Laptops issues HELP!!

[bdanner302]

Greetings,

My friend has 2 laptops that both just so happen devolop issues in the same week. They are both Toshiba laptops, about a year old each. I dont have exact spec's or even the model number, but I'll see if you can give me a heads up for when i try to help him tomorow. The one laptop just shuts off randomly. No warning, just dies... and then you press the power button to turn it back on.. it puts up fine... then you go and work on it for a minute or so (random) and it shuts off again. I think thats heat related... i know my hp used to restart randomly until i cleaned out the dust with compressed air. Possible? Better ideas?

The other laptop has months worth of vital information on it. It will no longer boot, i was told over the phone that it says:

C/windows/system32/config/system file corrupt or missing.

the first one is running XP home edition, and the second one i was told is running XP professional.


I only know anything at all about desktops, i built this one... but laptops....i've never really put my hands on one.. so any help would be great.


Thanks,
Danner

[bdanner302]

anyone?

[glc]

Google will get you to the fix for the corrupted system file. The registry is damaged. You need to check the power management settings on the other one.

[Stuey]

The one that shuts off... there may be an overheating issue. I've seen spyware force a laptop processor and ram to run so hard that if you try to do anything else which comsumes more than negligible resources, the system overheats and shuts down.

However, if it's a heat problem, you should hear a fan rev up before the system shuts off. Run a spyware scan just to be safe. Since the system is only a year old, no internal maintanence should be required. As glc suggested, the power settings might also be at fault.

For the one that won't boot up... One of the possible causes is doing a forced powerdown as the OS was preparing to shut down. If the OS was modifying or saving your configuration file while power was removed, the file is lost.

I'm not sure about how to repair the system to previous conditions, but if you reinstall or repair Windows, you still have access to all of the files. As for the programs, I don't know whether they are typically still 100% functional. At the very least, you can reinstall windows and transfer/save the personal files. Best case scenario is if it's possible that the program settings, start menu settings, quick launch, etc. are restored too, but they might be permanently lost.

You, or your friend will want to be very VERY careful if reinstalling windows is necessary. You don't want to accidently wipe the HD filled with the vital data. Again, glc is right... google will get you to step by step instructions as to how to proceed, but at least now you know relatively what's got to be done.