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hiya, hope someone can help me out here - pretty useless computer wise so bear with me.
i have a Toshiba Satellite 1900-603 laptop, bought in september, i only use it for internet [AOL], mp3s, and occasional word docs. it has a 1.7Ghz pentium 4 processor 40Gig hard drive and i have a 20gig archos jukebox which i attach via USB and use for mp3s. this is probably more info than needed but best to give more...
Anyway. on friday i was online, using AOL and probably had MSN messenger open at the same time, busy typing a long email, so when a big total blue screen flashed up i kept typing, the big blue screen disappeared and so did everything else. all i saw was 'error'. and this is the problem because i have no idea what the error was.
Tried turning it back on to no avail. Then i went away for the weekend, asked my dad to try turning it on, which he did on friday, and it got to the log-on screen, but the cursor wouldn't move. i got home earlier today hoping it would have decided to fix itself. and it hasn;t.
when trying to turn it on without the mains adaptor, the little LED screen shows the sign that it's turned on, but not that it's running off either battery power or mains power. which is odd.
i'm inclined to think it's a power problem. but i don't know what sort of thing.
Any ideas? and i apologise for the rambling.-Aurora
I dont know about some of you other people but it sorta sounds like she got nuked or something!?! i mean the blue screen?!? i am not sure but i think that that could have happend?!?
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Other then this blue screen and mouse hang-up, have you had any other problems with the machine? First, right click on My Computer and choose Properties, click on the advanced tab, and under Startup and Recovery click Settings. Uncheck automatically restart under system failure. This will allow you to read the next blue screen you receive. Next check the event logs under Administrative tools in control panel. Either click Start, control panel, or Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative tools. Open event viewer. On the left you’ll have 3 categories. Application, Security and System. Check them all…Do you see any red X's? if so, what do they say? You will see a lot of information so only check the event logs AFTER a particular problem unless you know what time/date you are looking for. This will narrow the headache.
Also, have you recently installed any software? AOL? MSN? Or anything else. Also do a virus scan on your system just to cover that base. It does not sound like a power problem to me but check the power settings under control panel. XP is weird like that. I’ll check back later (since I’m at work right now) and see if you have any more information for us.
Hope this helps
ScottP.S >>> Killer: I’m NOT saying it’s NOT possible but I have yet to hear of someone being nuked with XP. However it is Micro$oft and obviously someone out there has to have figured out many ways to do that by now. But then again, M$ is famous for not fixing bugs after they are discovered. However, when you’re troubleshooting a problem its best to look at every avenue.
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nuked? like....what?
also i'm pretty sure it's not a virus because Norton scanned it the evening before and it was all fine.
a bit of progress though - when I plugged it in it started up and got to the Toshiba screen....and then stopped.
yippeeee.
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How is poor Aurora to do everything Scott suggests -- all of which sounds good -- if she can't get into the computer?? Safe mode?
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My bad. I didn’t fully read that part. Sometimes I have a one track mind and my goal was troubleshooting the blue screen. But yes try safe mode.
Are you using a docking station? Do you have a spare battery? Could of been a faulty charger not charging the battery right and that explains why he was able to get it up once. Then not again. The charger might have enough connectivity to indicate it’s plugged in but not enough to turn it on.
Scott
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i don't have a spare battery and i'm not using a docking station.
yeah the charger thing is kind of what i was thinking...i was reading my safety manual which says it shouldn't be stored near a heater. i use my laptop near a radiator, but not right next to it, maybe it's frazzled it.
For now i'm trying charging it in a different place. and will see what happens. could the charger have suddenly become faulty/broken?
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Yes the charger could have became faulty. I have a laptop with that exact problem. However it is an old laptop (166mhz) so its expected not to work. You just have to remember that computers and electronic equipment fail all the time, some times for no reason. Could be brand new out of the box or 1 day past warranty. I like you're idea about charging it somewhere else, if that works, you can probably bet it’s your AC outlet. If it does not work, I would try to obtain another charger somewhere. Any chance this laptop is still under warranty? Also when you plug it into the laptop does it have a solid connection or do you have to play with it a little to get the lights to come on?
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laptop has a 3 year warranty - i got a good deal on extending it - so it's got plenty of time. the connection seems solid and i don't have to fiddle with it much.
slight development - turned it on and it got to the Windows XP loading screen then went into scandisk, as i expected, scanned about 30% and then went to a black screen, like it was turned on but the screen just totally black, like screensaver without any pictures.
apologies for terrible description.
I'm going to see what happens for the rest of today and ring Toshiba tomorrow.
still hoping it'll just start working tho.
Thanks for help, people...
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No need to apologize. Well from the sounds of it you might have a bad screen or connection that you will not be able to solve without Toshibas help and since you have the warranty might as well use it instead of racking your head over this problem. Now depending on their warranty (since I’ve never used them) you might have to send it back in which case you'll want to backup your data or take it to a warranty repair shop. Are you on a network by chance? Its a long shot but worth a try. If you are you can allow 5-10 minutes for the machine to boot with the network cable in it and then ping or connect to the laptop to see if you get a reply...if you do then you know its the screen (and you should be able to backup your data) if you don't or have no way of getting the laptop plugged into a network then you'll just have to assume that its a failure inside and get another one or have them fix it. Again, this is a long shot but if you can, might as well try. Of course it requires a lot luck (i.e. knowing the network config if any, having the NIC installed properly. etc...) but if you don’t have a Network Card installed I’m afraid you'll have to Dial-A-Friend...in this case Toshiba.
Sorry I could not be of more help.
Scott
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 help badly needed boot ...
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Recycle bin loads slow!?
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