computer shuts down unintentionally

Hello,
I have tried lately to format the harddrive c:\
and thereby erase all data on the computer. However it seems impossible since my computer shuts down whenever it is in the process of formatting and is just about to start the erasing part.

Any ideas on what to do?
Have run several Registry Booster scans and deleted all kinds of junk. Am running ZoneAlarm as well, and there is no virus/malware on the computer (so it seems).

How can i get around formatting the machine without it shutting down? I have experienced the same thing, when having Windows running and in a document. All of a sudden it could decide to leave me hanging.

Am running the following:
A dell Laptop M20
Intel Pen M
processor 2 Ghz
2 gb RAM

Win XP, service pack 2

can somebody be of assistance?? THANKS MUCH

 

I dont believe what you are trying to do has any bearing on the machine shutting down, i believe it is heat [thermal shut down]. Are you laying it on a pillow or bed where it cant get any air? Is this pc new to you? ed

 

Well, it is standing in a proper position, in a docking station.

For the time being there are no problems working on windows and everything. It can operate all night long with no hesitation.

However right now, when ever I try to boot from my Re-installation CD of Win XP, that came with DELL, it shuts down, when it reaches the DELETE/FORMAT PROCESS..

Happens constantly. Even when booting it up in the morning (where it hasnt been on during the night). Same thing happens. Total shutdown. Does that sound like heat to you??

I dont know - im not the expert, but to me it sounds unlikely.


THX

 

I can tell you that this is not normal, thermal shut down can happen as quick as 5 seconds or 5 hours. Can you hear the fans come on as it boots up? I will say again, i dont believe your disc has any bearing, could be wrong, have been before. Some bios's have a pc health section where you can watch temps, see if yours has this. ed

 

Just another thought, is your bios, password protected? ed

 

hi again,
when the computer turns on, I hear the fan coming on too.
Have entered the bios, where I found a certain diagnostics tool, where I ran several system checks. EVerything came out as PASSED!

Hardware Diagnostics:
System Shuts down unexpectedly, ran
- Left Battery Bag (bat charger test)
- Batter communication test
- AC Adapter info Test (power 90W)
- CPU Thermistor - sensor range Test
- CPU Thermistor - sensor range Test
- Other Thermistor - sensor range Test
- Other Thermistor - sensor range Test

- Processor fan (on/off test)
Setting fan speed: ON HIGH
Detected fan RPM: 3966
Detected fan RPM: 4031
Setting fan speed: ON LOW
Detected fan RPM: 2387
Detected fan RPM: 2410
Setting fan speed: OFF
Detected fan RPM: 0
Detected fan RPM: 0

TEST RESULT: PASSED!

when you ask whether the BIOS is password proctected, I can tell you that I can enter it without any codes.


any ideas???

 

one more thing:
have checked all of the above, used the computer for some mail sendings etc.
then decided to try the formatting process again: and as soon as I entered the deleting part, the comp shutted down.

It is rather ominous that it happens every time I try to format. How can I then do it???

 

still no idea from all you experts??
am in great dispair here with this computer.

please assist.

 

Have you looked through the Dell forum? http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/?category.id=Tech_Talk
Have you searched on the site for support? http://support.dell.com/

 

I am in the middle of this. Techies tell me I have to send it in and get a new motherboard.

Don't know if that's true or not but but it has to be hardware as a fresh format isn't going to just shut down in the middle of this. They sent me a new hard drive which I connected and loaded windows, same occurence so they tell me my motherboard is bad.

We did have a lightning storm a couple weeks ago...

 

Better Check Internal Power Supply.....

 

I have a similar problem, only mine happened after I uninstalled and reinstalled Easy Cd Creator, would not boot up at all so I used another drive and installed windows xp it worked. So I wanted to continue and try to repair the other drive and got cute by trying to access a previous registry. When I realized I could not choose what hard drive I tried to exit out, using x, boy was that a mistake, should have ctrl+alt+del, anyway the registry from the bad drive was written to the new drive and now it will not boot up so I tried repair format, Seagate tools to zero out, Killdisk, etc......

I should have left well enough alone. I am not convinced this is a power supply problem and I do not want to waste money if it is not! Go figure, my feeling is this is a nasty code or something.

 

I am having a similar issue and would love some help if anyone can figure this out. I can run my computer in safe mode and it's fine. However, if I attempt to boot it up normally, windows will load and then immediately shut itself down and start the process over... and it continues to do that until I manually shut it down. I have run a Micro Trend Housecall scan and it found nothing. So I'm wondering if maybe I have a program that isn't starting properly (and doesn't run when in safe mode) or something and that is causing it... any ideas? Any ideas on what I can do to fix it? I need my printer!! And that doesn't run in safe mode.

 

To OP:
My own laptop once had an unfortunate condition where the fans would always come on when I booted it, except when I booted from a CD. It made installing an OS difficult, to put it mildly.

 

I tried a suggestion from someone else which said to disconnect all my USB devices then formatt and install and IT WORKED! Desktop of course, not sure about a laptop?

 

Really pleased for you that you got yours sorted out 1776blues and certainly something for Help-is-needed-quickly to try. (Mimsy mentioned OP in Mimsy's post - I assume that meant 'original poster' referring to Help-is-needed-quickly who started this thread. Can you confirm Mimsy?

Quick note for 1776blues and AshleyM - if you are seeking help with your own machine rather than offering information about a situation you faced that may help the original poster of a thread to track down the answer to their problem, just start a thread of your own, as I now notice AshleyM has done - takes me a while sometimes to get a post finalised but I think this one is my record at over 24 hours! . Has two advantages doing this, keeps the problems separated because although your situation may sound the same, it could be a completely different cause and it helps to keep things from getting confusing, and another really good reason to start your own thread is that more people will notice that you need help as well, rather than overlook your post in someone else's thread.

To Help-is-needed-quickly again, you have a laptop obviously, since you mention a docking station. Does this problem occur whether or not it's in the docking station? Have you checked ALL cables are plugged in properly? I doubt loose cables is the cause of your problem but formatting may pull more power which could cause trouble if the power cable isn't in properly. I have no thoughts about why in or out of the docking station or using battery or mains power could be involved apart from the reason I already gave but it's worth checking.

Have you any idea how many fans are in your computer and whether they are all coming on? Some computers will shut down if a vital fan stops working but that would be every time you try to start and if you can use it for extended periods of time that's unlikely, too.

Have you made any further progress or narrowed down the problem or causes?