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Question

My laptop beeps then shuts off

Feb 29, 2020 3:46PM PST

I'm not sure what's happening. My laptop will randomly start beeping for a bit, then shut off. Some days its fine and wont do this. Others it's not. Recently itll shut off without even making a sound. Not sure what's going on or how to fix it. I've had the laptop for maybe 2 or 3 years. And this has never happened with a laptop I've have before

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Temperature?
Feb 29, 2020 4:25PM PST

How long since you cleaned the dust out with canned air? Have you reapplied new thermal paste?
Tell more details about this PC.
Dafydd.

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Not sure honestly
Feb 29, 2020 4:30PM PST

To be honest, never. It's a Sager laptop and I've never thought to clean out the vents. Looking at them now and they look pretty clear. Also not sure how i would properly clean them to be perfectly honest. Not even sure I know how to crack open the laptop without damaging it to apply paste. I could show photos or what the vents look like if that helps.

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OK.
Feb 29, 2020 4:35PM PST
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Here ya go
Feb 29, 2020 5:29PM PST
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Answer
I see a few things in the Speccy.
Feb 29, 2020 9:21PM PST

1. The report was on battery power so if this beeping is on battery then at 2 or so years you do find battery issues. Test? Swap in a new battery and see the complaint stops. DO NOT engage in discussions about how to test batteries. Too costly but if the client insists, arrange for time with the engineers and warn it's costly (here it is 150USD per hour.)

2. The HDD looks awful. Values 01 and 07 look way off the mark and the owner usually complains of random to long boot or other times. Again, these are replaced. Always suggest a move to SSD drives.

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Alright I'll see if I can find a replacement battery
Mar 1, 2020 2:45AM PST

Hopefully the issue is as simple as this. Gonna see if I can actually find one in a local Best Buy or something.

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Before buying a new battery . . .
Mar 1, 2020 6:03AM PST

Try running it on the charger for a while. If it'll run with the battery removed and plugged into the charger, that may prove something. And finding a battery for it at BB will be fruitless. You'll need to go online. Don't ask me how I know.

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Never thought about that...
Mar 1, 2020 6:27AM PST

Never thought to try using it without the battery and using just the straight power cord. Is that dangerous to the laptop at all?
FYI I do use it's original power cord if that info helps.
Only other thing I can imagine being dangerous for it is since it lays on a flat surface idk maybe something accidently touching the exposed battery connectors? Or accidently unplugging it while it's running (which actually wouldnt be a problem since it doesnt leave the house).
Also I believe you lol. I tried looking up batteries already and couldnt really find any replacement compatible lithium batteries for it that came from a credible source at least. Only ones were pretty much were easily foldable were from companies that are commercially well known lile HP, DELL, etc.

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Not dangerous....
Mar 1, 2020 7:32AM PST

.....unless you don't have a surge power supply connected and there is a power spike on the outlet where you plug it in. I have run numerous laptops without a battery, directly plugged in. Never had a problem doing so.

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I'll try it out
Mar 1, 2020 12:08PM PST

I'll test it and see how it goes and then update you guys with the results if it's been working or not lol thanks

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Tried and still beeps
Mar 2, 2020 7:15AM PST

So I tried it out today. Running the laptop only on the cord with no battery in. And after about 5-10 minutes the beeping started.

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THAT
Mar 2, 2020 10:19AM PST

That is a classic signal of overheating.

Tell us again about cleaning, new compound and how you know the cooling system is like new.

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I dont
Mar 2, 2020 12:43PM PST

I havent cleaned it. I know nothing about cleaning it. I haven't replaced or put anything "new" in it. It's a laptop. I've never once bothered to crack it open. Anything of the such is Greek to me.

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This is when
Mar 2, 2020 1:33PM PST

You choose to learn about such or use the repair system you used before.

The symptoms are exactly what a laptop should do if it is not taken care of over time. That is, a lot of folk don't know about canned air, use and end up at the repair counter.

For those that do want to learn, there are plenty of YouTubes on the work.

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Okay...
Mar 2, 2020 1:35PM PST

So what kind of videos should I look at specifically for this kind of problem then?

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Sorry but no.
Mar 2, 2020 1:54PM PST

You are not looking for videos on this kind of problem. You are going for videos such as:
1. How to use canned air on my laptop?
2. How to clean a laptop's heatsink?
3. How to replace heatsink compound in my laptop?

These videos are plentiful and found with Google or the search on YouTube. Since some like others better than my choices I no longer give links to said videos. Just write how to find them.

Remember that not everyone is comfortable with working on their laptop. Some won't replace a bad or slow fan. Those folk use service systems (repair counters.)

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PS. Some will ask "Will this definitely fix it?"
Mar 2, 2020 2:25PM PST

The answer is maybe. What will definitely fix it is a motherboard and new battery as both are suspect and the client may be demanding it gets fixed in one service call.

Most understand that you want to try the cheap and likely to fix it methods first. But then again you get all sorts at the repair counter and on calls.

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As to run without a battery.
Mar 1, 2020 10:31AM PST

Yes, you could try that but why not plug it in as-is?

My observation is from your Speccy report so that's how I call this out. YOU have to tell me more to refine my ideas. That is you could have come back with "OH! My mistake. I usually am plugged in." Or something else.

A lot of batteries show issues after a few years. Your story matches some of them. NO NEED to remove the battery for the test. Just plug it in.

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Happens no matter what
Mar 1, 2020 12:10PM PST

Doesnt matter if it's the cord is plugged in or not. I'm not sure what other details you're asking for to be "refined"

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That does change my answer.
Mar 1, 2020 1:44PM PST

1. It does this on battery and plugged in. So it's now unlikely to be anything here.
2. The HDD is still awful. At the shop we would call it and never accept it for repair unless that bad drive was going to be replaced. Why? Because the client always comes back with complaints that we know are due to the failing HDD. The HDD has not failed according to the maker but the more you run into this, you will call it failed. Is this causing your top issue? Don't know. Would have to change this PLUS.
3. You mention it has not been opened, cleaned and new heatsink compound installed. This would get done. There are far too many YouTubes about this work and the cost of doing it yourself runs well under 20 bucks even if we have to buy a screwdriver, canned air and compound.