HP TouchSmart Notebook Boot Problems

[zendar]

I installed a new system board because the old one was having video problems. Booting looked good. The windows bar at the bottom was going and suddenly the notebook shut itself off. Testing shows that the only thing I can do is boot into the system setup menus. There is no access to system restore and I can't boot from a Vista DVD. Anything other than the setup, the laptop shuts itself down. ugg

I originally thought I may have not set the video connectons to the display right, but I can see the setup menu just fine so that is probably not it.
I've opened the notebook back up and re-set all the connectors.

I am open to suggestions. Any ideas?

Jim

 

[lciavarella]

when ever a pc shuts off automatically i look for over heating issues. re-open and check cooling fans and thermal paste on processor.

 

[iisjman07]

when ever a pc shuts off automatically i look for over heating issues. re-open and check cooling fans and thermal paste on processor.

Alternatively it would be a short circuit

 

[Knightsman]

Bad CMOS battery?



ohmygoshnotenoughtext

 

[zendar]

I don't think it is heat, the power isn't on long enough for anything to get hot.

CMOS? maybe, Since it is a new system board with a new battery, I wouldn't think so, but I haven't sent back the old one yet. I'll swap batteries just in case.

Thanks,

 

[AdamsAPlus]

This sounds much like a problem I had before. I swapped out a cpu once for testing. After I swapped it out It would boot so far and then shut off. I didn't think I would need thermal paste for just a short test.

Yes the computer would heat up enough to shut down in less than 5 min. I put thermal paste on the cpu and it worked fine. In fact the only reason I decided to try it with thermal paste is because after it shut off I figured that cpu was bad. I went to remove it. I removed the fan which was cool and then I touched the cpu and burnt the %$# out of my hand. I was like wow it heated up that quick.

 

[zendar]

I got a pad sort of a thing instead of paste. It goes on the cpu and as it heats up it melts and creates its own thermal connection. In the past, I've always used paste. I wonder if this pad is working the way it should.

I am going to tear this thing apart again and check everthing, including the thermal conductor pad.

Thanks,

 

[Knightsman]

Test the CMOS battery first. I had this the other day on a motherboard I swapped.

 

[zendar]

It turns out there were multiple problems. First it was a heat problem. There was a little piece of the old thermal paste that I missed when I was cleaning it up. It was keeping the Fan Assembly from firmly seating on the CPU.

The second problem was the Hard Drive failed. I think I am on the track for a successful fix. Thanks for all your suggestions.

 

[AdamsAPlus]

Hey tell us more about this pas you were talking about. I have never heard of it. Can you send a link to a place that sells them.

I always like testing out new things.

 

[zendar]

by PAS I assume you mean paste. Because a laptops and notebooks have a problem getting rid of heat, there is a fan/heat sinc assembly that presses firmly onto the CPU. In between the CPU and the Fan Assy, there is a thermal paste that is heat conductive. It starts off kind of gooey then hardens up as the CPU heats up. It provides the maximum heat transfer from the CPU to the heat sinc assy then the fan blows the heat out of the notebook.

 

[AdamsAPlus]

No I mistyped and meant PAD. I'm am real familiar with the paste. I probably go through a tube every 2 weeks. One thing I do during a clean up is reapply thermal paste. I was just wondering about the PAD you were talking about, instead of the paste.

 

[zendar]

Ah, the pad. When I received the new system board from HP, there was no paste. Only a rectangular grey thing I called a pad. Since there was no paste, I assumed that was what this pad thing was for. I called HP and no one knew and their tech support wanted $99 to talk to me. I took a chance and put the pad on the CPU and it melted in just like the paste does. Whew.

 

[Knightsman]

I get them all the time with Sony Fan replacements, they are called Thermal Pads.