Linux from USB.
This can not be an OS problem because when I swapped the hard drive, I tried reinstalling Windows 7 and it powered off during the initial setup phases in the partitioning section. After several tries, it eventually installed without rebooting. I have also tried Live CD Linux distros and it shuts off in them as well.
--==< *** Now it gets really strange *** >==--
If I boot into BIOS, MemTest, DOS, or the Hirens/Falcon4 CD and boot into mini Windows XP, it will stay up FOREVER!
So what is different in these environment? I am thinking because these environments don't support different power management states of the CPU? VGA video only? I don't know if this is correct, but I am at a loss.
I tried messing with the power settings in Windows and tried Balanced, High Performance, etc. I changed the min/max "processor state" in Advanced settings to 100% and it didn't seem to help.
I have not tried swapping the CPU yet, as I do not have one readily available. It would be rather anti-climactic to me if this is it.
If this post would be better off in another forum area, and the mods would like to move it, please do!
Anyone have any ideas?
I am brand new to this forum and found you all from a quick Google search. You guys seem to have a more seasoned group of enthusiasts than some of the more mainstream hardware sites and am hoping to get some insight for undeniably the strangest problem I have ever come across.
My name is Dan, and I have been working with computers since the Atari 8-Bit days. I fondly remember the Atari/Commodore feuds, running a BBS from my bedroom, and 127 Kilobyte disks that took 6 hours to transfer over the phone lines!
I am a PC tech, but not to the mobo component level, so I don't know if this problem is even fixable. This issue is absolutely baffling to me, but it may be elementary to Badcaps forum members.
I have an older laptop from 2008 that has been running fine up until a couple months ago. I am very fond of this model and would love to salvage it if possible.
In a nutshell, the laptop will just power off (no bluescreen, no errors) if the CPU is not getting taxed.
When windows comes up, I have to immediately start a 720P video or run a game in the background and then it will stay powered on. It seems like I have to keep the CPU at a constant 60% or more utilization. I can then browse the web, run other programs, etc. If I close down all open programs, the laptop will power off within seconds/minutes.
My troubleshooting steps so far:
It is not overheating as HW Monitor reports normal and I have re-pasted everything.
I have swapped out RAM, and hard drive.
It happens when just the battery is supplying power.
It happens when just the power cord supplying power.
It happens when both the battery and power cord are used.
It happens when the singular hard drive is removed and boot Linux from USB.
This can not be an OS problem because when I swapped the hard drive, I tried reinstalling Windows 7 and it powered off during the initial setup phases in the partitioning section. After several tries, it eventually installed without rebooting. I have also tried Live CD Linux distros and it shuts off in them as well.
--==< *** Now it gets really strange *** >==--
If I boot into BIOS, MemTest, DOS, or the Hirens/Falcon4 CD and boot into mini Windows XP, it will stay up FOREVER!
So what is different in these environment? I am thinking because these environments don't support different power management states of the CPU? VGA video only? I don't know if this is correct, but I am at a loss.
I tried messing with the power settings in Windows and tried Balanced, High Performance, etc. I changed the min/max "processor state" in Advanced settings to 100% and it didn't seem to help.
I have not tried swapping the CPU yet, as I do not have one readily available. It would be rather anti-climactic to me if this is it.
If this post would be better off in another forum area, and the mods would like to move it, please do!
Anyone have any ideas?
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