Diagnosis: Laptop

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Touring Mars

Touring Mars

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OK, so rather than promoting "New Laptop" to the top of my shopping list, I'm struggling on with my current laptop because it still works for what I need it for (internet), but it is increasingly troublesome. I thought I'd post up a few symptoms, and wondered if anyone knows what is causing the problem or problems and if there were any cheap and/or quick fixes...

Anyway, here's what it is doing:

1) Failing to start up (Windows XP)
2) Hangs randomly or after periods of inactivity
3) Using the USB ports causes computer to hang immediately
4) Wireless modem seems to causes crashing

I first noticed a problem when my computer suddenly started shutting itself down, coming up with an error and then a 30 second countdown which could be averted by typing in some command in the "Run" box. I put this down to using Bit Torrent once or twice, and not having a suitable virus checker...

This led to the start up problem, and for a while, it would take many attempts before the computer came back to life. Now, oddly, it seems to start up first time if the computer has been off for several hours - but, it will not start up after a hang or a crash, and only seems to work if I leave it for some time. This seems random/weird to me, but it seems real enough. Usually, it stalls while the little blue bar is zipping back and forth, but occasionally it will not get past the initial black screen.

I can get round the wireless modem problem by connecting directly to my hub, so this isn't too much of a problem.... however, the USB ports thing means I can only get stuff off my computer via the internet, and can no longer back things up (although I don't really need to).

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas/suggestions (short of buying a new laptop), then please let me know. (The laptop is a Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Pro, about 5 years old now, and running Windows XP)

Cheers :)👍
 
Well, one thing you can do is to back up your hard drive, and then re-install Windows XP and make it format your HDD while at it. If you cant back your current HDD up, you can either put it in a case and transfer the files somewhere else and then bring it back and re-install. Let's just hope that you made a recovery disk or have a recovery partition since I'm guessing its OEM.
 
You can also try a "repair" install of Windows. Boot the Windows CD (which you have, of course . . .) and it will come to a point where your choices are repair or new install. Repair recopies the original Windows files from the CD without destroying existing files or installed apps. You then need to go through a couple hours of Windows Updates downloads to get back to current patches, but even before that you may need to find drivers for your hardware, using another working machine. Once you get the network driver installed the rest is easy, just download from that machine.

I've had several instances where that cleared the machine up nicely.

I'm troubled by the USB issues, though, that may actually point to hardware problems.
 
I'm no computimer guru but, have you considered buying/installing a new hard drive first? you can then try the re-install and see if it affects the general running without trying to move data around.
 
Yes, too many problems to actually find out what they are and how to fix. Best advice is the re-install XP, give the vents on the Laptop a clean, to un clog dust etc, if you feel confident you can open her up for a good clean.

As for virus software download the following. I have tried many free antivirus and spyware programs and find the below the best compromise.

Avast - anti virus http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10019223.html
Superantispyware - spyware killer http://download.cnet.com/SuperAntiSpyware-Free-Edition/3000-8022_4-10523889.html
Zone Alarm or Peer Guardian - firewall http://download.cnet.com/ZoneAlarm-Free-Firewall/3000-10435_4-10039884.html or http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Firewall/Peer-Guardian-Pr.shtml

The above should help keep the PC healthy once with a fresh install of XP.
 
Fastas
The motherboard battery? I had a similar problem with a desktop and after replacing the motherboard battery it righted itself.
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The other battery

I was wondering whether the boot-up problems happen on the battery and A/C power.
 
daan
Perhaps reading is one thing you can do... 💡
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Perhaps research about this is what you can do (fail comeback). Its called firewire, eSata, Sata, SCSI or even through adHoc (it will be sooo slow though). Well actually, I should have told him the other methods first. Partly my fault.
 
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Windows can be a bit of a nightmare to try and fix. It's not a bad idea to try and backup your data and do a factory reset, or if that's not available, simply reinstalling XP from the disc (presuming you have the disc).

You could try out the increasingly popular Linux OS, "Ubuntu" (see my signature). I've been using Ubuntu for 3 years. I did a fresh install around 6 months ago. Even after all this time, my login time is only around 15 seconds (as opposed to Windows which seems to increase day after day - literally go and make a cup of tea). Ubuntu does not need any anti-virus software, nor does it need a firewall (it has one, but disabled by default as it's not really needed).
 
