Crashing Toshiba Laptop

[t_revz]

hey guys just seeking advice as to where the problem may be with the missus laptop which crashes often. its a Toshiba Dynabook bought in Japan running Japanese Vista

one day out of the blue about 6 weeks ago it just randomly restarted while using it and continued to do so every 30 min or so. when its cold it restarts after 2 min then 3 then 4 etc.

i ran prime 95 torture test and ran fine when cold for 30 mins before i stopped it. missus uses video hosting sites all the time and it barely plays up while downloading but all other sites kill it.

in safemode with network it never fails.

not sure if it could be a virus,hardware fault or something else. any ideas as to what i can disable to try or programs to run and find the problem would be appreciated.

i know the sound is disabled in safemode but what else. being in japanese i kinda fumble around but can only read 10-20%

[MBS206]

Change the settings to tell it to pause on a BSOD, then google the error code.

[Madaz]

Bite the bullet and put oem Windows 7 on it and profit

[t_revz]

Change the settings to tell it to pause on a BSOD, then google the error code.

fumbled through and did this...but it still crashes and no blue screen...

[Madaz]

i cant remember where but you go somewhere and actually view error reports from within windows

[t_revz]

found the log and heaps of error 10. when googling someone suggested uninstall usb drivers and let it reinstall but same same. disabled sound and still same. also heaps of 4609 errors but unsure what they mean

[Madaz]

this is what i would do its not worth your time mucking around with if forever

1) backup all important data

2) format

3) make partitions if they haven't already been done 50gb for windows drive the rest for game and media

4) find windows 7 chuck it on

5) profit

[*LOACH*]

If you need any help with the Japanese or stuff over here let me know.

If you dont want to stick Win 7 on as others have suggested due to money reasons you could stick WinXP on for free as per this

. Could be a more stable option than Vista anyway. As you have already payed for the licence for Vista and just want to reinstall an older Windows OS I wouldnt consider there to be a moral obligation to pay for it. I am sure others will disagree but yeah do what you feel is right. Edited May 31, 2011 by *LOACH*

[oweban]

If you know someone with a Uni email addy:

www.itsnotcheating.com.au

$50 for Win 7 Home Pro, can get x64. Don't bother paying for the disc too, just download the ISO and burn, voila. Do it as a fresh install though.

[t_revz]

cheers guys, will see what win 7 is worth then decide if i go xp pro(which i have) or upgrade to 7. we were only thinking last night it started about the same time we rented the movie "predators". on my xbox which is in the theatre room there was no voices only action noise. on my desktop pc there was sound but the picture was scrambled however it worked on this pc as the zone on dvd was changed a while ago. not sure if that was the cause or not as its been carrying on for a whie now and cant remember.

thanks again guys

[Madaz]

yeah i cant recommended windows 7 enough

its faster most drivers are packaged with it and the search the net for a driver actually works, looking for lost files is 1000% easier and you normally find the file your after

the search bar is smarter im sure there are some good you tubes as to why windows 7 is better than the previous

[t_revz]

yeah i cant recommended windows 7 enough

its faster most drivers are packaged with it and the search the net for a driver actually works, looking for lost files is 1000% easier and you normally find the file your after

the search bar is smarter im sure there are some good you tubes as to why windows 7 is better than the previous

my only concern is that it could still be a hardware fault therefore win 7 will leave me in the same situation.

[Madaz]

yeah possibly, only way to test hardware is swap out the ram for another stick, you also say it wasn't happening till watching a dvd or something

[t_revz]

will just keep disabling stuff to i get an answer either way

[*LOACH*]

If you suspect hardware but arent sure and want to troubleshoot first of all maybe try a linux distro. Get one that runs from a memory stick so you dont have to touch your current Windows install. That will help tell if its hardware or Windows that is stuffed.

Edited June 1, 2011 by *LOACH*

[Madaz]

only works if you have a good idea of linux

[*LOACH*]

only works if you have a good idea of linux

Should be pretty straightforward.

Install Ubuntu to memory stick from here http://www.ubuntu.co...ubuntu/download

Turn computer on.

If computer crashes within the timeframe and using the websites/programs he was normally expecting problems then its probably hardware, if not then its probably Windows.

Edited June 1, 2011 by *LOACH*

[Madaz]

Ah yeah if that's all your doing then easy good idea too

[*LOACH*]

Ah yeah if that's all your doing then easy good idea too

Thanks

[t_revz]

thanks for the help guys. will try after dinner!!

you guys were up early!