Member Avatar for DearPrudence

I have a Toshiba laptop that I bought back in 2005. I haven't really used it in the past year and a half because it shuts off within 20 seconds or less.

The battery will no longer hold a charge, but even when it's plugged into the wall it still shuts off. Today I just took the battery out and plugged it into the wall. It ran for about 2 hours (amazing!) and got my hopes up that I had figured out the problem, but it eventually shut off. Now it's back to shutting off within a few minutes.

The jack in the back that you plug the power cord in is also loose. You have to prop the cord up in just the right position for it to notice that it's plugged in. The cord doesn't fall out completely, it just is very wiggly in there.

Any ideas on what's wrong with it or how I can fix it myself? I'm broke and can't afford to take it to someone, really.

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Member Avatar for bobbyraw

most laptop have a built in power protection , if the battery is no charge it will not stay on with only the power to the wall. as for the loose power connection, you have to get that fix, this can cause severe damage to the pc, and kill the power source. try to leave the off and charge the battery up until the indicator show green for the battery, when you get it to boot go into power setting in control poanel and change the setting to a desk top pc, ( no power save)

Member Avatar for johnk57

Yes this problem can be easily fixed if you know how to solder. Most of the jacks for the Toshibas can be found on ebay. If your mechanical skills are modrate and you are careful you can save a lot of money doing this repair. You might also look at the heat pipe for the CPU. The white heatsink paste could be dried out. this you can buy at Radioshack.

Member Avatar for johnk57

the battery could be shot, but the power connector is the main problem. Many manufactures
put the power connector in the rear where it can be broken easily. HP, IBM, Toshiba are but a few. If you take it in most places will charge you an hour to tell you what you already know. There are places that advertise on this site that the repair for a broken power jack is $125.00 plus shipping and handling. Depending upon the computer the the power jacks cost any where from $5.00 to $40.00 plus shipping ( retail ).

Notebooks can be difficult. The biggest thing to remember is to take it slow and easy when disassembling. If your mechanical skills are very good and you know how to solder you can replace the power jack without too many issues.

Member Avatar for clemmie.moore

Hello,
I got my toshiba in 2009 and I was told it was the top of the line, but i am having problems with it just shutting off without notice and it gets so hot you can't hold it in you lap. Truth is I have never been able to hold it in my lap because it get so hot it will burn you. I recently bought a new battery and it charges well. However, it has stopped excepting my login password and a message pops up something about service something has failed. I really need my laptop for school work and no money to put it in the shop.Please help me anyone.

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