This sounds suspiciously like a corrupt XP OS. At this point, your best bet is to wipe the hard drive clean and reinstall WinXP. Since it sounds like your computer is probably running some OEM version of WinXP, you'll want to find a restore disk on their website. Otherwise, if your computer has a "restore partition," you should be able to reload the OS from that too. Actually, I just looked, and I didn't see any restore discs available for notebooks on Fujitsu's website. Good news though, they do seem to have all the drivers available on the website, so you should still be able to get everything to work after reinstalling XP.

Another thing that you can try if you don't want to reinstall the OS yet is try to do a "Repair Windows XP Install." That option is available on the WinXP install disc. The Repair option should theoretically leave all your files intact. A lot of programs might/will stop working afterwards though since I think one of the things that that repair option does is reset your registry, and most programs will check to make sure the proper registry keys are there before they will run. Also, I personally generally recommend AGAINST doing the repair install because it can certainly help, but in my experience, the fix is only temporary since other problems and headaches pop up afterwards. At that point, you might as well just reinstall WinXP.

NissanSkylineN1 is right though, you probably want to backup files some way other than using USB. I know you said that you don't have USB access anymore, but you could set up an ad-hoc network and transfer stuff to another computer (if you have another one) or back up stuff to the internet. Unfortunately, most of the other stuff he said probably won't work, but another thing that you could do that may be faster if you have another computer is to get something like a SATA/IDE to USB connector (something like this, linky: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001A5SK56/?tag=gtplanetuk-20 ). For the SATA/IDE to USB connecor, you will have to remove the hard drive from the laptop and plug the drive into the connector (it's actually really easy, you just unscrew a cover on the bottom or side of computer, and pull the drive out). The USB side of the connector will then be plugged into another computer to transfer stuff. At that point, your hard drive should just pop up on the other computer. Oh, and since your computer is a 5 year old laptop, I'm going to venture and guess that your hard drive is probably an IDE drive.

What exact model is your computer? How important are your documents?
 
Thanks very much for all the comments - I'll have a go at dealing with them later this evening 👍
 
I think my laptop's problems are more physical than mental/software... I installed Ubuntu but to no avail. The computer crashed during installation, and once I did get it installed, it crashed on booting. Third attempt, and it loaded up, only to crash immediately, as soon as I tried to do something. When I say 'crash', I mean that the HDD is locking up and the computer just freezes, but it needs to be switched off and then it won't start up again for ages. It does, however, work fine in Safe Mode, which is why I didn't think it was a hardware issue like overheating...

Anyway, I can't reinstall XP as I have no disc that came with the machine (it's a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pro V2030) and the XP discs we have at work don't work on this computer, so I'm kind of stumped. I was hoping Ubuntu would work, but it seems that whatever is killing XP is also killing that :indiff: Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated, but otherwise it looks like I might have to bite the bullet and buy a new laptop...
 
Amusingly I visited some relatives about a week ago who have exactly that laptop and it's doing exactly the same thing. They asked me to take a look at it, and after having it simply 'hung' a couple of times I gave up and said its time had probably come.

Not that it's much help, but at least it's not just you that's having the issue.
 
Could be a failing hard drive? That can cause some erratic and seemingly random behavior sometimes. If its not too difficult to remove the HDD, try doing so and then booting Ubuntu via a disc and see what it does maybe? Or will it run fine from a disc as it is anyway?
 
I'm now using Ubuntu for the first time on my laptop, it looks really good, but sadly it doesn't work other than in Safe Mode either... does anyone know why the computer works perfectly in Safe Mode but not in normal mode in either OS?

Also, if it is a hardware problem, and the warranty is long gone, how much might I expect to pay for a physical repair and/or a complete reinstall of the operating system etc.?
 
Touring Mars
I'm now using Ubuntu for the first time on my laptop, it looks really good, but sadly it doesn't work other than in Safe Mode either... does anyone know why the computer works perfectly in Safe Mode but not in normal mode in either OS?
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Maybe it's using less power under safe mode, enough to run trouble free? I don't know much about laptop power bricks, but maybe it's about to go kaput.
 
Depends what needs repairing...

Safe Mode is exactly what it says on the tin (look out law suit!), it doesn't run some of the normal files, has a memory check, runs a default graphics driver any other drivers aren't loaded, for things like scanners, etc.

The results you get from Ubuntu are interesting, clearly something is majorly borked, I'd suspect it is in the area of HDD/Memory/Motherboard. That's not particularly narrowing it down, but without someone taking a look at it, you won't know.

Surely as someone who works at a Uni, you must know someone who knows about this without forking out for an indepedent to look at it?

