Dell Inspiron Constantly Turning Itself Off!!! Help Please!

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beforenightfalls

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Master Geek

Topic # 25858 3-Sep-2008 20:37

we've had a dell inspiron laptop for about a year. it had a new battery a few months ago. it used to turn itself off about once a day but now its all the time! it will turn itself off in the middle of something whether it be browsing the net, playing itunes, writing an essay, if you've popped away for a minute. i have a feeling it may be because the charger is really hot but i'm not sure. it has an external hard-drive plugged into it thats always on at the same time and currently a telecom t-stick thats brand new.

any ideas on what i can do? i spoke to dell customer support and they changed the power saving options to never turn off! it didn't work.

we want to use itunes on this computer to play at our wedding but don't want it turning off every half hour or so!!!

nate

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Reply # 161983 3-Sep-2008 21:58

I had this problem with my Dell. It would turn itself off as it would overheat.

Two things you can do:

Check the BIOS and see what setting the threshold temperature is set to for the machine to turn off. Do some research on the internet and find out what the best setting is (setting this too high will burn out your CPU).
Raise your laptop up on books so that there is plenty of air to circulate under it

psychrn

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Reply # 161995 3-Sep-2008 22:59

Yes this sounds like an over heating problem.
We have had our Inspiron 5160 for nigh on 5 years now without any major concern- 1 failed HDD. It probably is a bit noisier compared to other laptops Ive seen.
Turned off x 1 unexpectedly and we think it was heat related.
I suppose checking the airvents are clear, get it serviced?? may be of help

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beforenightfalls

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Master Geek

Reply # 162060 4-Sep-2008 11:05

thanks. i have propped it up on books so maybe that will help. i will check the bios later as power cut here at the mo! cheers.

beforenightfalls

185 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 162143 4-Sep-2008 15:29

i'm not sure quite how to access the bios to see what temp it will shut down at, but i'm sure its right i don't know enough to go changing it! i just wish it would give a warning that its getting hot so you'd have time to save what you're doing! if i'm doing work i have to save constantly to make sure i don't loose any! has anybody heard of a little fan that you plug into your usb port? do you think that would help? or is raising it on books really the cure?! its funny that my external hard-drive rarely gets hot, but the dell feels hot after an hour, the charger after 15mins! would the charger getting hot influence the laptop in turning off?