Techafobes: Save me from my Laptop (help, please)

[Fierce_LiNk]

I came home from a nightout, and wanted to check my facebook. I turned on my laptop, and about 5 minutes in, I heard a highpitched sound, which sounded a little like the tune played by the dueling Spaceship and keyboard at Close Encounters of the Third Kind at the end. Its a sound that lasts for about 3-5 seconds, and then my laptop shuts down.

 

I booted back up, and it does the same thing.

 

I waited til the next morning before examining my computer, and when I end some processes, I manage to get the system to last longer each time, but inevitably the system will die. When I try to run a virus scan, my systems performance graph goes off the scale, then I get the sound of doom, and then the crash.

 

Here is what I think some of the problems might be, but I need your help in telling me if I'm on the right lines or not:

 

1. My RAM is fucked? Just running a virus scan will send the computer over the edge, and then sound of doom, then shutdown.

 

2. Virus?

 

3. Laptop over-heating?

 

 

Any suggestions? Right now, my CPU usage is at barely 2%, so maybe things are ok for now?

 

More importantly, help me the fuck out.

[Guest Jordan]

A highpitched sound?

Generally that'd be the HDD, if not always. Nothing else on the computer apart from the motherboard has parts capable of making sounds... you know unless it came from the speakers.

 

If its the HDD, you'll probably have to replace it.

[Fierce_LiNk]

If any of you guys have a laptop, let the battery run down for a while. When the battery is running low, the laptop will usually make a sound to tell you. Its like a short beeping noise every few seconds.

 

This was kinda like that, but faster, and slightly louder.

[McPhee]

Mine does that if it overheats, is it still busted?

[Konfucius]

A friend of mine also had the problem that his laptop shut down all the time. Turned out it was a faulty mainboard.

 

Try to make out where the sound comes from. I think Jordan could be on the right track with the HDD. Normally when the HDD is faulty it has to read sectors multiple times (I think) and that takes up all the resources.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Mine does that if it overheats, is it still busted?

 

Does it make a strange sound for a few seconds, like a ringtone? Then it shuts down?

 

It does get pretty damn hot, so I'm thinking maybe my fan is busted?

 

Konfucius: I hope it isn't the mainboard. I've got my system processes/resources graph open, and when the computer shut down last night, the last reading I got was not even at 25%. So, I'm kinda hoping it is the fan.

[McPhee]

I doubt its the motherboard, the computer does run sometimes, right?

 

Im not sure what noise mine made, it's been confined to a desk for the last year so it's had little chance to overheat. I might wrap it in a towel and see tomorrow

[Colin]

I'm personally guessing something like this is the problem.

 

 

That's my old notebook, and some of you may remember I posted some pics up over a year ago showing this. All that crap came out of the fan supplying air to the CPU. I also had a highpitched screeching sort of sound before I opened it up and fixed the problem. My notebook was a Toshiba for reference.

 

How long have you had the laptop, and do you tend to use it while in bed or have it sitting on carpet..........if so, then I'd be fairly sure that is the problem. If I can dig it out later, I have a link that provides instructions for certain lappys and how to dismantle them..........but if that is the problem, then it simply should be a case of just removing the keyboard and then you'll have access to the fan.

 

I used a combination of tweezers, compressed air and a hoover suction thing to sort it out.

 

Post back up though as to how long you've had it, and how you use it with where it's resting, as taking them to bits can be really frustrating with a worry of breaking parts.

[Emasher]

I'm 95% sure this isn't the same problem but once I tried to restart my laptop as my sister did something to it that made it freeze up, but at the moment of shut down, it made a high pitched noise and the sleep light blinked rapidly for about a second, which scared the heck out of me.

 

To this day I'm pretty sure it was because I never got the chance to eject my external hard drives, as I did a force restart, but there is the slightest chance these problems are related in someway so I just thought I'd mention it.