In any case, how old is it? Laptops generally are more throwaway when they are broken, due to the nature of their build. If it's over 3 years old, I wouldn't bother trying to fix it. You'd not only be looking at some hefty costs anyway (any of the aforementioned problems replaced and labour will be in excess of £100), but the other things you don't replace aren't new either. It's a major disadvantage with a laptop, as with most other technologies, you can get really good value-for-money with them now.

Try and find an independent PC repair shop (prefferably one that is recommended to you, don't use PC world) and get a quote from them, but unless they can fix it for under £100, which is very unlikely, I don't think it's worth it.

Recovering your data is something you will want to do, I don't know if USB works in Ubuntu safe mode or not, but an external USB HDD is something you should seriously consider, even if you can't get it to work, it is not only essential as a back-up for your fixed/new laptop, you should be able to take the USB HDD to a PC shop and ask them to recover the data to it.

Maybe it's using less power under safe mode, enough to run trouble free?
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I think it unlikely, although you are telling the computer to use less, the change of draw from the supply will be minimal. Not enough to give the difference between failure and working.
 
I don't think it has a graphics card, however I did notice that the computer would hang if I went to change the display properties before... I only have one entry under display adapters in the device manager, is there anything else I should be looking at?

Sureboss
Surely as someone who works at a Uni, you must know someone who knows about this without forking out for an indepedent to look at it?
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Hehe, I could try the IT guys, but the last time I spoke to them, they weren't exactly tripping over themselves to be helpful... the laptop is getting on a bit, it's about 5 years old, so it has had a good innings, so to speak...
 
owen.c93
Does it have a graphics card? Safe mode disable it, so that might be faulty.
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Oh course the laptop would have a graphics card. If you did not have a graphics card then the problem would of been simple. Most likely this problem you are getting is the drivers. I have found one solution for Linux here(it should work since Linux Minit is based off of Ubuntu).

If you can't get it fixed with the link that I posted then you will have to get a new laptop. Good luck.
 
Which tbf, for a 5 year old laptop is probably your best bet, if you fix this, something else is inevitably going to go kaput, not to mention XP is on it's last support legs.
 
I don't want to speak to soon, but the patient is responding well to some surgery this afternoon... I had hoped that the mere threat of taking my surgical abilities to my laptop would frighten it into action, but for some reason that didn't work. So I opened it up and gave it a good clean, with a little help from the internet... and so far, it seems to be working better.

I figured that the problem might be related to overheating, as the computer was hanging and failing to restart, but would restart after leaving it off for a while. So, I've now cleaned the fan, the vents and greased up the contacts between the heat sinks and their respective chips. Amazingly, the computer now boots up without hanging, which is the first time in a long time I've been able to say that. That said, I've only tried it three times, so it's too early to crack open the Carlsberg just yet (although I bought some extra just in case :p)

The computer did still hang, however - but only after I'd left it idle for some time, which is what it was doing a while back. I reckon that the computer might be hanging for two reasons, one because of the overheating, and perhaps also because of something else (related to standing idle). So, I've switched off a number of things to do with power management, and also shut down some automatic processes that start when the computer is idle, like an auto defrag that I didn't even know existed, and so far, the computer hasn't hung up, even after being left idle for 30 minutes as a test.

Anyway, so far, it seems that a tiny spot of silicon grease might have (and it's a big might) just saved me around £500-700...
 
Glad to hear it's back up and running, even if only temporarily. While it is still working, now might be a good time to back up the drive so if it dies again you won't lose stuff.

And by stuff I mean years of stockpiled porn, naturally.
 
TB
Glad to hear it's back up and running, even if only temporarily. While it is still working, now might be a good time to back up the drive so if it dies again you won't lose stuff.

And by stuff I mean years of stockpiled porn, naturally.
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Alas, I knew it was too good to be true... USB devices are still causing a hang up, so I can't do a full back up. The computer also failed to restart immediately after that hang up, but started on a second attempt. That said, I did a back up before the problem got this bad, so I'm not too worried about losing stuff. Most of the stuff I don't want to lose is software I can't really back up anyway...

owen.c93
What did you grease it with?
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Silicon vacuum grease :dopey:
 
One assumes the USB devices are enabled in your BIOS? In any case, it's giving you signs that it's about to go kaput.

If you do want to back it up, I'd suggest you try and get hold of a HDD caddy (again, ask your IT guys at the uni if they have one) and then connect it via USB to another computer. I wouldn't trust it to live trouble free long enough to either do a back-up to on-line storage, transfer it by LAN to another computer, or heavens forbid, writing it to DVD.

Also, I think you could spend a lot less than £500-700 on a good laptop.
 

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