So, this is like the forth time my Compaq Armada M700 has messed up... but what do you expect from an -old- computer?
So, this time it's to do with it just randomly dying...
Sometimes I turn my computer on and then I have it running for a few minutes and then it dies, other times when I'm gaming.
The first time it happened I thought I had just gotten it too hot and so it shut itself off as self-preservation, so I unplugged it, flipped it over and opened up the bottom to let it cool for five minutes, then put the bottom back on and started it up - worked fine after five minutes.
But ever since then it has a tendency to just randomly shut off if I try to use it for more than about an hour and a half where before I could game for several hours at a time.
I do have it raised off of my desk to make sure it doesn't get too hot, but what else can I do?
Anyone have any ideas on what's going on? I can't afford to buy a new laptop yet.

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buy a laptop cooling pad, either your pc is too hot, ram is overclocked or maybe something is dying...

buy a laptop cooling pad, either your pc is too hot, ram is overclocked or maybe something is dying...

My laptop does have a fan... do I still need that?
I think it's the fact that the comp is 7 or 8 years old and has been rebuilt once... Maybe something else is going on... Compaq isn't a great brand anyways.
A friend suggested that it might be the harddrive.

well... with my compaq, (desktop) which is isnt really related, died from a failed mobo only aged a year old.

i think if you have the money, the cooling pad is the way to go

well... on the other hand maybe it is old age, things do tend to die especially if its "years" old

Maybe while you had it opened,you should have give it a good cleaning with -clean-compressed air.
Sounds like the CPU is getting hot,due to dirt/dust buildup maybe?
You may need to disassemble,clean, and reseat the CPU/heatsink and clean the fan(s).Those things get plenty hot with gaming especially.There are many websites that show you how to do this.
Its worth a try to get more hours out it anyways,until you get another one.

koolies if it works, this thread is solved =-D

Thanks for all your help, I'll be sure to check out the cooling pads and clean the fan. I just need to get a couple more years out of this so I have time to save money for a Dell.

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