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General discussion

Computer Shuts Down for no reason

Dec 4, 2003 5:09PM PST

I have a HP zt1130 laptop and it was shutting down for no reason. It did not freeze or shut down windows xp, but simply powered down as if the computer had lost all its power. I checked the battery and it will still turn on with the battery or with the power cord, but the problem remained the same.
I thought it may have been a virus problem so I saved my important materials and then inserted the boot disk and started the computer. When asked to remove all files I selected "yes" and the bootdisk will start working, but after about five minutes the computer shuts down just like it did before. Any suggestions? Electrical problem? How, where or how much it should cost to fix? Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Re:Computer Shuts Down for no reason
Dec 6, 2003 8:01PM PST

it possibly could be the power management settings on the computer. however, if you did what i think you did, your hard drive is now empty and there is nothing on it. you had best call HP support and see what you did and how to recover.

Herb...

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Re:Computer Shuts Down for no reason
Dec 12, 2003 11:16PM PST

Wierd. I had a Compaq laptop do the same thing. Have you run this laptop plugged in for most of its life? I worked and worked on getting this problem resolved. I just left it alone for a day off and unplugged. I turned it on and all was good. Someone tried to explain some electrical voodoo in the power supply and electrical circuitry. Wouldn't hurt.
Bill

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Compaq Computer Shuts Down for no reason
Jan 17, 2005 6:07AM PST

My Compaq laptop started doing the same thing today. Sometimes it will power up but only for a few minutes. Other times the power button just blinks green at me if I try to start up. I've run the laptop plugged in most of its life. When I bought the computer I was told (incorrectly) that the battery didn't have a memory and would be fine if I kept it plugged in while at my desk.... now my battery doesn't work!

If anyone has figured out what to do about this shutting down for no reason as if the power has been lost problem, can you please let me know? It would be appreciated. Thanks!

-Megan

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Computer shuts down
Jan 19, 2005 6:18AM PST

I have an Avertec that is under 1 yr old and I have been having the same issue, from what Ive found out it is the computer over heating.
We also have a Toshiba that when we turn it off it wont turn back on until it cools down, we stick it in front of a fan for a while.

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mine too
May 7, 2005 3:51AM PDT

I have a zt1130 and it does the same thing. I think it is a power supply issue. I bought the laptp from a friend and when I got it the battery was dead. I figured no biggie. I only paid $200 and I can get a new one for $80-100 when I need it. Until then I will use AC adapter. Unfortunately the thing doesn't even overheat but sporadically shuts itself off. When this happens the AC power indicator light goes out and the only way to boot back up is to unplug the power cable, replug it, and boot. There is a huge thread on HP's site but they aren't helping anyone. I emailed tech support and they didn't even listen to the symptoms I gave. The person who replied sounded like they were going from a script and didn't take into account what I already tried. They basically want you to buy a bunch of new parts but they will not address the fact that the laptop does not need to be hot for this to heppen and the fact that the power cord needs to be unplugged before you can power up again. I told them as much and that this same thing happened to me with a desktop I had built in the past. The PSU was junk and once i swapped it there were no more problems. After I told HP that, they sent me an email stating that I was probably right, thanks for figuring it out and I still need to buy a new battery. I don't buy it. They wouldn't take it back to fix because the warranty is expired. This is too bad because everyone else on their forum that did the (expensive) fixes recommended by HP still have the problem. I guess the only solution is to learn from our mistakes and not buy crap HP laptops anymore.

Oh yeah, and in their forum if you mention your lack of useful help from HP and try to get some from the people on the forum they will delete your post for making them look bad.