Member Avatar for Ryan_18

Hi

I know this may have been posted on here before, and if it has I am sorry!

Anyway, have discovered this evening that my laptop has started suddenly shutting down. The first time it happened I was browsing the web and it had been on for 40-45 mins when it suddenly turned off within a seconds with a high pitched squeal/ pew sound. I then turned it back on, and the same thing happened almost immediately. After leaving it a few minutes I tried again, only to find that once I had logged in the same thing happened.

The laptop is about 6 years old. It was made by Toshiba and has the 1st gen Intel core i3 processor. About a year and a bit ago it had a replacement battery fitted, and it recently had the free Windows 10 upgrade.

Would I be correct in saying that it is overheating?? Someone said to me the other week that it felt hot around the fan vent, though it has always been relatively warm around that area so I didn't take much notice. The fan has been noticeable from new and I don't remember really noticing it that much tonight, so could that be the culprit?

Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Ryan

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by hasan_6

Dani AI

Generated

A brief diagnostic primer tied to the thread

The sudden, immediate power-off with a sharp high‑pitched squeal reported by most often points to hardware or power‑delivery trouble rather than a simple Windows setting. , and made sensible early points about cooling and component checks; the next steps should systematically separate OS/driver issues from failing parts and protect any important data.

A compact, non‑invasive sequence to narrow the fault:

  • Determine whether the laptop dies before the operating system loads (power cycle into BIOS/UEFI). Failure before or in BIOS strongly implies low‑level power or board failure; failure only after login leans toward drivers, thermal load, or failing peripherals.
  • Check Windows logs and enable crash dumps so the next event records useful diagnostics. Helpful quick commands from an elevated prompt:
    eventvwr.msc
powercfg /batteryreport
mdsched.exe
wmic diskdrive get status

    The battery report saves an HTML file in the user folder; Memory Diagnostic runs on reboot; WMIC returns basic SMART status.

If software logs look clean, try a clean OS environment: boot a Linux live USB and run for a short period. Continued shutdowns outside Windows point at hardware (power board, sensors, capacitors, DC jack, etc.). The audible high‑pitch often comes from power electronics (coil noise) or speaker/amplifier artifacts—record the sound and note whether the unit dies instantly or after a short load.

Urgent practical notes: back up data before further testing. Avoid prolonged stress tests on a machine that is already failing. If diagnostics point to disk/ram/S.M.A.R.T. failures, replace that component; if the unit dies in BIOS or shows power circuitry symptoms, professional repair or replacement should be weighed against the laptop’s age and value.

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

I got you beat. My oldest laptop in the quarry is the 2006 Dell Inspiron E1505 which started with a failed HDD. So for 30 bucks we put in the 120GB SSD. Now it did take W10 so we did that. With just 1GB RAM it would boot in 45 seconds and we found a 2GB upgrade. How about 33 seconds from power on (not sleeping) and getting a google search result?

OK, your machine is old enough to need the usual canned air cleaning plus fresh heatsink compound. At that age the compound can dry and crack. When you do this work you can check if the fan is seized up.

Edited by rproffitt because: Spelling
Member Avatar for PcTestCard.com

Yes, I would suggest check the laptop temperature first.

Reseat the HDD and RAM.
Also a simple discharge may help:

  1. remove the power adapter
  2. remove battery
  3. pressing the laptop power button over 15 seconds
  4. connec only power adapter, power on.

If working, power off, install the battery back.
Hope this helps.
Bill

Member Avatar for hasan_6

i think it is have problem with your processor fan or with your graphic card

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