# Solved: Sony Vaio screen keeps freezing



## Daveli (Aug 20, 2010)

Screen keeps freezing, not sure if it would be considered a crash because the hard drive activity light will keep blinking. When it freezes the mouse doesn't move and I can't input anything in the keyboard (doesn't show on screen). I am still able to turn off the display with the "display off" button and the num lock/caps lock/scroll lock lights can still be turned on/off. I've tried restoring the hard drive and reinstalling the OS but I'm not able to get far due to the freezing problem. This is the third time this has happened. The two previous times I have been able to restore everything, but this time i cannot. During the restoration/reformatting process, the screen froze but I pressed enter when the hard drive stopped spinning and it was able to complete the reformatting and restart by itself. The freezing problem however, still exists. I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out!

Dave


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## HCD (Oct 29, 2007)

Model number would help....laptop/desktop. Without much detail, it looks like a heat / power issue.


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## Daveli (Aug 20, 2010)

Oh it's a laptop model: CW26FX, S/N: 27520136 3000697.
Yeah I was searching around last night in other forums about similar issues, and I used some canned air and cleaned out the internals. It does blow out quite an amount of hot air from the fan. I noticed while restoring, that it was running pretty hot also even after the screen froze. But usually I have my laptop sitting on a belkin USB cooling pad with a fan.

Oh and also, if this helps, it's been a while since I've completely shut down my laptop. Because I run a monitor out of it, I've been careless and have just been shutting off the monitor :/


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## HCD (Oct 29, 2007)

The dust build up might be "beyond" fan making it a difficult scenario. It is worth doing a check on the Hard Disk health and temperature You might also want to check CPU temp either via Sony diagnostics or in BIOS, whichever is more comfortable!


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## Daveli (Aug 20, 2010)

I did a hard drive check for errors and bad sectors initially and it passed all tests. I just went into the bios when I turned on my laptop and it immediately started running hot. It crashes before I can even log in, so I'm not able to use HDDlife.


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## HCD (Oct 29, 2007)

That sounds like you have a problem with the CPU. Overheating stems from dust build up or heatsink issue. Clearing dust from inside the laptop involves good knowledge and a fair bit of dexterity with Sonys. Resolving heatsink issue requires a good level of technical knowledge... I'm assuming it's a couple of years old....may well be worth a trip to qualified technician


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## Daveli (Aug 20, 2010)

It's only like a year old, but I'm guessing since i haven't been shutting it off properly and it has been running constantly, it's taken its toll. So you think I might have to clean off the cpu or its a problem with the heatsink?


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## HCD (Oct 29, 2007)

Yes, that has been the problem with the last 3 sonys I've dealt with. If its only a year old, you should talk to the retailer you bought it from and indeed Sony. No matter how long you've had it on....shouldn't be the issue. If you have cleaned fan intake, it might be running cooler and it is possible that the heat has caused a problem with the graphics card. are you able to look at CPU temp in BIOS?


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## Daveli (Aug 20, 2010)

I hope it's not a problem with the gpu, it very well might be . I can't check the temp in bios either but I'm gonna guestimate 70-80c. I'm going to open it up and see if I can spot anything.


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## HCD (Oct 29, 2007)

Hold the front page! There is a Firmware issue with your model, where *Sony are aware of overheating issue* and have issued a firmware update . see link for further info....

Sony's direct link also

Hope it helps and sorry for not spotting signs on that one!


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## Daveli (Aug 20, 2010)

Hey I got your message, and I'm just trying to restore the system right now so that I can install the firmware update. I've been trying all day yesterday just to reinstall win7, but it either keeps freezing, doesn't install something correctly or just shows a blank screen. So I tried restoring the system image from a saved image I had on my external and let it run even when the screen froze overnight. I checked this morning and it appears successful even though it just showed a black screen. (guessing it completed and restarted). As soon as I am able to get that bios updated though, I'll be sure to let you know if it works, and thanks a bunch for helping me out! I was sure I was going to eventually have to send it to Sony or somewhere to get it fixed and have to pay like $500, but that last post gave me a sigh of relief!


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## Daveli (Aug 20, 2010)

Ok, so I kinda figured this was going to happen but, I tried like 15 times just to get pass the welcome screen without it freezing, and once I was lucky enough to begin the installation, it froze on me. Now my display wont even come on. So I guess I have no other choice but to send it to Sony. Sheesh, leave it to them to put out a "fix" that inevitably will kill your computer. Either way I'm positive if I was able to install that update I wouldn't have this problem in the first place, and thanks a lot for your help. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere but poorer had I sent in my laptop first thing.


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## HCD (Oct 29, 2007)

I would recommend you that you talk to Sony customer service and ask that they resolve issue for you FOC. They are normally excellent where they acknowledge their system has a problem...and in this case they should get the system working with the frimware upgrade. Certainly in the UK they have done this on at least 2 occasions that I have been party to. Good Luck.


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