Toshiba Satellite shuts down unexpectedly

[Spcjdavis25]

Im looking for an experts opinion on the problems I am working on my friends toshiba laptop. It is running Vista 32bit ultimate edition. When I asked what the problems were, he told me AVG became corrupt and he couldn't uninstall it. He did a force uninstall on the program. Now he is having problems when saving items he downloads.

I started the computer in safemode with networking and tried to run malware bytes, and super anti spyware. Both programs would start to scan and close with no warning or errors.

I tried to load the windows recovery console off of the vista dvd. I would get the little bar at the bottom of the screen that says "Windows is loading files" After the bar filled up the windows loading bar would flicker for a split second and the computer would shutdown (as in just turns off, not going through windows shutdown). I thought I was getting a blue screen so changed the settings to not reboot after errors. I ran the recovery dvd again and it would shutdown when trying to go into recovery.

I thought maybe the hard drive was corrupt, I removed the hard drive and put in a different one. I tried again with the recovery dvd, and it continues to shutdown.

I replaced the hard drive and I went to reboot into windows. I got to the screen asking which way I wanted to start ex: safemode, normal. I chose normal and when it got to the windows loading screen, it shutdown.

I took a stick of ram out, windows loaded fine. I tried the recovery dvd again with one stick of ram taken out, and it still shutdown unexpectedly.

I tried running UBCD and when it got through loading all of its files, it tried to start and it shutdown also.

I thought overall that it was a hard drive problem, but the live cd and recovery dvd should have worked. I tested the ram and the problem still persists. in the device manager I have an unknown mass storage controller. I am guessing that this is for the sd card reader, b/c the sd reader is unresponsive.

I am by no means an expert, but I do consider myself more knowledgeable than the average user. Please, only constructive critisism. Thanks to all who can help me.

 

[NickCat11]

I took a stick of ram out, windows loaded fine. I tried the recovery dvd again with one stick of ram taken out, and it still shutdown unexpectedly.

I don't believe it's the hard drive due to the steps you have taken. If I am reading this correctly you can currently boot into Windows (normal and safe mode) fine with a stick of ram out? Please confirm.

 

[Dunne_Computing]

I thought maybe the hard drive was corrupt, I removed the hard drive and put in a different one.

was this with a fresh install or a clone of the original hard drive.
If its a clone then
have you used a dedicated avg remover ?
have you tried scanning the hard drive in another machine?

Sounds very similiar to a virus/spyware issue i had not so long ago.

 

[thecoldone06]

Since you used UBCD and the problem still persisted, I would say hardware. At that point, there is no files loaded from the HDD. I would test the PSU next and go from there.

 

[SCR12]

Since you used UBCD and the problem still persisted, I would say hardware. At that point, there is no files loaded from the HDD. I would test the PSU next and go from there.

The easy option is to strip the laptop down till you are left with the motherboard, CPU and fan, turn it on, if it shuts down, there you are left with a failing CPU or a motherboard fault, if it does not shut down, the add the memory and so on till you find the problem, also check all the cables, also like someone said did you change the hard drive with a clone of the drive, if so and it still reboots, then its a software problem, try and putting the test hard drive in with a fresh copy of windows or linux, if it boots fine you know what the problem is.

 

[thecoldone06]

The easy option is to strip the laptop down till you are left with the motherboard, CPU and fan, turn it on, if it shuts down, there you are left with a failing CPU or a motherboard fault, if it does not shut down, the add the memory and so on till you find the problem, also check all the cables, also like someone said did you change the hard drive with a clone of the drive, if so and it still reboots, then its a software problem, try and putting the test hard drive in with a fresh copy of windows or linux, if it boots fine you know what the problem is.

Forgot we were dealing with a laptop and not desktop.

 

[SCR12]

Forgot we were dealing with a laptop and not desktop.

Thats why i said laptop in my post, if he needs help tearing it apart when i am sure we can help him, he needs to do the diagnostics fisrt, more then he did in his first post and try everything possible, then come back and tell us what he has done, i am still waiting for some of the questions to be answered before i say anymore.

 

[Spcjdavis25]

Nickcat11-correct, After I tried to run the windows recovery console, the system shut down. I would try to start windows with both ram sticks in and it would continue to shutdown before the windows loading screen. I can remove either ram stick, then the system will load fine.

Dunne_Computing- When I removed the internal hard drive, I attached an external hdd with no OS just to see if the windows disk would recognize it, at this point, i just wanted to get into the windows recovery.

SCR12 & thecoldone06: I'll run some more diagnostics and if all else fails, I'll start stripping away. I've replaced keyboards and lcd screens before. I'll post back in a couple days after I get a chance to look at his laptop again.

Is there a diagnostic utility for the cpu or mobo? I have hardware to test psu

Thanks for the help and direction.

 

[NickCat11]

Run memtest on each individual ram stick and report back if there are any errors.

 

[NYJimbo]

"Both programs would start to scan and close with no warning or errors."

This is a really great indication of a rootkit shutting down the program when it touches specific files.

But if you ran UBCD and had shutdown problems I would check temperatures.

 

[Skyhooker]

But if you ran UBCD and had shutdown problems I would check temperatures.

Yep, I agree - it sounds like the seal between the CPU and the heat sink has broken and no heat is being transferred, causing almost instantaneous thermal shutdown. Try removing the heat sink, cleaning off all thermal paste residue with pure isopropyl alcohol, re-greasing it using Arctic Silver or another thermal compound, and reattaching the heat sink.

Oh, and obviously make sure the fan is running and unobstructed by dust, etc., too.

 

[apochimongitus]

Overheating may be an issue but I would make sure he's got an up-to-date version of UBCD4WIN - with SP3 slipstream on it too. I've had laptops not boot an older SP2 UBCD4WIN due to hardware incompatibilities (ie. newer laptops). If it boots to a Knoppix distro then it's not likely a hardware fault but an OS fault.

The problem I have with the hardware overheat theory is that it wasn't part of the original fault - the original fault sounded like OS corruption. It may have been a latent overheating issue but I would rule out hardware incompatibilities with OS first before pulling heatsinks and what not.

hope this helps.

Apochmongitus.

 

[bagellad]

It almost sounds like you were having a computer virus and somehow damaged some other part of the computer. I guess now I would say.. test the hard drive and ram.. then worry about the virus problem after..

 

[usacvlr]

motherboard is toast

 

[Peaceful]

Sorry I'm late to the party. This is a very common problem with certain toshiba models. Check for a bios update on toshiba.com. Guaranteed there's an update that addresses this particular problem.