Laptop Shuts down

[Aiden_1]

So I have a HP Pavilion Dv8000 that I am fixing for a friend. I am cmoputer savy enough to take it all apart and put it back together, but I'm stumped. His computer sometimes shuts down a few minutes to few seconds after staring up. If it makes it like 15 min, in and doesn't fail it wont fail until he starts it up again. It won't make it more than 1min, wiht the battery in. I opened it up and cleaned the fan well, and the temps before it crashes are around 30-45 C. The shut down is like it got unplugged as a desktop. No warning nothing. The heatsink and fan are clean. It won't stay on long enough for a HDD cheak.
The fan is very inconsitant and won't spin all the time just spins well than turns off and than starts spinning again. Any Ideas? Thank You I am running windows XP

[JorgeM]

Are you sure its not an overheating problem? you mention that the fan is inconsistent...maybe it stays powered on because during that time, the fan is working, but then other times, it stops, then overheats and when you try to start it up again, it doesnt stay powered very long.

If its not an overheating thing, then I'd continue to investigate power. If you unplug the battery and connect the device via AC power does it every turn off spontaneously?

Could it be that the battery is not recharging very much and when you plug it via AC, the cable connection is loose and when the cable is moved slightly, starts to draw battery power, but since the battery is not working properly shuts off after a min or so?

If you can find a repeatable pattern, it would be easier to locate the problem.

[Aiden_1]

I am not sure it is not a fan problem but once it gets past the first 15min. It is good to go for as long as you want. It runs equaly bad or good with the battery in it or not in it.

[Rik_]

Sounds like it has been cooked in the past. If you know how to do it, re-flowing the chipset might cure the problem.