Laptop trouble, shutting off.

[Cream Soda]

Hey guys, I've been having trouble today with my laptop. It just shut off on me earlier and when I'd try to turn it back on, it wouldn't even make it to the log in screen before shutting off again. My laptop sits on an aluminum cooler, and when it shuts off it doesn't even feel warm, so I don't really think it's overheating. I thought maybe it'd be something wrong with the software, so I try safemode, doesn't log into that either.

I try batter alone, no plugged in, same thing. I try plugged in alone, no battery, same deal and of course with both, I get the same result. I've no clue as to what's causing this.

To get on now, I just barely made it to the log in screen and I closed my screen for hibernate. Let it sit for a few mins then turned it back on. let's see how long it stays on this time.

[Lunato]

The only thing I can think of is maybe a virus. I had a similiar problem as yours, and it resulted after I torrented a movie which had some suspicious bits about it. I shut off my computer and when I turned it on later, it acted much in the same way yours did.

What I did though was just gave it a bit to rest before I tried turning it on again. And turned it on repeatedly until it finally stayed powered on for more than a minute so I could remove the virus.

This is one experience though, so take it with lots of salt. Your laptop is probably just being whack. Hope it cooperates!

[Cheerios]

This might sound silly, but have you tried using your laptop with your power button held down at all times?

[Cheerios]

disregard!

[Cheerios]

disregard!

[Cheerios]

I definitely didn't press submit 4 times lol

[Gippo]

if its not overheating, it could be a bad driver file, or all out OS corruption.

win xp or vista or 7?

gotta rule out what it isnt, to know what it is. First thing i would eliminate would be overheating. Just because it's not feeling hot to you, doesnt mean its not. Get a fine point phillips head screwdriver and try to remove all the covers on the underside. Most newer laptops will let you access the fans, but you might not be able to access the heatsink, but then again, its model to model. Use a can of air and blow out your vents.
You can go further if you want and disassemble it, but you have to know what you're doing.

the next thing i would do is backup your data > reload the OS. if you dont know how to do this, you can do this easily with this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-002-_-Product Remove the HD by either removing the cover, or taking out 2 screws and sliding it out the side. Again, depends on what type of laptop you have.
With that device, you plug in your hd to another PC via usb and you can offload all your data before you wipe it.

If you eliminate overheating, and you reload it and its still doing it, its bad hardware, possible board malfunction, but i'll put money on it being the OS. Usually if its hardware, you dont get as far as you are getting when you try to turn it on.

[Cream Soda]

I emailed the company last night, to see if I'm still under warranty or not. That being said, I haven't unscrewed anything, because they put a sticker that'd have to be removed to open the laptop and it says "Warranty voided if sticker tampered with", so I'm waiting on them.

[Cream Soda]

Additional informations

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152108

Is the laptop in question. Also shuts off idling in BIOS. When booting up, attempts to run a Check disk, but never makes it all the way through before shutting off.

I have canned air, but unable to open laptop for reasons stated previously.

[Gippo]

Oh its an MSI. While ive never personally dealt with their warranty department, I would definitely wait to see if you are still under a warranty. The problem we have is that we dont know if its hardware(board, bad hd,) or software(problem with windows, that they wont cover under a warranty)

[Cream Soda]

Hmm, well if it was software, wouldn't I still be good to go under bios before anything boots up? (I even get shut down there) If i send it to them and it ends up being software, I really couldn't care less. I'd prefer for it to be software tbh.

Checking new egg, it says 3 years warranty (though seems weird cause i never noticed before, but then again this was almost a year and a half ago)

[Gippo]

when you access bios, you're not accessing anything on the hard drive at all. what your seeing is stored on the bios chip, which is attached to your motherboard. Even if there was no hard drive in your pc, you can still access the bios.

Sorry, i didnt see that you wrote it shuts off when idling in bios. That means you have a hardware problem (motherboard most likely, or could be a fan not firing, check your internal temperature in bios. Should idle in bios around 45 degrees Celsius

[Cream Soda]

How do I check the temp? Is it listed in the bios itself?

[Jefe]

Yes, but some older bios aren't as robust and won't display it. Anyway, sounds like an overheating issue. Is this laptop old? Have you cleaned the heatsink/etc? Do do have a live cd like BT4 or Knoppix?

[Cream Soda]

It's a year and 3 months old and no, I can't open it, or it voids the warranty (unless the heatsink is on the outside of the laptop, which I'd doubt)

[Cheerios]

The laptop I had to fix a few weeks ago had a similar issue (it kept trying to run chkdsk 'cause of constant improper shutdowns). The short term remedy was to just hold down the power button to keep the computer on, and the long term fix involved removing the keyboard and cleaning the connector.

That being said, if your laptop is still under warranty, then your options of fixing without voiding it or sending it in are limited. I'm unsure if removing and reinserting the keyboard voids any kind of warranty, but the process is pretty easy and straightforward.

[Cream Soda]

Well it all depends if MSI is going to be a dick about it. It's a 3 year warranty but I guess they make you register within 30 days. I ordered it and had it shipped to where I was going to vacation at my grandma's house but had to reschedule my flight due to having to go to court to be my uncle's witness. That being said, 30 days had passed before I even opened the box.

[Cheerios]

Some companies are pretty anal about registering within 30 days. XFX offers double-lifetime warranties if you register within 30 days, but if you don't then you get fucked pretty hard.

[Cream Soda]

well tech just emailed me back and gave me an RMA number. Would they deny me before it gets to them and never have given me that to begin with? or will when it get there will they say, oh it's not registered, fuck him

Edit: And on the RMA email, they told me to back up any data before sending it, but I can't get to the HDD w/o taking off the "Warranty sticker void if tampered" sticker >.>

[Gippo]

I would get ahold of them. 90% of me is telling me to say just open the laptop since they already processed the RMA, but I can easily see them being dicks as you say.

make damn sure it wont void the warranty. , then use my steps above if you want to back up your data. then send it to them. you know , the funny thing is, if it turns off when in bios, you technically dont even have to send them the HD at all.
For most hardware issues, you dont need a hd in the system to fix., up to you, as long as you dont have pedo pron , you should be ok to send the HD, they just tell you to back up the data because they have to tell you that. They wont look at your hd, I promise.