Laptop starts, then shuts off.

[DrAdam]

This problem might take a bit of describing, but I haven't yet found anybody detailing the exact issues I'm having here.

My Laptop (HP Pavilion dv7) has had a long, rough life, and I recently replaced the screen, power supply and battery. Apart from having to reseat the hard-drive and plug in some wire that connected it to the motherboard - it had come loose - it all looked fine internally to me (although, that said, I'm not the most knowledgeable on what a completely functional computer looks like internally.)

However, after it worked completely fine for two weeks or so, the laptop just cut out. I'd been using it for about 2 hours, and was In-game, so I assumed it was a thermal shutdown, seeing as my fan's awful. I came back about an hour later and switched it on, and was surprised to see the option to boot in safe mode, thus implying the thing had just crashed. I booted normally, and managed to log in. About 10 minutes after logging in, it did the same thing again, shutting off abruptly. I tried powering on again immediately, and this time it only got to the windows logo before shutting off. I went straight for the power button a third time, the fan started whirring, but it didn't even display anything on screen without cutting out. The fourth was a similar situation, but it seemed to stay powered on for a shorter duration every time.

This morning I tried powering on again, it got to the windows logo, and cut off. That's the latest condition update I have of the laptop. Does anybody have any idea what the problem might be? Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[popatim]

I'd start by replacing that horrible fan you mentioned. And while in here you might as well re-apply thermal paste to the cooler.

 

[okrobie]

I have a similar problem. The first thing I did was go through the stickie at the header of this laptop forum: Troubleshooting Power Issues with Your Laptop

I'm slowly and reluctantly coming to the conclusion that my motherboard is dead. The vendors on eBay who repair motherboards tell me that the most common problem with these boards is the overheating of the video chip. When they repair them they put in extra copper shims to conduct away the heat and add extra thermal goop to the chip. I'm trying to get a referral to a reliable motherboard repair shop right now. Good luck with your problem. Jim