Laptop Help

Gomez012

Hey guys, I have a Toshiba Satellite A305.
Now this laptop is complete wreck, it's wireless capabilities are down, for instance before I used to catch the connection in the living room but not anymore, it slows down and even shuts off by itself sometimes even though I cleaned it the other by opening it and dusting everything off, it's camera and voice recorder don't work and flashplayer application are slow.
Are all of these problems reparable?

EDIT: I forgot to mention that a metal piece is coming out of the backside of the laptop, under the screen.

Aj_BlaZ

have you tried formatting the hdd and reinstalling windows if no i suggest you do that , sometimes these problems are related to the hdd or the rams

Chup

when it shuts down by itself , my guess is temperature problems ...
my cpu overheated a bunch of times while opening flash applications and the laptop shut down completly
just go to google , download any " cpu thermometer " and open a flash application,
keep an eye on the temperature as the flash app runs , and just wait ... if the laptop shuts down then that's ur problem..
let me kno when u finish testing

Gomez012

@Chlup, I downloaded the cpu thermometer, the temperature didn't go up, but when i opened a flash player application the computer slowed down and eventually turned off.

@Aj_Blaz, no I haven't yet.

Flakk

http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/hwmonitor/1.16-setup.exe
here download this app and tell us the temps.

Gomez012

Flakk wrotehttp://www.cpuid.com/downloads/hwmonitor/1.16-setup.exe
here download this app and tell us the temps.

The temperature of the core?

Chup

print screen when u notice the laptop slowing down

Flakk

Gomez012 wrote
Flakk wrotehttp://www.cpuid.com/downloads/hwmonitor/1.16-setup.exe
here download this app and tell us the temps.
The temperature of the core?

Yes, printscreen the whole thing and report back here.

Gomez012

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u83/musickiller012/Capture2.jpg?t=1283298441

Chup

theeeeere it is
83 degrees core #1
that s waaay too hot
the laptop auto shuts down for safety reasons...
That only happens with flash applications yea ?

Flakk

Ok the HW monitor didnt well detect all of the temperatures needed, but looking at the CPU die Temperature its idling at 83C (one core is only shown, but usually cores are very identical in terms of temps.)
So Basically This is a major overheating problem, since on idle mode the cpu temps are around 80 mark. Under load it would go up to a 100C or more in which the motherboard uses emergency procedures and shuts off the whole system to prevent any further damage.
Or your CPU is not idle mode and is underload (could be an unknown program running secretly in the background) during these temps so when you open a flash app it slows down because already the cpu usage is high.

Is the rear exhaust fan properly working ? Check that out.

I also recommend you to use the toshiba recovery disc (if yours came with one) and reinstall windows from scratch. This will solve the camera, recorder and wireless connectivity problems.

Gomez012

Chup wrotetheeeeere it is
83 degrees core #1
that s waaay too hot
the laptop auto shuts down for safety reasons...
That only happens with flash applications yea ?

A combination of Itunes and flash applications.

Gomez012

Flakk wroteOk the HW monitor didnt well detect all of the temperatures needed, but looking at the CPU die Temperature its idling at 83C (one core is only shown, but usually cores are very identical in terms of temps.)
So Basically This is a major overheating problem, since on idle mode the cpu temps are around 80 mark. Under load it would go up to a 100C or more in which the motherboard uses emergency procedures and shuts off the whole system to prevent any further damage.
Or your CPU is not idle mode and is underload (could be an unknown program running secretly in the background) during these temps so when you open a flash app it slows down because already the cpu usage is high.

Is the rear exhaust fan properly working ? Check that out.

I also recommend you to use the toshiba recovery disc (if yours came with one) and reinstall windows from scratch. This will solve the camera, recorder and wireless connectivity problems.

How do I see if the rear exhaust fan is working?
Sadly I can't find the recovery disc.

Chup

Gomez012 wrote
Flakk wroteOk the HW monitor didnt well detect all of the temperatures needed, but looking at the CPU die Temperature its idling at 83C (one core is only shown, but usually cores are very identical in terms of temps.)
So Basically This is a major overheating problem, since on idle mode the cpu temps are around 80 mark. Under load it would go up to a 100C or more in which the motherboard uses emergency procedures and shuts off the whole system to prevent any further damage.
Or your CPU is not idle mode and is underload (could be an unknown program running secretly in the background) during these temps so when you open a flash app it slows down because already the cpu usage is high.

Is the rear exhaust fan properly working ? Check that out.

I also recommend you to use the toshiba recovery disc (if yours came with one) and reinstall windows from scratch. This will solve the camera, recorder and wireless connectivity problems.
How do I see if the rear exhaust fan is working?
Sadly I can't find the recovery disc.

well basically lift the laptop and try to listen to the sound of the fan , if u dnt hear anything means the fan is jammed , if u do hear the fan, then ur problem doesn't have anything to do with the hardware ( probably ) it's all software...i agree with flakkk
as for the recovery, wait for flakkk's reply...=)

Gomez012

Chup wrote
Gomez012 wrote
Flakk wroteOk the HW monitor didnt well detect all of the temperatures needed, but looking at the CPU die Temperature its idling at 83C (one core is only shown, but usually cores are very identical in terms of temps.)
So Basically This is a major overheating problem, since on idle mode the cpu temps are around 80 mark. Under load it would go up to a 100C or more in which the motherboard uses emergency procedures and shuts off the whole system to prevent any further damage.
Or your CPU is not idle mode and is underload (could be an unknown program running secretly in the background) during these temps so when you open a flash app it slows down because already the cpu usage is high.

