laptop trouble: A45 Toshiba Satellite

myself ^ | 10-21-08 | Wobbly Bob

[WOBBLY BOB]

I have a 5-6 year old A45 Toshiba Satellite. I recently replaced the main fan to get it running again.(and added memory while it was apart)

It worked for a month and now it's acting like it's overheating again. This time it give me a quick blue screen with something on it I can't read (because it disappears too fast) and starts automatically rebooting. It will keep doing this until I power it off.

any suggestions? (yes, I know I should get a newer computer,but can't afford it now)

I'd at least like to figure out how to keep it on long enough to transfer everything to another laptop(I may be able to get a 2 year old Dell for free)

[andyandval]

If you have the time and the spirit...

These guys are great.

http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/toshiba-satellite-a35/complete-disassembly-1.htm

I've taken my Toshiba A75 completely apart a couple times.

Make sure there is thermal grease on the cpu.

[TASMANIANRED]

I think a hard drive case and cables cost about 28 bucks...

Everything works on the new computer.

[Big Giant Head]

Probably easier and cheaper to replace the keyboard.

[Big Giant Head]

Most any Linux Live CD, like PCLinuxOS, or Ubuntu, or.... will have memtest on the opening menu when booted from the CD. You can check the memory like that.

Also, if you have a device to transfer files to, like a big enough thumb drive, or another external drive, I second the motion of saving all data as top priority.

[Still Thinking]

Get the new laptop up and running (Windows installed, etc.). Take the hard drive out of the existing laptop and you should be able to install it in an open expansion bay in the new machine, or at worst get an external Ethernet or USB based drive enclosure to connect it to the new laptop without booting off the old drive. Then you can transfer any critical data files, etc. Once that’s done, you might even try getting a new hard drive, (from $25 on Ebay) reinstall an OS, and you’ll be up and running and have two laptops! Even if not, having that external drive enclosure will suit you well even after you get all transferred to the new machine.

You might even try installing that drive in the new computer and booting it (after doing the backup), especially if it has a retail (non-OEM) copy of Windows. Windows will bitch about all the unknown hardware, you can install the drivers, and you may need to reauthorize Windows, but you’d be back to where you were before even without reinstalling any of your application software.

[JerseyHighlander]

I’m assuming you are running Windows XP or Windows 2000.

Disable reboot on blue screen of death

Sometimes our computer restarts after showing us a blue screen of death. It might be important for us to note down the error message that caused the blue screen of death to troubleshoot the problem. To disable rebooting the computer after you see a blue screen of death follow the below steps:

1) Goto Control Panel -—> System ( or Press Windows key + Pause)

2) Click the Advanced Tab

3) Under the ‘Startup and Recovery’ section click on Settings

4) Under ‘System Failure’ section uncheck ‘Automatically Restart’

5) Click on ‘OK’

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Next step is to get a BSOD. then either write down the error messages, or if you have a digital camera, take a few photos of the screen.

There will be one to four codes with eight symbols, that look similar to C0000218. Those will be most important.

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Someone above posted the irisvista Toshiba disassembly website, that place is a life saver in this situation, and as mentioned above, make sure you have thermal compound on your cpu.

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Probably best bet is to get a new laptop or use an existing desktop, pull the HD out of old laptop, and install it in new laptop or exsting desktop through a USB2 or firewire hard drive enclosure case.

One important point. REMOVE ANY WINDOWS PASSWORDS FROM YOUR USER ACCOUNTS WHILE THE OLD HARD DRIVE IS STILL IN THE OLD LAPTOP, (and if you use Encrypting File System (EFS) in Windows XP disable that also before swapping out the hard drive.) Makes your like slightly easier.

Also, I suggest looking at Laplink PCmover 3 software, it is a very good transfer utility that will transfer over most of your programs as well as your files and settings.

[WOBBLY BOB]

yes. I use XP.

thanks to all for the info.

[WOBBLY BOB]

I used that to take it apart for cleaning and checking the fan.

[WOBBLY BOB]

i did that. it started up as if normal. I didn’t want to let it run long, but also didn’t get the BSOD.

So ... I still don’t know what the error message said.