# Solved: Toshiba laptop randomly reboots



## scourgie (Jan 11, 2012)

Recently my Toshiba Satellite ( model L675
d-S7016, p/n PSK3JU-00W001), with other info below, began to randomly reboot. Maybe once or twice a day - has never happened while I was using. Battery indicates full charge and working from AC. This is independent of Windows updates that force the laptop to reboot. I can't find where on toshiba website to get actual help, so here I am.

Thank you for any help or insight you are able to provide.

Info:
Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.2
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, Service Pack 1, 64 bit
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) II P320 Dual-Core Processor, AMD64 Family 16 Model 6 Stepping 3
Processor Count: 2
RAM: 3835 Mb
Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 Series, 256 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 465163 MB, Free - 375066 MB;
Motherboard: TOSHIBA, NALAE
Antivirus: Microsoft Security Essentials, Updated and Enabled


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Control Panel - System - Advanced system settings - Startup and Recovery Settings... - put a check mark for 'Write an event to the system log' and no check mark for 'Automatically restart.'

That should give you some hints (error messages) to investigate. If it still reboots I'd first suspect the power supply.


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## scourgie (Jan 11, 2012)

Thanks for the information. Write event was already marked and I unchecked auto restart. I took a look at the log and was able to find 2 interesting events:
1- at 1102 "
The previous system shutdown at 9:59:14 AM on &#8206;1/&#8206;9/&#8206;2012 was unexpected."
2- at 1101 "
The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."

How do I confirm power supply issue?


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> How do I confirm power supply issue?


For a desktop the answer is easy (but not free)--replace the power supply. More complicated for a laptop, and I can only make some initial suggestions.

Try with battery only. If you don't get the reboots then probably the "brick" that converts AC to DC is defective.

Try with AC only (battery removed). If you don't get the reboots then probably the battery is defective.

Note that I said "probably" in both cases.

Other common causes--you will now probably (there's that weasel word again) get a blue screen with obscure but important error message--are overheating and memory or hard drive or driver defects.


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## RonK (Apr 29, 2000)

Have you noticed the cooling fan running louder recently ?


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## scourgie (Jan 11, 2012)

thanks for all of the info so far. Of course, since I posted I haven't had a problem. I saved and cleared the event log and have had only one event in it since - log cleared. I am now performing the unplug and see if I get a reboot now...

I have not noticed any difference in fan operation (noise, etc). 

I'll keep updating every few days to a week until something happens or we decide to close this thread.

Thanks again.


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## scourgie (Jan 11, 2012)

1. battery only operation, no problems. the only issue was I accidentally let the battery drain. After reboot I got the same 2 log messages as mentioned above, 1 - unexpected shutdown, and 2- kernal power, unexpected reboot. I would expect these, but they are the same as my symptom.
2. AC only operation, the system crashed while I was using it, again with the same 2 events noted above.

I think it is a reasonable conclusion to draw that I need new AC adapter.

Does anyone else agree?

I have also been corrected by the main user of the computer that fan has been more noisy than usual, though I haven't noticed it. What might this indicate?


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## RonK (Apr 29, 2000)

You should clean the cooling fan and vents with compressed air first to make sure it's not overheating.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

If the laptop is being operated on a soft surface some vents may be blocked causing overheating.


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## scourgie (Jan 11, 2012)

1. Laptop is on a level hard surface (desk)
2. I will get some compressed air and clean
3. I have had 2 instances of power off (since reboot is unchecked) since yesterday with the same event messages as noted above, and I just noticed a third that goes with the issue, it is a Kernel-General message that the OS has restarted.
4. My AC adapter is on its way and should be here by Tuesday. Hopefully be the end of next week I will be comfortable to call the AC adapter the problem and issues solved. I'll let you know.

Thanks again for the help. If it wasn't for the $30 adapter and the potential damage to my hard drive this little exersize would have been fun. That is if you all helped me ID the actual issue...


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Be very careful with compressed air. Especially with a laptop it's difficult to get it opened up enough to make sure you are not doing more harm than good with the air. You don't want to damage the fan nor blow gunk into places where it can do more harm.


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## scourgie (Jan 11, 2012)

OK, I just had my machine shut down while I was using it (I have unchecked reboot in the log section per instructions above). At the time IE had frozen up and I got a message that the site I was on was not responding 'due to a long running script', or something like that. I chose to NOT stop the script. I had about 8 tabs open at the time. System event log shows the same set of errors as usual for this issue. I hope this was coincidental (script locking up IE), any thoughts?

My AC adapter should be here today, and hopefully in a few days we'll be able to close this.


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## RonK (Apr 29, 2000)

Have you done the cleaning yet ?


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## scourgie (Jan 11, 2012)

The replacement AC adapter did not solve my issue. I have not done the cleaning as I am not a mechanical guy and as much as I would like a new laptop, I don't think I'll try to clean myself. I'm going to do some research just to be sure it is beyond my capabilities then probably bring it into a shop. I'll keep you posted.


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## Courtneyc (Dec 7, 2003)

On the Toshiba laptop, the air flows from between the keys to the bottom (i.e., top to bottom). 

To do a quick clearing of the fans with compressed air, first turn the laptop off. Blow short bursts of air in the bottom vents just enough to clear the vents (or better yet, use a barely damp lint-free cloth to wipe the vents). Then blow air between the keys with the laptop right-side up. Turn the laptop on and blow more air over the keys.


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## scourgie (Jan 11, 2012)

Shortly after I finished my how-to research and compiling my list of items needed to clean the laptop the following happened:
1. MS Security Essentials informed me that there was a file that may or may not be a problem and prompted me to clean the machine and send the info to MS, I clicked YES
2. I got about 20 error windows opened with 'write errors' to different strange files
3. A third party scan started (this all happened so quick I'm sketchy on the details)
4. the scan indicated HD spun too slow, HS spun too fast, bad sectors or clusters on HD, RAM temp too high, RAM not reliable.
5. All of my desktop icons disappeared
6. I switched user accounts and it worked for a few minutes then all of those desktop icons dissappeared.
7. I called a local shop and they indicated it was a virus because the HD can't spin at the wrong speed (don't know about that) and RAM doesn't have temp sensor, and he has seen this behaviour a lot recently.

Anyway in the shop now, waiting to hear how big the issue(s) are and what to do to fix. I might end up with a new laptop anyway. So after all of your help we may not ever truly know the root cause although I'm fairly confident the reboots were temp related, but again may never know for sure.

I'll keep you all updated. Thanks.


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## scourgie (Jan 11, 2012)

I was working and couldn't pick up myself, but when I talked to the tech I had multiple viruses. Once removed and restored he claims he ran scan after scan for hours on end and it did not shut down. I have had it running continuously since Monday so far no issues. Please note that while they didn't really want to take it apart to clean (I think it was like $60 an hour), they put air through it to clean a little as standard procedure. Again, we may never know. I'll keep you all updated.


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## scourgie (Jan 11, 2012)

Day 8 with no rebooting issues. Unfortunately I don't know if the problem was a dirty computer (the shop cleaned it out with compressed air) or if it was the virus activity. In any case many thanks to everyone who helped me figure out this problem.


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