Is the rear exhaust fan properly working ? Check that out.

I also recommend you to use the toshiba recovery disc (if yours came with one) and reinstall windows from scratch. This will solve the camera, recorder and wireless connectivity problems.
How do I see if the rear exhaust fan is working?
Sadly I can't find the recovery disc.
well basically lift the laptop and try to listen to the sound of the fan , if u dnt hear anything means the fan is jammed , if u do hear the fan, then ur problem doesn't have anything to do with the hardware ( probably ) it's all software...i agree with flakkk
as for the recovery, wait for flakkk's reply...=)

What's the sound I'm looking for?
I'm hearing a discrete buzzing.

Flakk

Gomez012 wroteHow do I see if the rear exhaust fan is working?
Sadly I can't find the recovery disc.

Okay for the fan it could be also on the left side of the laptop, there's an opening, put your hand and see if theres hot air coming out. You can even listen to the humming sound.

Also what is your Laptop's exact model ? Do you have a recovery partition ? If you dont have one it will be hard to recover your laptop's os without that recovery disc.

To see if you have a recovery partition go to my computer and you will see a partition called Recovery or something similar.

If you do have follow these steps.

- Backup any important data you have and shutdown the laptop

Press and hold the 0 (zero) key on your keyboard while
powering on the computer. When the computer powers on, the
Toshiba Recovery Wizard screen displays.
-Select one of the options, and then click Next. The options are:
Recovery of Factory Default Software
Erase the hard disk

-On the Toshiba Recovery Wizard screen, select Recovery of
Factory Default Software, and then click Next.
The Recovery of Factory Default Software screen appears.

-Select Recover to out-of-box-state, and then click Next.
A confirmation message displays reminding you that all data
will be lost during the recovery process. Be sure to save your
work to external media before proceeding.

-Click Next to begin the recovery.
Once complete, a message displays that the HDD has been
recovered.
-Press any key on the keyboard to restart the computer.

To recover only your C: drive:
-On the Toshiba Recovery Wizard Screen, select Recovery of
Factory Default Software, and then click Next.

-Select Recover without changing the hard drive partitions.
Click Next to begin the restoration.

Once complete, a message displays that the HDD has been
recovered.
-Press any key on your keyboard to restart the computer.

Edit:

Gomez012 wroteWhat's the sound I'm looking for?
I'm hearing a discrete buzzing.

Yes this could indicate that the fan is running properly. But it should be louder, and it should increase as the laptop is under load.

Chup

anything that points that the fan is functioning

Bassem

Gomez the buzz could just be the hard drive spinning. The biggest indicator for the fan, as Flakk said, is hot air coming out of a grill. (And it will definitely be hot since your laptop is overheating.)

Gomez012

Flakk wrote
Gomez012 wroteHow do I see if the rear exhaust fan is working?
Sadly I can't find the recovery disc.
Okay for the fan it could be also on the left side of the laptop, there's an opening, put your hand and see if theres hot air coming out. You can even listen to the humming sound.

Also what is your Laptop's exact model ? Do you have a recovery partition ? If you dont have one it will be hard to recover your laptop's os without that recovery disc.

To see if you have a recovery partition go to my computer and you will see a partition called Recovery or something similar.

If you do have follow these steps.

- Backup any important data you have and shutdown the laptop

Press and hold the 0 (zero) key on your keyboard while
powering on the computer. When the computer powers on, the
Toshiba Recovery Wizard screen displays.
-Select one of the options, and then click Next. The options are:
Recovery of Factory Default Software
Erase the hard disk

-On the Toshiba Recovery Wizard screen, select Recovery of
Factory Default Software, and then click Next.
The Recovery of Factory Default Software screen appears.

-Select Recover to out-of-box-state, and then click Next.
A confirmation message displays reminding you that all data
will be lost during the recovery process. Be sure to save your
work to external media before proceeding.

-Click Next to begin the recovery.
Once complete, a message displays that the HDD has been
recovered.
-Press any key on the keyboard to restart the computer.

To recover only your C: drive:
-On the Toshiba Recovery Wizard Screen, select Recovery of
Factory Default Software, and then click Next.

-Select Recover without changing the hard drive partitions.
Click Next to begin the restoration.

Once complete, a message displays that the HDD has been
recovered.
-Press any key on your keyboard to restart the computer.

Edit:
Gomez012 wroteWhat's the sound I'm looking for?
I'm hearing a discrete buzzing.
Yes this could indicate that the fan is running properly. But it should be louder, and it should increase as the laptop is under load.

Ok so I put my hand under the laptop in all the areas and I felt no warm air. The sound didn't get louder.

The laptop exact model is Toshiba Satellite A305.

I do not know what a recovery partition is.

MrClass

laptop rear fan definitely stuck, perhaps from dust or just died. No way a laptop cpu temp can go above 80 degrees. It must be the laptop fan. To solve that, you should get an external laptop cooler. I recommend cooling products from Thermaltake, they are durable and are efficient.