Help Fast

[Jeff Bolton]

ok, i need a serious answer quick on this. i didn't know where else to put this so i put it in here. my roomie has an HP notebook w/athlon 1 ghz, 256 megs ram, 20 gig hdd, 8 megs video. he uses it for everything (including gaming) here at school. it gets really hot and will sporadically shut down at least 6 times a day or more when it gets warm. its getting on his nerves severely. however, this last time when it shut itself off, on startup his resolution went back to 640x480 (from 1024x768) and 16 colors (from 32 bit). also, his wireless trackball mouse won't work so he's having to use the crappy little pad on the laptop itself. i thought it could have been the video drivers but that wouldn't explain the mouse. oh yeah, one more piece of pertinent info...he's running the virus winME. any clues would be appreciated

thanks,

jeff

[Jeff Bolton]

ok new development...the touchpad mouse won't work now either....

jeff

[Dark Illusion]

Well you said HP notebook. That's the problem right there=) Generally without some kind of cooling these things are bound to overheat after a while. Sooner or later something is going to blow. I bet something went wrong during those too many overheating sessions. Given..no laptop is too great when it comes to reliability. I would exchange it if its still under warranty.

[Dark Illusion]

Oh, my two year old laptop from dell likes to work when it feels like it. Sometimes it says OS not found. Sometimes screen poops out. If I don't have a fan blowing over it and ventilation at the bottom the screen flashes. The LCD screen is incorrectly lit. Too bright around the edges and too dim in the middle. I just keep it around cuz she's my baby=) You get attached=)

[Jeff Bolton]

in safe mode he can use the touchpad mouse but can't use the network. he wants to send all his files to my comp and fdisk his hdd and install 2000. wondering if his 3 year warrenty would be voided if he installed 2000

jeff

[minoukat]

Is the fan working correctly ? As other have said, it's probably an overheating issue that's causing all of this.

[Jeff Bolton]

it makes a rattling noise that it didn't used to make. it didn't always cut off like it does. he says he thinks it didn't start rattling till the computer started all of its cutting off business. he's severely peeved..and i would be too.

later

jeff

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

Sounds to me like the cpu and or the hdd is "iffy". Can you get into the case and check if it (the cpu) has thermal tape, or grease going bad? sometimes it is a simple task of replacing the thermal compound, check your manufacturer's website for a knowledge base article, and it might help to check MS's KB as well.
I don't remember if "direct cable connection" will work in safe mode, but if you can get that far, all you will need is a "modem cable" for your paralell port to transfer all your important data to any other win98 or higher pc.
Also most tasks you need to do with a mouse can be done by keyboard...although it is a pain.
Hope this helps